1.2 Licensing and general support

To work with VIBES software it is necessary to have one or more licenses. There are two types of licenses that can be used: fixed licenses and floating licenses.

• Fixed licenses can be used only on one predefined system, being node locked to a single machine. These licenses are available at any moment on the system for which they were generated, until their expiry date.
• Floating licenses can be shared by multiple machines and only allow a single concurrent use. These licenses are generated on a server and can be used by all the users that have access to the server, but not simultaneously. To use them, they should first be acquired from the server and they will be available on the system for a predefined period, unless they are manually returned or the automatic return has been selected. Floating licenses can be generated either on an external or on a local server.
  • Cloud license servers: they are external servers that are created in the Flexera environment (Flexnet operations). In each server, licenses can be generated by VIBES and become available to the user.
  • Network license servers: VIBES can also generate licenses on the local server of the user. For this case, a separate procedure needs to be implemented in collaboration with the user.

The VIBES License Manager

The VIBES License Manager is a tool created by VIBES in which multiple information and actions on the licenses of VIBES software can be visualized and performed, such as:

• Visualize the licenses present on the server and their availability
• Visualize the licenses available in the current session
• Visualize the licenses expiration date
• Check the server status
• Access the license server settings
• Acquire/return floating licenses for/from the current session
• Request a fixed license
• Load a fixed license

Open the VIBES License Manager in the VIBES Toolbox

To open the VIBES License Manager to start the VTM, you can watch the video in 1.1 About the Toolbox for MATLAB, or read the next paragraphs.

To open the VIBES License manager, you have to follow the next steps:

1. Enter vibes.ver in the command line.
2. Click Manage.

Floating licenses

Floating licenses in the server and in the session

In the VIBES License Manager, it is possible to obtain multiple information of all the floating licenses present on the server and in the current session.

In the “Licenses on server” window it is possible to visualize all the VIBES Toolbox licenses that are present on the sever.  Here, it can also be seen how many of those present on the server are available and their expiration date.
The “Available licenses” window provides information on the licenses that are available in the machine for the current session. To acquire licenses for a session, they need to be pulled from the server (the process is explained in the following paragraphs). If they do not get manually returned, they will remain in the machine for a certain amount of time, after which they will be automatically returned to the server. The date in which they will be automatically returned can be seen in the “Expiry” column.

Important! For all the sessions at least one license must be pulled!

Server status

In the VIBES License Manager, it is possible to check the status of the server. This is shown at the top of the window.

If the server is correctly connected, the word “Connected” followed by a green circle is present. If the server is disconnected, the word “Disconnected” is displayed, followed by a red circle. If the latter occurs, it is very likely that the internet connection is absent.

Floating licenses activation: entering the cloud server credentials

To activate floating licenses, it is first necessary to enter the credentials of the cloud server and then to acquire the licenses.

The credentials for the cloud server are usually contained in a .config file and they need to be entered in the VIBES License Manager. This process can be done following the next steps:

1. Open the VIBES License Manager.
2. Open the license server settings clicking on “License server settings”. A new window will appear.
3. Load the settings clicking on “Load settings”. A new window will appear. Browse and open the .config file that contains the server credentials. Press “Save and close”.

If you do not have the .config file, but you have the server credentials, you can manually fill them in. In this case, steps 1 and 2 of the above procedure must be performed and then “Cloud server url”, “Cloud server id” and “Cloud server password” must be filled (after selecting the correct license server type).

Important! Pay attention to the checkout policy of the licenses. Licenses can be returned automatically or pulled for a longer period of time on the local machine (more details in the next paragraphs).

Acquisition of floating licenses

To acquire floating licenses on the machine to use them in a session, follow the next steps. For all the sessions at least one license must be acquired.

1. Open the VIBES License Manager.
2. Select from the “Licenses on server” window all the licenses that are needed for the session.
3. If needed, change the borrowing period. The borrowing period consists in the time period in which the license will be available on the system if not returned.
4. Click on “Acquire selected”. If the process is successful, a green message will appear. All the acquired licenses are now shown in the “Available licenses” window.
5. Close the VIBES License Manager.

Borrowing period and server checkout policy

When acquiring floating licenses from the server, it is possible to set the borrowing period. This corresponds to the period of time that the licenses will be kept on the machine from the moment they have been acquired. By default, this period is set to 7 or 14 days (unless a different period has been decided when requesting the licenses from VIBES). However, it is possible to change it in “Borrowing period” typing the number of days.

When opening the license server settings, it is also possible to select the server license checkout policy. This option allows to choose the return policy of the license. It is possible to choose between two options:

• Keep licenses on the machine until expiry. Selecting this option, the licenses will be kept on the machine for the entire borrowing period selected.
• Return licenses on application exit and restore on start. If this option is selected when acquiring the licenses, they will remain in the machine until when the software is open. When closing the application, the licenses get automatically returned to the server.

Returning floating licenses

Floating licenses can be returned on the server either automatically or manually by the user. For the latter case, follow the next steps:

1. Open the Vibes License Manager.
2. Select the licenses to return from “Available licenses” and click “Return selected”. If you want to return all the acquired licenses, just click on “Return all”. The licenses will return on the server.
3. Press “Continue”.

Fixed licenses

Requesting fixed licenses

To generate fixed licenses, some system-specific information is required. For this reason, you must first request a license and then activate it.

To request a license, you must follow the next steps (on the machine in which you will use the SW):

1. Open the VIBES License Manager.
2. Click “Options” and then “Create license request”. A .json file will be generated. Save the file.
3. Send the .json file to your contact person at VIBES or to info@vibestechnology.com. VIBES will generate a fixed license for you (.bin file).

Activating fixed licenses

After you have requested fixed licenses sending the .json file, VIBES will generate them. The fixed licenses are contained in a .bin file.

You must now activate the licenses in the preselected machine. The following steps must be performed:

1. Open the VIBES License Manager.
2. Click “Options” and then “Load local license file” and browse for the .bin file containing the licenses. Open it. If the process was performed correctly, a green message will appear.
3. Press continue. The licenses are now activated, and you can use the VIBES Toolbox for MATLAB!

The licenses present on the machine can be visualized in the “Available licenses” window.

General support

For general VTM support and questions regarding licensing, please send an email to:

• support@vibestechnology.com.