License Statistics v6.21 - New features and enhancements

License Statistics v6.21 introduces improvements that reduce host duplication and simplify license activation

February 28, 2024| | in category License Statistics, New releases Comments Off on License Statistics v6.21 introduces improvements that reduce host duplication and simplify license activation

With License Statistics version 6.21, we’ve introduced new features and enhancements that reduce host duplication and simplify license activation, as well as improving performance, consistency of report grids, and data validation. Read on to find out more about what’s new in License Statistics v6.21.

Duplicated host merging

In most cases, both remote monitoring server output and imported log files contain the hostname and IP address of the host where the license is used. However, In some rare cases, the license server may not report complete host identification.

Multiple licenses from different license managers can be used on the same host, but if one server reports a hostname and another does not, this results in a duplicated host – one with a hostname and the second with only an IP address. In License Statistics reports, duplicated hosts are seen as two separate hosts and are counted twice to the licensing.

With the introduction of Host Merging in License Statistics v6.21, you can now resolve issues where there is a one-to-one match of a single known hostname and a single unknown hostname that have the same IP address by merging the duplicate hosts.

Note that if there are multiple hosts with different hostnames and the same IP address, they cannot be merged, because it is not possible to determine which hosts should be merged.

For complete information about using the new Host Merging capability, see License Statistics documentation.

Host details resolution

In addition to the Host Merging feature described above, License Statistics v6.21 also includes a new capability that allows finding missing host identification details during remote querying or log file importing, thereby avoiding duplicate hosts (a single known hostname and a single unknown hostname with the same IP address) in License Statistics reports.

The host details resolution options allow for DNS and/or Reverse DNS lookup:

  • DNS lookup finds the missing IP address in the network based on hostname
  • Reverse DNS lookup finds the missing hostname in the network based on IP address

The enabled lookup option(s) are executed automatically during remote querying of license servers or log file importing when a hostname or IP address is missing. The hostname(s) and/or IP address(es) that are found will then be used for future processing and report generation, thereby limiting the risk of duplicated hosts.

See the License Statistics documentation for complete information about using host details resolution for remote license servers and using host details resolution for import logs.

Simplified license activation for License Statistics hosts without internet connection

In past License Statistics versions, license activation could be performed directly from the License Statistics UI except when there was no internet connection on the License Statistics host. In such cases, activating a license required using License Activation Center (LAC) tools (License Activator or lacutil) on a different machine.

With this release, you can now activate the license directly in the License Statistics “Administration: Licensing” page, using a browser that has an internet connection (for example, a private laptop). You simply enter the activation key in the Management tab’s License Activation field (if not already filled in), and click Activate.

If successful, the activation process will be executed directly in the browser. In the rare cases that the activation is not successful (for example, there are network issues), you’ll be provided with a link to complete the activation in LAC.

As a result of this new capability, the LAC tools lacutil and License Activator have been removed as of License Statistics v6.21.

See License Statistics documentation for complete instructions on how to activate a License Statistics license on a machine without access to the internet.

Database tables updated to use lowercase

In prior versions of License Statistics, the use of capital letters in the database caused problems when moving from Windows (case-insensitive) to Linux (case-sensitive).

This new version of License Statistics solves this problem by making all tables lowercase, which significantly simplifies moving a License Statistics installation from one host to another.

See the License Statistics documentation for information about moving License Statistics from one host to another.

In addition to the new features and enhancements described above, this release includes many other enhancements that improve performance, consistency of report grids, and data validation. For a complete list of enhancements and fixes, see License Statistics v6.21 Release Notes.

With the improvements made in License Statistics v6.21, we hope we’ve made your license management even more efficient and effective. As always, we appreciate your feedback, so please let us know what you think of the License Statistics v6.21 new features and enhancements, and don’t hesitate to contact support@x-formation.com with any questions. We look forward to hearing from you!

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License Statistics v6.20 - New features and enhancements

License Statistics v6.20 introduces new and improved features, boosting usability and performance

November 23, 2023| | in category License Statistics Comments Off on License Statistics v6.20 introduces new and improved features, boosting usability and performance

With License Statistics version 6.20, we’ve introduced new features and enhancements that improve usability, performance and stability. Read on to find out more about what’s new in License Statistics v6.20.

New “Dry Run” License Harvesting release method

If you’ve been using–or thinking about using–License Harvesting to track and cut down on idle end-user applications, but are concerned about disrupting your end users’ work, you’ll be interested in our new “Dry Run” release method. The Dry Run method is the least aggressive release method, particularly useful for testing how License Harvesting works with specific applications without taking action to close those applications.

The Dry Run method gathers information about application usage, and optionally issues an alert to inform end-users that their application is idle and recommend that they close it. The alert gives the end user complete control over whether to close the idle application. The user can choose to simply dismiss the message and leave the application open, or the user can close the application, as best suits their current situation.

If you just want to gather information about idle licenses, the Dry Run method lets you choose not to alert the user at all. The Dry Run method will continue to detect and log all application events, ensuring that the administrator has a history of the license usage, but won’t disrupt the end users of the monitored applications.

New auto-update capabilities for License Statistics Agent

This release makes managing License Statistics Agents even easier with the introduction of automatic updates. Simply toggle on the Auto Update option available from License Statistics’ End User Agents page, and License Statistics will schedule updating Agents (version 6.20 or newer) as a newer version becomes available.

You can also schedule updates for individual Agents manually. License Statistics informs you when a newer Agent version is available, and lets you schedule the update procedure with a single click. The request to update the Agent will be made on the next connection. The Agent will download the newer installer from the local License Statistics server (not from any external source or the internet), run the installer, update itself, and reconnect to License Statistics. The Agent informs you of the Update progress using an indicator in the End User Agents table.

(Note that the number of agents that License Statistics schedules to update at the same time is limited to 20 to avoid doing mass updates for setups that have a large number of Agents.)

Improved notifications and other user interface communications

With this release, we’ve made several improvements to the License Statistics user interface, including changes to the way that last update time is reported in grids. Now, last update time color indicators use query intervals elapsed rather than time elapsed, so it’s easier to understand when the last successful query was made.

License Statistics v6.20 also includes improvements to notifications and other communications, such as:

  • improved end-user notifications that display a Custom Application’s name instead of the executable name for Custom Applications
  • a new notification for mismatched operating system requirements
  • a more detailed message in the alert that displays when access to grid data is forbidden
  • more concise log information for “Unauthorized 401” errors

Fixes to prior versions of License Statistics

In addition to the new features and enhancements described above, this release fixes over a dozen issues that existed in previous versions of License Statistics. These fixes result in overall increased stability and improved performance across many areas of License Statistics, including the user interface, License Statistics Agent, license managers, the API, and the system architecture.

With these most recent improvements, we hope that License Statistics 6.20 will be even better at fulfilling your license management needs. As always, we appreciate your feedback, so please let us know what you think of the License Statistics v6.20 new features and enhancements, and don’t hesitate to contact support@x-formation.com with any questions. We look forward to hearing from you!

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