The RLM Web Server

The RLM server contains an embedded Web Server which can be used to perform most administration of the RLM server itself. The web server contains the functionality of all the rlmutil-based utilities except rlmhostid. The web server allows you to retrieve server and license status (similar to rlmstat), cause the servers to re-read the license files (rlmreread), switch debug (rlmswitch) or report log (rlmswitchr) files, move the current report log file to a new name (rlmnewlog), or shut down the license servers (rlmdown). Using this web-based interface, you can administer the license servers from any platform, and you do not need to install the RLM utilities - you only need a web browser.

Important

Beginning in RLM v16.0, HTTPS is now used by default (HTTPS support was first added in v15.1). See Enabling HTTPS in the RLM Web Server for more details.

In addition, the web server allows you to view ISV option files (with Manage permissions; from the action menu ⋮ of each ISV server), and the global RLM option file (as an Admin; from the Settings menu). Also, the web interface allows you to view the recent debug log information from any of the servers (via the action menu ⋮) if you have Manage permissions. The reread and shutdown commands are possible with the Manage permission, while the View user can see the status and usage for running ISV servers. See: Access Control to the RLM Web Interface for more on access permissions.

The web server is started automatically on port 5054 when RLM is started. To use the web server, simply point your browser to: https://ServerHostName:5054 and select the operation you would like to perform. You will be prompted for any required information.

Note

For earlier version of RLM (15.2 and below) you may need to use http://ServerHostName:5054 to access the management interface.

If you would like to run the web server on a different port, specify the -ws NNNNN command-line argument when starting RLM, where NNNNN is the desired port.

The RLM web server is 100% self-contained in the RLM binary; no additional html files are required for operation.

Warning

In RLM v14.1, RLM v14.2 and RLM v15.0 the web server is disabled if the user running RLM is root or an admin user.

The remaining sections will describe some of the main functions of the web interface.

Enabling HTTPS in the RLM Web Server

Starting in version 16.0, HTTPS is enabled by default and will generate a self-signed certificate (rlm-cert.pem) and key (rlm-key.pem) on startup, if they do not exist. To use your own certificate and key, use the two startup options, -sslcert and -sslpriv to point to your SSL certificate and SSL private key.

e.g.:

% ./rlm -sslcert /path/to/cert.pem -sslpriv /path/to/privkey.pem

Tip

If you rename your certificate “rlm-cert.pem” and your key “rlm-key.pem”, and overwrite the self-signed copies in the working directory, RLM will pick them up automatically.

You can access your web server by typing https://ServerHostName:5054 (be sure to include the https:// if you are not automatically redirecting the URL via other means).

If you are running your server as root/administrator, it is possible to set your web server to run on port 443 (the default HTTPS port) by running the following:

% ./rlm -sslcert /path/to/cert.pem -sslpriv /path/to/privkey.pem -ws 443

While running on port 443 and pointing at a valid SSL certificate and private key, your browser should automatically redirect to https:// without needing to type it explicitly. (i.e., typing ServerHostName should take you to https://ServerHostName:443.

Warning

Due to the self-signed nature of the automatically generated certificate, your browser will likely display a warning before you can get to the web server. Traffic to the web server will still be encrypted.

Self-signed certificates can not be generated with a password to use the web server.

Access Control to the RLM Web Interface

Note

Earlier versions of RLM used the rlm.pw file to control access. For access control in version 15.2 and earlier, please see the legacy documentation

Starting in version 16.0, logins are now required for access to the web interface. The default login is:

Username:	admin
Password:	admin

On first login you will be prompted to set a new password.

Permission Levels

In version 16.0 there are three permission levels for web interface users:

Permission Level	Description
View	Can view the status of all ISV servers, products available on each ISV server, as well as usage information.
Manage	All View user permissions. Manage adds control over ISV servers (reread/restart, shutdown, view options and logs), checkout removal, can add and remove named users, license activation, and the ability to view and download diagnostics.
Admin	All View and Manage permissions. Adds access to the Settings menu, which includes user creation, modification, and permission level control.

Managing Users

Add:

Login to the web interface as a user with Admin permissions.
Click the menu icon in the top right corner and select Settings.
From the User Management tab, enter the name of the new user and select the permission level, then click Create User.
You will be presented with a dialogue with the user’s temporary password. They will be prompted to set a new password on first login.

Remove:

Login to the web interface as a user with Admin permissions.
Click the menu icon in the top right corner and select Settings.
From the User Management tab, locate the user you want to remove and click the trash icon on the right.

Change permissions:

From User Management locate the user who needs a password reset.
Click the kebab menu ⋮ on the right and select Edit Permissions.
From the dropdown menu, select the new permission level, and click Update Role.

Password reset:

From User Management locate the user who needs a password reset.
Click the kebab menu ⋮ on the right and select Reset Password.
You will be given a temporary password to provide to the user. They will be prompted to set a new password on first login.

The RLM password file

Beginning in version 16.0, the password file (rlm.pw) no longer controls and web server functionality and may be removed.

License Server Status

After logging in you will be presented with the Home/License Server Status page. From here you can see all license servers currently running on RLM, the port each server is running on, and the server start time. You will also see the hostname of the server RLM is running on, as well as the RLM server port.

Click a server to expand it and view all products currently licensed on that server. Click a product to expand it and view usage for that product.

Note

The expiration date shown in this table is the expiration date of the first license to expire out of all the licenses used to create the license pool. When more than one license is used to create a single license pool (licenses are combined when all relevant parameters of 2 different licenses match), then only the earliest expiration date is shown. The other license(s) may have any expiration date that has not yet expired. To determine the expiration date of all licenses used to make up a license pool the actual license file must be consulted. Also note that licenses from different license files could be combined to make a single license pool.

If you are a Manage or Admin user, you will see the Reread/Restart All Servers and Shutdown All Servers server actions at the top of the page.

ISV Servers

In version 16.0 of RLM, ISV server information is all available directly from the home page. When a server is collapsed, you will see the port the ISV server is running on and the start time. The colored bar on the left side indicates at a glance whether the server is running normally (green), has a license issue (orange), or is not currently running (red).

ISV Server Actions

Manage and Admin users will also see the kebab ⋮ menu on the right side of each ISV server. This opens the individual ISV server actions. From here you can:

Command	Description
View / Edit License(s)	Allows you to view and edit any license files for that ISV.
Reread / Restart Server	Rereads and restarts the ISV server. Use if you have added a license or made other changes relevant to this specific ISV.
Shutdown Server	Shuts down the ISV server.
View ISV Options	This allows you to view the ISV options file. Any changes must be made directly to the options file on the server running RLM.
View Debug Log	Allows you to view the last 20 lines of the ISV debug log.
Switch Reportlog	Enter the filename for the new reportlog. After clicking Yes, RLM will begin writing the reportlog to this new file.
New Reportlog	Enter a new filename for the reportlog. After clicking Yes, RLM will move the contents of the reportlog to this new file, and continue logging to the original reportlog.
Switch Debuglog	Enter the new filename for the debuglog. After clicking Yes, RLM will begin writing the debuglog output to this new file.
License Transfer	Coming in v16.1
Alternate Server Hostid	Coming in v16.1

Note

On Unix systems, all servers (RLM plus all ISV servers) initially write their debug log to the same file (stdout of the RLM process). Once you switch any server to a different file, it is not possible to combine the debug log output again.

Maintaining Named User Licenses

If a product uses a named user license, you will see an Edit button on the right-hand side of the product row. Click this to open the named user dialogue.

The Add Group button allows you to add any groups specified in the ISV options file (see GROUP). This will add users from the specified group until or unless the named user list is full.

Clicking Add User will allow you to enter the name of a specific user to be added to the list.

To remove a user, simply click the Remove button next to the user’s name. The Recently Removed tab shows all users that have been recently removed, and the minimum amount of time before that user can be added back to the list.

Note

The user cannot be removed from the list if he/she currently has any licenses checked out at the server (including roaming licenses).

Activate

When you click the Activate tab at the top of the page you will be presented with fields to enter the information necessary to activate a license from an ISV server’s internet site. Once you have entered all of the required information, click Activate License to generate the license file. This may also be used to generate license files for other machines if, for example, they do not have internet access. Doing so will require the hostid information for the other machine(s).

You can control the appearance and defaults of the “Activate License” command with the RLM “-activate” options in the RLM options file. See: ACTIVATE.

Diagnostics

Click the Diagnostics tab to view the diagnostic information for the RLM server. This page is very useful for troubleshooting any issues you may be experiencing with the license manager. In addition to all diagnostics information being available in the browser, you have the option to Download the diagnostics to your local machine if you need to send this in to your software support team for troubleshooting.

RLM System Info

If you select System Info from the profile menu on the top right, you will see the RLM system information screen. This information contains the platform type and hostid information for the system where the RLM process is running (NOTE: not where your browser is running). This screen will also display a list of all RLM processes running on this computer (including processes which are not currently running but which have run in the prior 24 hours).