How do I read/analyze my vendor daemon logs? What do the various lines mean?

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Ben Wilson asked Apr 14, '17 Ben Wilson edited Jul 18, '24

How do I read/analyze my vendor daemon logs? What do the various lines mean?

I'm hosting my own license server (rather than using standalone licenses).

In lmadmin, you can view the Vendor Daemon Log from the Vendor Daemon Configuration panel for the flexsim vendor daemon:

In lmtools, view the service log from the Config Services tab for the FlexSim_License service (or whatever you may have named the service):

Once I'm viewing the vendor daemon log, what do the different lines mean? Each log entry is a bit cryptic.

Lastly, is there an easy way to analyze our license utilization? We need to evaluate purchasing additional seats.

Software Version:

FlexSim (other)

Software Version:

FlexSim (other - please specify)

license server licensing log file logs vendor daemon

lmadmin-vendor-daemon-log.png (18.2 KiB)

lmtools-vendor-daemon-log.png (10.1 KiB)

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Answer 1 · 2017-04-14T18:26:10Z

Ben Wilson answered Apr 14, '17 Ben Wilson edited Dec 13, '22

Detailed License Utilization Analysis

Perhaps you are curious about your organization's utilization of your FlexSim licenses. Maybe you have anecdotal accounts where your modelers can't get a license, and you want to quantify how often all licenses are in use. Perhaps you want to justify purchasing extra FlexSim seats, or wonder if you can get away with decreasing your seat count. Maybe you are just curious how much of your engineers' time is spent in simulation and you want to graph FlexSim utilization trends.

When you host your own license server, FlexSim (the company), does not receive your usage logs. We have no way of knowing your utilization. That information resides inside, and is owned by, your organization.

Whatever the reason, if you want a detailed analysis of your license utilization, you have 3 options:

RAW VENDOR DAEMON LOGS

The fastest and least expensive way to get info is just to eyeball the vendor daemon log. If you don't have too many seats or users, you may just be able to scroll through the raw logs and figure out what is going on.

See the additional answers below for descriptions of the various entries you'll find in your log file:

Log Preamble
Log Entries

PARSE LOGS WITH A SCRIPT

Some organizations have created their own scripts to parse through the data in their log file and calculate exactly what they're looking for. Usually there is a specific need, and so these scripts are quick, dirty, and single purpose, probably not worth sharing. However, if you have created a script for parsing log files, and you don't mind sharing, feel free to post it to a comment below.

FLEXERA'S FlexNet Manager for Engineering Applications (FNMEA)

If you are serious about analyzing your seat utilization, then this is really what you're looking for. For a truly Enterprise-ready solution, with all the features for graphing and tracking where your license seats are and how they are used, check out this message at the top of your log file:

 9:26:37 (lmgrd) -----------------------------------------------
 9:26:37 (lmgrd)   Please Note:
 9:26:37 (lmgrd) 
 9:26:37 (lmgrd)   This log is intended for debug purposes only.
 9:26:37 (lmgrd)   In order to capture accurate license
 9:26:37 (lmgrd)   usage data into an organized repository,
 9:26:37 (lmgrd)   please enable report logging. Use Flexera Software, Inc.'s
 9:26:37 (lmgrd)   software license administration  solution,
 9:26:37 (lmgrd)   FLEXnet Manager, to readily gain visibility
 9:26:37 (lmgrd)   into license usage data and to create
 9:26:37 (lmgrd)   insightful reports on critical information like
 9:26:37 (lmgrd)   license availability and usage. FLEXnet Manager
 9:26:37 (lmgrd)   can be fully automated to run these reports on
 9:26:37 (lmgrd)   schedule and can be used to track license
 9:26:37 (lmgrd)   servers and usage across a heterogeneous
 9:26:37 (lmgrd)   network of servers including Windows NT, Linux
 9:26:37 (lmgrd)   and UNIX. Contact Flexera Software, Inc. at
 9:26:37 (lmgrd)   www.flexerasoftware.com for more details on how to
 9:26:37 (lmgrd)   obtain an evaluation copy of FLEXnet Manager
 9:26:37 (lmgrd)   for your enterprise.
 9:26:37 (lmgrd) 
 9:26:37 (lmgrd) -----------------------------------------------

How's that for a marketing message right in the log itself? Anyway, you can read more about Flexera's fully-featured management solution at their website:

https://www.flexera.com/products/flexnet-manager

If that interests you, please contact Flexera directly for more information.

OpenLM - FNMEA ALTERNATIVE

OpenLM provides a compatible alternative to Flexera's solution described above:

FlexNet Manager Alternative (openlm.com)

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Aditya Kamath commented · Apr 14, 2017 at 08:35 PM

Here is the script that I wrote to parse the log file. It is crude but does the job and I've used Python as the scripting language. The output is an excel file containing entries for each user interaction with the license server, timestamps are matched for each user. Please feel free to post suggestions or comments. Thanks!

vendor-daemon-log-parser.py

1 ·

vendor-daemon-log-parser.py (2.2 KiB)

Answer 2 · 2017-04-14T17:57:07Z

Ben Wilson answered Apr 14, '17 Ben Wilson edited Jul 18, '24

Log Entries

Here are explanations of some of the common log entries you'll find as you view the body of your vendor daemon log file

============

OUT

example line:

21:39:34 (flexsim) OUT: "consolescript" CompyUser@AWESOMECOMPY

That means that the "consolescript" feature was checked out to a PC named AWESOMECOMPY at time 21:39:34. User CompyUser was logged into Windows at the time. An OUT log entry is added to the log when FlexSim starts. It checks out features from your license server.

============

IN

example line:

 1:29:37 (flexsim) IN: "dragdropconnect" CompyUser@AWESOMECOMPY

IN means that the feature was checked back in. This happens when either:

FlexSim is closed by the user
The server has been unable to contact the client PC for the timeout period (typically 15 minutes if you've used the Options file shipped with our FlexSim License Server files). The FlexSim instance will have lost its license earlier than that if it can't contact the license server. I don't remember the exact heartbeat period, but it is 1-5 minutes. If the client PC can't contact the license server within a heartbeat, it will warn the user to save now, then it will close or revert to unlicensed Express version.

============

TIMESTAMP

example line:

21:36:45 (flexsim) TIMESTAMP 2/22/2017

Each individual line of the log file only includes the time of day (see IN and OUT examples above), so you will need to find the closest TIMESTAMP line above the IN/OUT/etc. log entry you are looking at in order to infer the date for the other log entries.

============

DENIED

example line:

6:22:50 (flexsim) DENIED: "commercialuse" CompyUser@AWESOMECOMPY  (License server system does not support this version of this feature. (-25,334))

For the example line above, on a client PC (AWESOMECOMPY) the user (CompyUser) opened FlexSim version 17.1 (for example), which then requests 17.1 features from the license server. The server responds saying DENIED because "License server system does not support this version of this feature", if your license server is hosting an older version of the license, like 17.0 or 16.2.

You should also get a DENIED log entry if all seats are currently in use, but the info message would be "Licensed number of users already reached."

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Answer 3 · 2017-04-14T17:50:02Z

Ben Wilson answered Apr 14, '17 Ben Wilson edited Oct 4, '23

Log Information

The vendor daemon log can help you diagnose issues as you configure your license server.

You will know that you have successfully configured and started your license server when you see FlexSim's features listed, as in this example text found near the top of your vendor daemon log:

8:00:00 (lmgrd) FlexNet Licensing (v11.19.2.0 build 287406 x64_n6) started on Ben-Computer (IBM PC) (8/15/2023)
8:00:00 (lmgrd) Copyright (c) 1988-2022 Flexera. All Rights Reserved.
8:00:00 (lmgrd) World Wide Web:  http://www.flexerasoftware.com
8:00:00 (lmgrd) License file(s): C:\FlexSim_LMTOOLS_x64_11.19.2.0\flexsim.lic
8:00:00 (lmgrd) lmgrd tcp-port 26914
8:00:00 (lmgrd) (@lmgrd-SLOG@) ===============================================
8:00:00 (lmgrd) (@lmgrd-SLOG@) === LMGRD ===
8:00:00 (lmgrd) (@lmgrd-SLOG@) Start-Date: Tue Aug 15 2023 08:00:00 Eastern Daylight Time
8:00:00 (lmgrd) (@lmgrd-SLOG@) PID: 27724
8:00:00 (lmgrd) (@lmgrd-SLOG@) LMGRD Version: v11.19.2.0 build 287406 x64_n6 ( build 287406 (ipv6))
8:00:00 (lmgrd) (@lmgrd-SLOG@) 
8:00:00 (lmgrd) (@lmgrd-SLOG@) === Network Info ===
8:00:00 (lmgrd) (@lmgrd-SLOG@) Listening port: 26914
8:00:00 (lmgrd) (@lmgrd-SLOG@) 
8:00:00 (lmgrd) (@lmgrd-SLOG@) === Startup Info ===
8:00:00 (lmgrd) (@lmgrd-SLOG@) Is LS run as a service: Yes
8:00:00 (lmgrd) (@lmgrd-SLOG@) Server Configuration: Single Server
8:00:00 (lmgrd) (@lmgrd-SLOG@) Command-line options used at LS startup: -c C:\FlexSim_LMTOOLS_x64_11.19.2.0\flexsim.lic -l C:\FlexSim_LMTOOLS_x64_11.19.2.0\log.log -z -s 
8:00:00 (lmgrd) (@lmgrd-SLOG@) License file(s) used:  C:\FlexSim_LMTOOLS_x64_11.19.2.0\flexsim.lic
8:00:00 (lmgrd) (@lmgrd-SLOG@) ===============================================
8:00:00 (lmgrd) SLOG: FNPLS-INTERNAL-VL1-40000
8:00:00 (lmgrd) Starting vendor daemons ... 
8:00:00 (lmgrd) Starting vendor daemon at port 56914
8:00:00 (lmgrd) Using vendor daemon port 56914 specified in license file
8:00:01 (lmgrd) Started flexsim (pid 28808)
8:00:03 (flexsim) FlexNet Licensing version v11.14.0.1 build 188735 x64_n6
8:00:03 (flexsim) lmgrd version 11.19, flexsim version 11.14
8:00:03 (flexsim) SLOG: Summary LOG statistics is enabled.
8:00:03 (flexsim) SLOG: FNPLS-INTERNAL-CKPT1
8:00:03 (flexsim) SLOG: VM Status: 255
8:00:03 (flexsim) Using options file: "C:\FlexSim_LMTOOLS_x64_11.19.2.0\flexsim.opt"
8:00:03 (flexsim) Server started on Ben-Computer for:	serverfeature	
8:00:03 (flexsim) commercialuse	compile		consolescript	
8:00:03 (flexsim) createobjects	dragdropconnect entiretree	
8:00:03 (flexsim) expertfit	nomodellimit	stochastics	
8:00:03 (flexsim) xmlsaveload	
8:00:03 (flexsim) EXTERNAL FILTERS are OFF
8:00:03 (flexsim) ALL FEATURES: INACTIVITY TIMEOUT set to 900 seconds
8:00:03 (lmgrd) flexsim using TCP-port 56914

The above chunk of log file shows the lmgrd port to connect to when configuring FlexSim (26914, as shown in this example, is our default port) and the vendor daemon's port (56914, make sure this port is available through the firewall, in addition to the lmgrd port). It also shows that the server is successfully hosting FlexSim's features such as serverfeature, commercialuse, compile, xmlsaveload, etc. Lastly, you see that it is using the Options file flexsim.opt, where INACTIVITY TIMEOUT is set to 900 seconds (which is the minimum allowed by the system, and is the setting in our default options file).

So if you see all that in your log file, you know your license server is correctly hosting your licenses. If you still have trouble with your client PCs getting licensed, then it is some other issue, like connectivity (firewalls, network settings, etc). See the troubleshooting section at the end of our License Server Installation Instructions for more info.

These screenshots are more illustrative of the view of the log file through lmtools:

lmgrd.exe is listening on port 26914. This is the port the licensing service will use when listening for client PC communication.
The bootstrap license file flexsim.lic was found and loaded. (This is not a license file specific to you and does not contain your license info. FlexSim licenses use Trusted Storage and licenses are activated to your license server using flexsimserveractutil.exe).
The flexsim.opt Options file was found and loaded.
A list of product features activated in your server's Trusted Storage. Your feature set may differ somewhat from this example, depending on your license and product, but you should see several of the features above.
900 seconds is the minimum timeout allowed by FlexNet, and we configure our installation to use this minimum value using the options file.
The flexsim.exe vendor daemon is using port 56914.

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