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BrainVoyager Installation & Introduction License Information NetHASP (network license) configuration

NetHASP (network license) configuration

The NetHASP License Manager is a program developed and supported by Aladdin Knowledge Systems that allows multi-license keys to be used with just one USB key over the network. This is especially useful in environments where you want to allow your local staff to use BrainVoyagerQX on their own machines without having to render physical dongles to everyone in turn.

BrainVoyagerQX uses NetHASP to ensure that only clients with a valid license obtained through our Sales department (sales (at) brainvoyager (dot) com) are able to use the program. If no local dongle is found, the application automatically searches the local network (via broadcasts) for a suitable License Manager host. If such a host is found (with at least one free license available), the application sends a license locking request to the License Manager and gets an encrypted access code in return, allowing the program to start up.

In case of problems, please make sure to check Aladdin's [Enduser support page] before contacting Brain Innovation.

Installation


Please always FIRST install the NetHASP software before plugging your BrainVoyagerQX Hasp Key into any USB port on your machine (under Windows). Cases have been reported where the plug-and-play driver automatically installed by the operating system prevented the HASP driver to be correctly installed later!

Under Windows
Simply download the latest NetHASP installation files from the Enduser support page (see link above) and follow the instructions during the installation.

Under Linux
Make sure that you have root privileges before trying to install the license manager software. Changes have to be made in system areas (e.g. in the /etc folder), and depending on your configuration a module might have to be compiled. Since this procedure does not follow a strict routine as on Windows, please get in touch with our support team (at support (at) brainvoyager (dot) com) in case of troubles with a NetHASP installation under Linux.

Under Macintosh
Download the according file from the Enduser support page (link see above) and install the License Manager from the Disk Image (DMG file).

NetHASP configuration


Both the NetHASP License Manager and every client application use one central file, nhsrv.ini for the server and nethasp.ini for clients, in their installation folder for the configuration. 

As a convention, all settings (in both files) must appear in so-called sections, denoted by special tags written in square brackets. Settings are written like this
SETTING_NAME = SETTING_VALUE;

Everything on a line appearing after a semicolon is discarded (as a comment).

Default configurations (NetHASP v8.31)

The default server configuration file contents (blank lines removed):


;*******************************************************************************
;* NetHASP License Manager sample configuration file.
;*
;* boolean switches may have the values
;* 1, yes, true, enabled
;* 0, no, false, disabled
;*
;*******************************************************************************

; ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
; global LM settings
; ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[NHS_SERVER]
NHS_USERLIST = 250 ; maximum number of concurrent logins
; to this LM (default=250, max = 65520)
;NHS_SERVERNAMES = cad, test1, ; server names to match the name a client
; LM017, ; requests (max 6 names, max 7 chars/name)
; oefibla
NHS_HIGHPRIORITY = no ; run LM at high priority (default=no)

; ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
; settings for the IP protocol
; ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[NHS_IP]
NHS_USE_UDP = enabled ; enabled or disabled (default: enabled)
NHS_USE_TCP = enabled ; enabled or disabled (default: enabled)
NHS_IP_portnum = 475 ; IP port number (default: 475 (IANA registered))
; CAUTION: clients must use the same port !

;NHS_IP_LIMIT = 10.24.2.18-99, 10.1.1.9/16, 10.25.0.0/24,
; 192.0.0.*, 194.0.*.*, 11.*.*.*,
; 10.24.7.8-12 /30, 10.24.2.17
; specifies the range of stations that are allowed to access the LM
; the LAST byte may be a range (e.g., 10-120)
; the 4th, the 4th and 3rd, or the 4th and 3rd and 2nd byte may be an asterisk,
; acting as wildcard (e.g., 10.*.*.*, but NOT 10.*.20.1)
; an additional bitmask can be specified as number of one-bits (e.g., 10.0.0.0/8)

; ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
; settings for the IPX protocol
; ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[NHS_IPX]
NHS_USE_IPX = enabled ; enabled or disabled (default: enabled)
;NHS_addrpath = c:\temp ; pathname for haspaddr.dat (default: current dir)
NHS_AppendAddr = no ; append to haspaddr.dat (default: replace)
NHS_usesap = enabled ; enabled or disabled (default: enabled)
NHS_ipx_socketnum = 0x7483 ; IPX socket number (default: 0x7483)
; CAUTION: clients must use the same number !

; ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
; settings for the NetBios protocol
; ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[NHS_NETBIOS]
NHS_USE_NETBIOS = enabled ; enabled or disabled (default: enabled)
;NHS_NBNAME = MyNBName ; use another than predefined NetBios name
; CAUTION: clients must use the same name !
;NHS_use_lana_nums = 3,0,7,2 ; default = all (automatic)

; ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
; end of file
; ------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Most importantly, you can see that the default port (TCP+UDP 475) is used. If you wish to grant access to your License Manager (especially outside of your local network), make sure that any firewall installed on your NetHASP License Manager host allows incoming connections on that port for those additional IPs/networks.

Restricting access
Even without a firewall, it is a very good idea to restrict the access to your NetHASP LM, especially if you're using it on a host with a public IP address! To do so, you can of course install and configure a firewall on your system. However, there is already an access restriction implemented into NetHASP. Simply uncomment the NHS_IP_LIMIT setting in the file and make your settings as needed.

Client configuration
The client normally doesn't have to be configured at all. It simply uses a broadcast (into the local network) to find any service replying on port 475. It then checks all those who replied whether they offer a license for the application ID it uses. If found, it requests (and locks) one license from the License Manager, which is only released if the program terminates correctly. 
This means: if the application crashes, the license remains locked until the timeout is reached (usually this is 36 hours). So it usually is a good idea to restart the application after a crash, even only so as to unlock the license by closing it again right afterwards.

In case your License Manager is not located in your local network zone, it probably cannot be reached with a broadcast (routers are usually configured to discard broadcast packages). You must then tell the application exactly where to find the NetHASP server:

--------------------------------------------------
[NH_COMMON]
NH_TCPIP = Enabled;

[NH_TCPIP]
NH_SERVER_ADDR = XX.XX.XX.XX;
NH_PORT_NUMBER = 475;
NH_TCPIP_METHOD = UDP; ;; if your router doesn't allow UDP, use TCP instead
NH_USE_BROADCAST = Disabled;
---------------------------------------------------

Simply put in the IP address of your License Manager instead of the XX.XX.XX.XX bit and save the file as nethasp.ini into the BrainVoyagerQX installation folder.

Using Brain Innovation's NetHASP (temporarily) 
Should you ever encounter problems with your NetHASP installation (or your single-license dongle), feel free to contact our support staff (at support (at) brainvoyager (dot) com). We can then look into the matter and, if we find you have a case there, will be able to grant your host(s) access to our License Manager (temporarily) until the matter is solved.

Testing the installation


To test the correct installation of your NetHASP License Manager, you can use telnet, a program (binary) available on all of the supported platforms. 
To do so, open up a console on the machine where you want to run BrainVoyagerQX on (for Windows, click on Start -> Run..., enter cmd and hit the key.

Then enter the command

  • telnet XX.XX.XX.XX 475

where you have to fill in your NetHASP License Manager's IP address for the XX.XX.XX.XX part.NetHASP_WinCMDCommand

The telnet program will now try to contact your license manager, printing the line

  • Connecting to XX.XX.XX.XX...

Once the connection has been made (on Windows the screen goes blank, on Linux/Macs you'll get a Connected to... message), you can test your license manager by simply hitting the key again, after which a line like this should appear in your telnet session (console window):

  • ≥≥≥≥≥≥≥≥≥≥≥≥≥≥≥≥≥≥≥≥≥≥≥≥≥≥Connection closed...

(the character might be a different one, dependend on the character set and language settings for your console). 

When this line appears this means your License Manager is reachable and ready for BrainVoyagerQX clients to connect and request a license.

Troubleshooting


Aladdin offers an [Enduser support page] containing latest drivers for all supported platforms, including diagnostic and monitoring tools (Windows only). You'll also find a knowledge base there, for basic troubleshooting questions. So, before contacting Brain Innovation (in case of License Manager issues), please be so kind to check their website for anything that might seem useful information in your case first.
We also collected the most important troubleshooting information in this document. It contains information from Aladdin End User Knowledge Database for using the NetHASP dongle for BrainVoyager QX with Windows XP. For Mac OS X specific issues, please consult the page Brainvoyager QX on Mac OS X.

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