Licensing Intella and/or Intella Connect in the cloud

[jon.pearse]

Licensing Intella and/or Intella Connect in the cloud

Introduction

Many software vendors offer cloud services at reasonable rates. The benefits are that the customer can pick and choose which services they want to use, based on their business requirements. Customers do not have to maintain expensive IT infrastructure, which reduces the number of IT staff needed and the cost of the firm. Given the benefits, many firms are moving all of their IT services to the cloud.

We are now starting to receive increased queries regarding running Intella or Intella Connect in a cloud environment. A cloud server is just another computer. Intella and Intella Connect should run fine on these systems provided that the system's hardware/software meets, or is better than, the recommended specifications.

The achilles heel of running Intella in the cloud is that we use dongle-based licensing. A physical license dongle needs to be plugged into the system running the Intella software. The issue with the cloud server is that it is normally vast distances away (e.g., overseas) from the end user. There is no way to walk a dongle 'down the road' to the cloud vendor.

Even if the vendor is located just 'down the road', they are likely to have policies in place which restrict physical devices (such as a license dongle) from being plugged into the host system.

This post discusses using a cloud system to run Intella or Intella Connect, and to be able to obtain a license located on a physical dongle which is not plugged into the cloud.

Physical Layout

Intella and Intella Connect use physical dongles for licensing, a dongle (with a current license) still needs to be available for these applications to operate. That said, the dongle does not necessarily need to be plugged into the cloud system. We provide network dongles that are designed for applications to obtain a license over a network. Furthermore, the network dongle can be configured to work across different subnets.

If the cloud system has access to your local system, then the network dongle can be plugged into your local system. The cloud system is then configured to obtain a license from the dongle in your local system.

Prerequisites

Before you begin with configuration, there are some things to check:

• Make sure that port 1947 is not blocked by any firewall (or other security software) as the Sentinel LDK License Manager uses it for communication.
• Make sure that the server and client machines can ping each other.
• You may need technical help from your IT and network administrators during this setup. Make sure that they are available to assist you should they be required.

Local System Configuration

The local system that holds the network dongle needs to have the Sentinel LDK License Manager installed and running on it. This is as simple as installing Intella or Intella Connect on the local system. The necessary drivers and applications for the License Manager will be installed during the Intella installation.

1. Install Intella or Intella Connect on the local system.
2. Once you have confirmed that Intella starts with no HASP or dongle issues, you need to make some changes in the Sentinel Admin Control Center (SACC). The first setting is located in the 'Access from Remote Clients' tab which can be accessed at this link: http://localhost:1947/_int_/config_from.html. Make sure that the setting for 'Allow Access from Remote Clients' is checked. Click Submit if you have made changes.
   
3. The second setting is in the Basic Config page (http://localhost:1947/_int_/config.html). Make sure that the setting for 'Allow Remote Access to ACC' is checked. Click Submit if you have made changes. When prompted, set a password for remote access.
   
4. Once the installation is complete, test that everything is set up and working properly by running Intella or Intella Connect. If you encounter any HASP or licensing issues, you can troubleshoot these issues with the information in this article.

Cloud System Configuration

When the settings on the local system are complete, you can go ahead and configure the cloud system. The steps are like the local system.

1. Install Intella or Intella Connect on the cloud system.
2. You now need to configure the ACC so that the cloud system can access the local system to pick up a license. The first setting is the same as shown at step 3 for the local system (above). In the Basic Config page (http://localhost:1947/_int_/config.html), make sure that the setting for 'Allow Remote Access to ACC' is checked.
3. The second settings are located in the 'Access to Remote License Manager' tab (http://localhost:1947/_int_/config_to.html).
   (i)    Check the setting for 'Allow Access to Remote Licenses'.
   (ii)   Check the setting for 'Broadcast Search for Remote Licenses'.
   (iii)  Enter the IP address for the local system in the 'Remote License Search Parameters' field. Once done, click Submit.
4. To test the communication between the cloud system and the local system, open a browser on the cloud system, and type the following in the Address bar: http://localhost:1947/_int_/devices.html. Verify that you can view the network dongle which is plugged into the local system. If you can see the network dongle, then this verifies that the cloud system is able to communicate with local system at a HASP level.
5. When Intella or Intella Connect is opened on the cloud system, a license will be obtained from the local system. This will allow the application to run.