All,
I have been troubleshooting HASP issues for quite some time and one of the biggest problems I’ve seen in the past is when the license manager issues a license to a user and it won’t release it. The issue occurs very infrequently but when it does our main focus is to get the licenses back into production – not troubleshoot. All things considered, the quickest way to get the license(s) released is to restart the License Manger Service on the server. This method reclaims all the licenses but the problem is that anyone currently in CADWorx gets “kicked off”. Not the optimum method for retrieving 1 out of 20 licenses!
Today, we saw the issue occur at a customer and we had some time to troubleshoot. When we inspected the key with the AKS Monitor, it showed a few licenses timed out at zero seconds but not released from their respective machines. After doing some detective work, it now appears that the licenses are just not being released properly by the CADWorx Workstation. Instead of restarting the license manager – in effect kicking everyone off – just restart and shutdown CADWorx/CAESAR II on those machines indicating a zero timeout and still holding a license. This process releases the license properly and frees it up for someone else.
Thank you to Gary K. for figuring out this long standing issue!
Jeffrey Suffet
ECE
I believe that the license manager will release the timed-out licences when necessary. For example, if AKS Monitor shows 20 licenses issued but only 19 users are actually connected, when the next user requests a license, the license server will release the timed-out one to grant the new request. I saw this happen once, but since we don’t reach our maximum very often I couldn’t guarantee it to be true in all cases, or if a licence needs to be timed-out before it can be released.
Agreed. It should. However, there are instances I’ve seen where users get locked out and the License Manager will just not release.
We have seen that behavior for years, also. If AKS Monitor shows licenses that are not being released, I have had to restart the server. If your license ‘heartbeat’ or poll time is anything like ours, most users never even know that the server was restarted, but it is still a pain to do.
This is only a partial solution for us, since many of our users have laptops. We frequently see that a PC that is not currently connected to the network is holding a license. In those instances, restarting the server is the only viable solution. Until the CWX\CII clients release the licenses more reliably, we’ll likely have to restart the licensing server more often than we’d like.
Owen Whitehouse
POET Design & Construction
Owen,
Yes, if the laptop is detached there is nothing to do but restart the service. Also, relying on luck of the heartbeat is a pain. I believe its about a minute or two but you never no where each machine is at so it’s best to close them down to ensure they don’t lose work. It looks like this may get a bit better as the HASP license manager software in its current form is finally being updated. I will keep everyone updated once i get more details.
Jeffrey Suffet
ECE
This is all fine when the license is attached to a computer that has the program. I have the continuing issue of seats being held by computers that do not have the software loaded.
Any idea on how to handle this?
Clark,
I’m still not sure if its the releasing of the license from the workstation side that really is the corruption or the license manager function itself.
That said, this is not an everyday occurrence and as such is it possible a computer with CADWorx had a license, shut down and then was assigned a new IP Address (the next time it was booted)? This would explain why some other computer without CADWorx is indicated in the AKS Monitor. In most cases, the computer releasing the license ‘poorly’ would just start up CADWorx the next day with the same IP and force the release as explained above.
I’m curious if this issue ever arises in a fixed IP structure.
I just encountered an instance today where 3 different users machines timed out at zero. Rebooting the machines still did not release the licenses (I could only track down two of the users). A license Manager restart was the only solution in this case. This happened just before lunch so at least it was good timing for a reset;-)
Jason,
Sorry for the issue. Unfortunately, something obviously goes corrupt in the memory table of the Hasp License Manager and the only way to get it back is to restart the service.
Regards,
Jeff
This issue occurs on a regular basis at Paton. If someone crashes, or there’s a hiccup in the intranet it locks up a seat. I have 3 seats locked up today.
I also have issues with the software crashing when you’re manipulating various items within the CAD file. It’s quite random no specific thing I am doing. But, I do drive this machine like a race car; hard and fast. I did notice when I am in a command and I access the VIEW Rotation within a command it tends to get ugly. And, we don’t build massive models but, it corrupts files blowing things off their centerlines or making things disappear totally. I have had issues with the crashing where it doesn’t save the file to .$AC or temp save file either or it will just delete it totally. That has caused me some grief.
Andrea
Hello Andrea
A few preliminary questions…
1. What version of CADWorx are you running?
2. Do you have all the Service Packs and Hot Fixes installed for the version?
3. My assumption is this is a HASP installation. This mean your licenses are on a Network HASP key. To release the licenses on HASP…Go to the Server where the network key is housed and restart the HASP Loader service. If you are running the license server as an application then restart the license manager application.
Before going further in troubleshooting, I’d need the version of CADWorx and also i’d like to ensure this is a Network HASP key and not a SPLM installation.
Thank you
Jeffrey Suffet