Find out what the new IP-based License Manager means for you

In version 10, Synergy/DE License Manager server on Windows uses sockets (TCP/IP) to communicate instead of pipes. This change was required for Windows 8 support, but it applies to all versions of Windows. Although all new installations and upgrades will use sockets, version 10 License Manager will still accept connections from older license clients using pipes.

When Synergy/DE is installed with server licensing, it sets the License Manager port to 2380. We recommend you use this default port if at all possible. But if you already have a service on 2380 that just won’t budge, you can change the port after installation using the lmu command line utility with the -po option. (The port cannot be changed during installation.) Bear in mind, though, that if you change the port on the license server, you must also set a non-default port on all the license clients. For new clients, you can do this during installation by adding a colon and port number to the end of the license server name (e.g., Rabbit:5555). On an upgrade, however, the existing license server name and the default port are used, which means that when you start up a Synergy application on that client, it will search in vain for its License Manager, and then return an error. If this happens, you must update the port on the client after installation, either from the Synergy Configuration Program or the command line.

Although in most cases the switch to IP-based licensing will be transparent, a few of you may need to make some adjustments to your licensing configuration. One issue could be the license server name. Prior to version 10, the license server was specified simply by server name (e.g., Rabbit). In version 10, you can specify the license server by either IP address or DNS name (except when there is a Backup License Server in the picture; then DNS name is required). Depending on how DNS is configured on your network, you may be able to use the same shortened form of the  DNS name (e.g., Rabbit) that you have used in the past, or you  may need to use the full name (e.g., Rabbit.WidgetMaster.loc). If the full name is required, you’ll need to update the server name on all license clients. Depending on how many license clients you have, it might just be easier to reconfigure your DNS!

Another potential issue affects only companies where there is a firewall between the license server and the license clients. This is a highly unlikely scenario since network licensing is supported only within a local area network, but should it apply to you, you’ll need to configure your firewall to allow communication on the port that License Manager is using, just as you would for any other communication through a firewall. Note that some client machines, although they are within your corporate firewall, might be running Windows Firewall, which could cause this problem. In this case, the simplest solution is to turn off Windows Firewall.

In support of IP-based licensing, we have enhanced the synxfpng utility by adding an option to ping License Manager server (synxfpng -s). If you are having connectivity issues, such as slow connections or no connection at all, this is a good place to start your troubleshooting effort, because it will report errors to help you diagnose the problem.

You can find out more about the new IP-based licensing in the License Manager release notes (REL_LM.TXT) and in “Setting up License Manager on Windows” in the Synergy/DE documentation. For details on using synxfpng with License Manger, see “synxfpng utility.” You may also want to review “Network requirements (TCP/IP) for client/server products.”

For most of you, the switch to IP-based licensing will be a non-event and your licensing life will go on much as it always has. But if you get stuck or have questions, just call your Developer Support representative to straighten things out.