Design-Expert v23.1

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Installation FAQ

Network Installation

How do I install the network version?

Network installations involve two components, an installation of Stat-Ease® running on the client, and a license server running on the server for fulfilling license requests from the clients.

Why do I need to run a license server?

The new network license management system has several advantages over the old (version 8 and older) file server metering system:

  • The roaming feature allows users to check out a license and run the program away from the network.

  • Multiple instances of the program running on a client only take up one seat.

  • Better monitoring of usage by clients: you can determine which user is currently using a license and generate reports.

  • The new system also gives the license administrator greater flexibility and control over the licensing policies.

  • Better security: clients no longer need write permission to a folder on the server.

How do I install the license server?

To install the license server:

  • Copy the files in the network bundle to a folder on the license server.

  • Activate your license by running dex_activate.exe.

  • Install RLM as service and start the service.

  • Install Stat-Ease on the client machines.

How do I install RLM as a service?

To install RLM as a service, at the command prompt, navigate to the directory rlm.exe resides in and run

rlm.exe -dlog LOGFILE -install_service

where LOGFILE is the name of the logfile that debug information is written out to. You will then need to start the service which can be done by entering the following at the command prompt:

sc start rlm

How do I install Stat-Ease on the client machines?

On the client machines, run the appropriate Windows installer file (MSI) program.

How do I automate the client install?

Stat-Ease can be installed in silent mode from the command line using the Windows Installer command line tool (msiexec).

Network Activation

The dex_activate program could not write out the license file. How do I get my license?

If the license file does not get saved properly when activating, you may be able to retrieve it from your account at the Stat-Ease website:

  1. Go to Software Licenses and click on the Manual Activation button.

  2. Enter in the Host ID for the license server (you can get this by running dex_activate.exe /showhostid argument or by running rlmhostid.exe in the utilities folder).

  3. The last fulfillment for this license will be displayed. Copy the text and paste into a text editor such as Notepad.

  4. Save this to a file named dex.lic and copy this to the license server executable directory.

How do I activate over the internet using a proxy server?

You can either use the alternative activation method (see next question) or can set two environmental variables before running dex_activate: HTTP_PROXY and HTTP_PROXY_CREDENTIALS.

  • HTTP_PROXY should be set to hostname:port (e.g., LicServer:8080).

  • HTTP_PROXY_CREDENTIALS should be set to username:password (e.g., joe:joes_password).

Note that RLM activation supports only the BASIC authentication type.

Do I have to use dex_activate.exe to activate a network license?

No, there is an alternative activation method built into the web interface of RLM. The downside to this method is that the serial number will not be written to license file so it will not be reported to the users. The procedure for this method is:

  1. First run rlm.exe then point a browser to the server using port 5054 (e.g., if the server host name is LicServer, point the browser to http://LicServer:5054). This will bring up the RLM web interface)

  2. Click on the Activate License button, then click Begin License Activation.

  3. For the ISV activation website enter: activate.statease.com.

  4. For the ISV enter: statease (all lowercase)

  5. For License activation key enter your serial number including dashes.

  6. Leave the License Server or Node-lock hostid: field as is but enter the number of network seats for License count.

  7. Edit the filename portion of the license file path to be dex.lic.

  8. Review the Activation Request Data table and if all is in order, click REQUEST LICENSE.

  9. Copy the new license file to the license server executable directory.

How do I activate if I do not have an internet connection?

If the license server machine does not have an internet connection, you can activate by performing the following procedure:

  1. Obtain the Host ID of the license server.

    Run dex_activate /showhostid at the command prompt on the license server.

    Or, run rlm_hostid in the utilities folder.

    Next copy dex_activate.exe to a machine that has an internet connection and at a command prompt type in:

    dex_activate /hostid=LicenseServerHostID

    where LicenseServerHostID is the Host ID you obtained from license server in the first step.

  2. Copy the returned dex.lic over to the license server putting it in the same folder as rlm.exe and restart the license server.

If you are still unable to activate over the internet, send an email to support@statease.com requesting a network license. Include your serial number, the license server Host ID and the server name of the license server. We will send back a dex.lic file that you can then copy to the license server folder.

The final step is to restart the license server.

Network Operation

How do I monitor usage?

Usage can be monitored in real-time by point a browser to http://LicenseServerName:5054 to bring up the web interface for license server. Click on the Status button, then the statease button under Server Status, then click the usage button under Show License Usage to bring up a list of the current usage.

Reports can be generated by adding a REPORTLOG line to the ISV options file. To create the options file, open a text editor such as Notepad, add the line

REPORTLOG report.log

where report.log is the name you want for the report log file, then save the file naming it statease.opt in the same directory as the dex.lic file. Use the web interface to Reread/Restart the license server.

Can the license server be run on a virtual server?

Yes, you can run it on a virtual server as long as the virtual machine is assigned a static ethernet MAC address.

If you are running an older version of the network bundle, rlm.exe may report that “This server does not run on virtual machines”. If so, download the latest version of the network bundle and install it.

If you are able to run on a virtual server but the clients are unable to find the license server, you may need to provide a HOST-only license to the clients. If the clients do not recognize the server name in the host.lic file, try using the IP address of the virtual server for the server name.

Troubleshooting

Where is my license file?

For the network version, the license file should be located in the same directory as the license server (rlm.exe).

On the client, both single-user and host-only licenses should be located in %ProgramData%\Stat-Ease\|dex-name| |version|. %ProgramData% is a shortcut to the common application data folder whose location varies depending on Windows version. This folder may be hidden so you may need to type

cd %ProgramData%

or enter %ProgramData% directly into the address bar.

Why am I getting a product not supported error message?

This error indicates that the client can find the license server but there are no valid licenses to be served up. Check the following:

  1. There is a dex.lic file and a statease.set file in the license server folder.

  2. The license has not expired.

  3. The product in the license matches the client program: designexpert for Design-Expert and se360 for Stat-Ease 360.

  4. The version number in the license is not less than the version being run on the client.

  5. The Host ID in the license matches the Host ID of the server.

You can do these checks by bringing up the web interface (see How do I monitor usage?) and clcking on the Status button on the left. This will list the ISV servers running one of which should be statease. If there is no statease ISV server then RLM is not finding the statease.set file. If there is a line in the table for statease then click on the statease button under Server Status. This will bring up the License pool status table with a listing of all the available licenses. If no licenses show up, examine the dex.lic file directly. The product name, version number and expiration date are listed in the line that begins LICENSE statease. For example:

LICENSE statease designexpert |version| 21-jan-2015 3 share=uh

The Host ID in the license file can be found in the HOST line immediately following the server name. To find the Host ID for server, see this topic. If the Host IDs do not match, and you are running the license server on a virtual machine, check that it is being assigned a static ethernet MAC address. If you cannot get the Host ID for the server to conform to the one for the license server, contact support@statease.com to obtain a new license with the correct Host ID.

What causes the “connection refused” at server error on the client?

Typically this indicates that the there is a host.lic license file pointing to a location that is not running the license server or is otherwise unreachable from the client machine. Here are some of the possible sources of the problem:

  1. Check that RLM is running on the server machine. If installed as a service, check that the service is started in Services (e.g., run services.msc or, at command prompt, type in sc query rlm).

  2. Verify that RLM is reachable from the client machine by pointing the browser to the web interface http://ServerHostName:5054).

  3. Check that port 5053 is open and available on both the server and the client machine. If 5053 is not available, edit the port number in the dex.lic file on the server and the host.lic file on the client to an available port.

  4. RLM dynamically allocates another port for the ISV service each time it starts, but this is configurable. It is not always necessary, but recommended that the ISV port be configured. For example, to set the ISV port to 49155 change the second line in the license file from “ISV statease” to “ISV statease port=49155” and then open port 49155 in your firewall.

What does the “bad server hostname in license file or port@host” error on the client mean?

This most commonly results from port 5053 being blocked.

Why do I get a “system clock has been set back” error when the system clock seems correct?

This error is probably caused by the presence of future dated files in your Windows or Winnt folder. To find the offending file(s), bring up a command prompt, change the directory to Windows (or Winnt) and enter the following commands:

dir /od /ta

(this displays and sorts on last access time)

dir /od /tw

(this displays and sorts on last write time)

Update the files using the following command on each of the future dated files:

copy /b FutureDatedFilename+,,

Note that the commas at the end indicate the omission of the Destination parameter.

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