Zencrack Support

Licensing

Licensing for Zencrack is available on a license server or nodelocked basis. The licensing component of Zencrack uses the Reprise License Manager (RLM) to control access to the program via a license file.

License server

The license server, sometimes called the license manager, is installed on a specified computer which is referenced in the license file.

The Zencrack program may be installed and executed on any computer that has access to the license server across a network. This is referred to as a client installation.

At run-time the Zencrack job on the client installation attempts to check out license tokens from the license server and the job runs provided that tokens are available. If insufficient tokens are available because another job is running, the job can be queued until tokens are available. The total number of available license tokens controls the number of concurrent jobs that can be executed.

Nodelocked

The program will only execute on the computer listed in the license file.

One Zencrack job can execute at a time.

Required information

For either licensing method, a license file must be installed to run Zencrack. This file is sent to users via e-mail. In order to create a license file we require a variety of information:

For both license types

The required finite element interface(s) for the installation.

Information about the target machine (i.e. the license server or nodelocked machine) for the license.

License server

Network licensing uses license tokens to allow jobs to execute. Any number of tokens can be purchased and the total number of license tokens control the number of concurrent jobs that can execute.

One token is required to run a Zencrack Standard job and three tokens are required to run a Zencrack Professional job.

So, for example, six tokens allow six concurrent Standard jobs (i.e. without crack growth), or two concurrent Professional jobs (i.e. with crack growth), or one Professional job and up to three Standard jobs.

Nodelocked

Nodelocked licenses must specify either Zencrack Standard (i.e. without crack growth) or Zencrack Professional (i.e. with crack growth).

Note that a Professional licence also allows Standard runs.

In order to collect all of the required data, a program called machine_id.exe must be used. This program is supplied with an associated RLM utility executable, rlmutil. Both machine_id and rlmutil must be in the same folder before executing machine_id.exe. The machine_id program should be run on the target Zencrack machine for nodelocked licenses or on the server machine for license server configurations. The program generates a file called zencrack.txt in the folder containing the machine_id executable. The zencrack.txt file should be sent to Zentech.

For installations made using the Zencrack installer packages, the machine_id and rlmutil programs are installed in the machine_id folder of the Zencrack program installation (e.g. c:\Zencrack\x.x-x\machine_id) and are also installed with the RLM license server files if the RLM server is installed. The machine_id and rlmutil programs can also be downloaded in a stand-alone zip file from the links further down this page without the need to install other Zencrack components.

In the case of Windows laptop PCs which may have multiple network cards, the program should be run with the laptop configured in the way that it will be used with Zencrack. Note that a laptop may shutdown the network adapter to conserve power when running off a battery. You should configure your system to prevent this as per the system documentation.

Full details of the supported platforms is available here.

The machine_id licensing program

Stand-alone downloads for the machine_id licensing program are available below.

License file for the downloadable Zencrack Evaluation Version

The downloadable Evaluation Version of Zencrack which is available here must be configured as a nodelocked installation using a special evaluation license file. You do not need to follow the procedures above to send us information about your machine when using this evaluation version. Instead you should follow the instructions on the Evaluation Version download page. These instructions include information on obtaining a license file for the Evaluation Version.

Port definitions for the license server

When using the license server for a Zencrack installation there are two port numbers associated with operation of the server. Usually these ports do not need to be changed. The information below explains more about the ports and what to do if they need to be changed. For further information about the configuration of the license server please refer to the Installation And Execution Manual. This manual is available as part of the documentation installation for your Zencrack version. The manual can also be found in the relevant Zencrack version support page.

Overview

If the license server is running, then using the RLM web browser utility on the license server machine and selecting Status in the left hand pane will show information similar to the screenshot below.

To access the RLM web browser utility enter the following in a web browser address bar on the license server machine: localhost:5054

The two port numbers being used in this example are:

  • Port 2764 - Associated with the rlm server itself. This can be set on HOST line in the license file.
  • Port 52866 - Associated with the zentechint component of the server. This can be set on ISV line in the license file.

As noted above, these ports can be defined in the license file. Each license file contains one HOST line and one ISV line. For example:

HOST ZEN_DELL_05 34e6d71e7d82 2764
ISV zentechint

When issuing license files we ALWAYS include port 2764 on the HOST line and NEVER include a port number on the ISV line. The system then assigns a port for the zentechint component. To include a specific port for the zentechint component of the server on the ISV line the license file may be edited and a port= option added. For example to ensure that port 49600 is always used:

ISV zentechint port=49600
RLM web browser utility - Status page
RLM web browser utility - Status page

What is port 2764 used for?

The port number 2764 on the HOST line in the license file is for the rlm server. This value is required in the zencrack.ini file on client machines to
tell client installations how to find the license server on the network. The zencrack.ini file is located in the tools sub-folder of the client installation. The port 2764 is placed into the zencrack.ini file by the installer. For example:

ZENCRACK_RLM_SERVER = [email protected]

where the license server network address is 192.168.1.10.

If you wish to use a different port, edit the license file and the zencrack.ini file of all client installations to contain a consistent alternative port number.

What is the zentechint server?

The license server contains an executable zentechint.exe which operates on a system-assigned port number if no value is specified on the ISV line.

If a specific port= entry is added, as described above, and the license server restarted, the port specified in the file would show on the Status page of the RLM web browser utility.

Do the ports need to be changed?

It may be necessary for a customer to specify ports if they want to control port access on the server machine (for example to satisfy firewall restrictions).

Setting port numbers on the HOST or ISV lines of the license file does not affect the validity of the file.

How do I find out which ports are being used by the license server?

Using the RLM web browser utility (as described in the Overview of this section) to verify the two ports that are being used by the license manager is the simplest method of confirming the ports.

Alternatively, if the license server is being run directly as an executable, rather than as a service, the ports are shown during the startup of the license server. If the license server is running as a service, this startup information can be found in the server log file.

Startup of RLM license server running as an executable
Startup of RLM license server running as an executable