Floating Network Login Licenses in AIX 4.1

This document discusses the installation of a floating license for AIX logins and applies to AIX Versions 4.1 and 4.2.

Setting up the iFOR/LS "floating" license includes four major steps:

• Install the iFOR/LS filesets.
• Configure iFOR/LS on the server.
• Start the server daemons.
• Enable the floating license on the server and the clients.

    llbd      - local location broker daemon 
    glbd      - global location broker daemon 
    netlsd    - processes request for licenses 
    monitord  - monitor licensed login processes 
    Servers                  Clients 
    llbd 
    glbd 
    netlsd 
    monitord                 monitord 

Daemons are started in a specific order:

    llbd -> glbd -> netlsd 

Daemons are shut down in the reverse order:

    netlsd -> glbd -> llbd 

NOTE: Stopping the daemons in the wrong order can corrupt NetLS database files.

To install and enable AIX floating licenses, perform the following steps.

1. Install the necessary filesets from the server install media. These include:
   • bos.sysmgt.loginlic -- License Management (chlicense, monitord)
   • bos.ifor_ls.client -- iFOR/LS License System Client Utilities (GUI tools to show server/product/licenses information)
   • bos.ifor_ls.server -- iFOR/LS Server Utilities (netlsd)
   • bos.rte.ifor_ls -- iFOR/LS Libraries
   • bos.net.ncs -- Network Computing System (glbd, llbd)

2. Use the following steps to configure the server.
   1. Run the following shell script:

         /usr/lib/netls/conf/netls_config 
      

      The steps this script provides are as follows:

      • Entries are added to /etc/inittab to automatically start /etc/rc.ncs at reboot. The /etc/rc.ncs starts the llbd and glbd daemons.
      • Entries are added to /etc/inittab to automatically start /etc/rc.netls at reboot. The /etc/rc.netls starts the netlsd daemon.
      • It configures the NCS cell environment.
      • It creates the /usr/lib/netls/conf/netls_first_time which starts iFOR/LS daemons the first time. After that, the daemons will start automatically at reboot.

   2. When prompted by the following questions, give the following answers:

      Do you want the "llbd" started automatically when the machine boots?

      Y

      Do you want "netlsd" started automatically when the machine boots?

      Y

      (YOU *MIGHT* BE ASKED THIS QUESTION) There exists an initialized database already for the glbd. Do you wish to use that database when starting the "glbd" daemon?

      N

      You will be shown a listing of all the cells that your machine can identify. If you are setting up your machine in a new alternate cell, none of this information is relevant to you. If you intend to join an alternate cell that has already been established, note the cell number when it is displayed on the screen. Please note that the cell numbers may be assigned differently each time netls_config is run.

      You will have three or four options:

      1. Continue with installation without choosing a Cell Name.
      2. Use the default for the system Cell Name.
      3. Create a new alternate cell for the system Cell Name.
      4. Choose an existing alternate cell for the system Cell Name.

      Please indicate your choice (1, 2, 3, or 4):

      1. Choose 1 if you do not know what configuration you want and just want to quit. You will have to re-run netls_config later.
      2. Choose 2 only if your site administrator tells you it is OK to use the default cell, or if you are on a standalone machine. Remember that bridging of cells is not allowed.
      3. Choose 3 if you are going to run your server in a brand new alternate cell. This is the recommended selection to use if you are unsure.
      4. Choose 4 if you are going to join your server to a cell that has already been established. You will then be prompted for the number of the alternate cell you want to join. Enter that number now.

   3. You are done with the netls_config script. It has created a secondary shell script called /usr/lib/netls/conf/netls_first_time.

   4. Run the netls_first_time script. This will start the daemons needed for serving license requests. This script only needs to be run once.

      After the first time, the daemons can be started with the startsrc command. They must be started in the correct order (llbd, then glbd, then netlsd). The exact commands are:

         startsrc -s llbd 
         startsrc -s glbd 
         startsrc -s netlsd 
      

      This may also be accomplished by running the command:

         /usr/lib/netls/bin/srv_start 
      

   5. If at some point you have to reconfigure your server for a different cell, stop the llbd, glbd, and netlsd daemons and then re-run the netls_config script, followed by the netls_first_time script.

      To stop the daemons manually, use the stopsrc command. The daemons must be stopped in the reverse order that they were started. The exact commands are:

         stopsrc -s netlsd 
         stopsrc -s glbd 
         stopsrc -s llbd 
      

      Or you can use the command:

         /usr/lib/netls/bin/srv_stop 
      

3. Now that your license server is up and running, you will need to enable floating licenses. You can do this on the command line by issuing the command:

      chlicense -f on 
   

   Or use the SMIT utility under:

       smitty chlicense 
   

   The preceding executions would start monitord and add an entry in /etc/inittab to automatically start monitord at reboot.

   If you get the error message Could not enable floating license, check if the /etc/security/monitord_lock file exists. This file prevents multiple copies of monitord from being run. But if monitord is stopped abnormally, you will have to remove this file manually before running chlicense -f on.

   NOTE: The default behavior of every AIX 4.x client is to request an AIX 4.1 license.

   If you want your 4.2 client to request a 4.2 license, you must start monitord with the flag -v 4.2.

   To restart the monitord process, execute the following command sequence:

   1. ps - ef | grep monitord
   2. kill <process ID of monitord>
   3. Remove the monitord lock file from /etc/security. (This may not be necessary.)
   4. /usr/sbin/monitord -v 4.2

   To automate this process, you can edit the monitord entry in /etc/inittab to appear as follows:

             monitord:2:once:/usr/sbin/monitord -v 4.2 > /dev/console 2>&1
   

4. Next, install the AIX floating user licenses by means of the following SMIT menus:

       smitty install_float 
   

   The above step creates the floating license file, AIX.FLOAT, under /usr/lib/netls/conf.

   To change the number of AIX floating licenses installed on a system, you may use the following smit menus:

       smitty change_float 
   

5. If your server machine has the file /etc/ncs/glb_obj.txt, then all users that need licenses from your server must copy that file to their client machines. The file contains the identifier for the alternate cell.

   Example /etc/ncs/glb_obj.txt file:

      90b82be849c7.02.81.23.86.fb.00.00.00 
   

6. If a client machine is on a different subnet than your server machine, then the client machine must have the file /etc/ncs/glb_site.txt. The contents of the file will identify the server machine. For example, if the server machine is myserver.mynet.mycompany, then the glb_site.txt file will contain the line:

      ip:myserver.mnet.mycompany 
   

   The glb_site.txt file can also specify the IP network address of the server machine. For example, if the IP address of the host machine is 126.17.203.222, then the glb_site.txt file will contain the line:

   ip:#111.22.333.444 
   

   Example /etc/ncs/glb_site.txt file:

      ip:myserver.mynet.mycompany 
      ip:#111.22.333.44 
   

• The fileset bos.ifor_ls.client contains some useful commands and GUI tools to display server, product, and license information.

• /usr/lib/netls/ark/bin/ls_admin displays server, vendor, product, and license information. For AIX login floating license, the product name should say

      AIX User License [4.x]; 
  

• The license information includes the number of concurrent access licenses and the expiration dates, as well as the server IP address and the socket port number.

• /usr/lib/netls/ark/bin/ls_tv verifies that license servers are working. It displays the fully qualified names of the active license servers along with the product names and the iFOR/LS version numbers.

• /usr/lib/netls/ark/bin/ls_targetid shows the CPU serial number of the target system.

• /usr/lib/netls/ark/bin/ls_stat shows the status information on network licenses. It has both command line and GUI interface.

• /usr/lib/netls/ark/bin/ls_rpt generates reports on license server events. This command can be used to track and monitor license usage, amount and causes of rejected license requests.