Appendix C

Troubleshooting Guide

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This appendix documents areas of FLEXlm that have given customers difficulty in the past.

C.1 General Troubleshooting Hints

The following are tips for debugging:

When you start the license server (lmgrd) be sure that you direct the output into a local log file where you can examine it. The log file often contains useful information. Examine it when you have a problem, and be prepared to answer questions about it when you talk to a support person.
If the license server appears to have started correctly (which you can determine from the log file), try running lmstat -a and lmdiag to see if that program has the same problem as your application.
If your application is FLEXlm v4.1 or later (v5 or later on Windows), you can use the FLEXLM_DIAGNOSTICS environment variable. Set FLEXLM_DIAGNOSTICS to 1, 2, or 3. A setting of 3 gives more information than 2, 2 gives more information than 1 (in particular, the feature name that was denied). See Section C.2, “FLEXLM_DIAGNOSTICS,” for more information.
When you talk to a support person, be prepared with answers to the following questions:
What kind of machine is your license server running on?
What version of the operating system?
What machine and operating system is the application running on?
What version of FLEXlm does the FLEXlm-licensed application use?

Use the lmver script, or, on UNIX, execute the following command on your lmgrd, vendor daemon, and application:

strings binary_name | grep Copy

Alternatively, lmgrd -v gives the lmgrd version, and this works with the vendor daemon also.

What error or warning messages appear in the log file?
Did the server start correctly?

Look for a message such as:

server xyz started for: feature1 feature2.

What is the output from running lmstat -a?
Are you running other products which are also licensed by FLEXlm?
Are you using a combined license file or separate license files?
Are you using a three-server redundant license server (multiple SERVER lines in your license file)?

C.2 FLEXLM_DIAGNOSTICS

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Note: The ability for FLEXlm to produce diagnostic output is controlled by your software vendor.

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FLEXLM_DIAGNOSTICS is an environment variable that causes the application to produce diagnostic information when a checkout is denied. The format of the diagnostic information may change over time.

On UNIX, the diagnostic output goes to stderr.

On Windows, the output is a file in the current directory called flexpid.log, where pid is the application’s process ID.

C.2.1 Level 1 Content

If FLEXLM_DIAGNOSTICS is set to 1, then the standard FLEXlm error message is be presented, plus a complete list of license files that the application tried to use. For example:

setenv FLEXLM_DIAGNOSTICS 1
FLEXlm checkout error: Cannot find license file (-1,73:2) No such file or directory
license file(s): /usr/myproduct/licenses/testing.lic license.lic

C.2.2 Level 2 Content

If FLEXLM_DIAGNOSTICS is set to 2, then, in addition to level 1 output, the checkout arguments are presented. For example:

setenv FLEXLM_DIAGNOSTICS 2
FLEXlm checkout error: No such feature exists (-5,116:2) No such file or directory
license file(s): /usr/myproduct/licenses/testing.lic license.lic
lm_checkout("f1", 1.0, 1, 0x0, ..., 0x4000)

Note that the error message actually contains two separate problems, which both occurred during the checkout:

There’s no such feature in the license it did find
It was unable to find the other license file, which is what produces the message “No such file or directory”

Following is a description of the arguments to lm_checkout()

lm_checkout(feature, version, num_lic, queue_flag, ..., dupgroup_mask)

where:

feature	The requested feature.
version	The requested version. The license file must contain a version >= the requested version.
num_lic	Number of licenses requested. Usually 1.
queue_flag	If 0, no queueing If 1, queue for license (“blocking” queue) If 2, queue for licenses, but return to application (“non-blocking” queue)
dupgroup_mask	Indicates duplicate grouping, also called license sharing. User, host, and display are as shown by lmstat -a.

C.2.3 Level 3 Content (FLEXlm v6.0+ only)

If FLEXLM_DIAGNOSTICS is set to 3, then, in addition to level 1 and 2 output, if a checkout is successful, information is printed explaining how the license was granted:

setenv FLEXLM_DIAGNOSTICS 3
app
Checkout succeeded: f0/14263EAEA8E0
License file: ./servtest.lic
No server used
app2
Checkout succeeded: f1/BC64A7B120AE
License file: @localhost
License Server: @localhost
app3
Checkout succeeded: f1/BC64A7B120AE
License file: servtest.lic
License Server: @speedy

Note that the feature name and license key are printed, along with the license file location (or host name if @host were used) and host name of the server, where applicable.