Figure 1. The Setup Server page
JetBrains License Server is a web application that enables license administration across a single network.
License Server serves as a central point for distribution of licenses among multiple users and client machines in a network environment. It supports the following JetBrains products:
License Server issues and revokes license tickets to/from network clients based on the license keys that are provided by JetBrains after purchase. The License Server allows for single-user keys to be used as concurrent licenses. The License Server will allow for the exact number of concurrent instances as purchased commercial licenses imported into the License Server.
That said, each license key provides one ticket. A single ticket grants permission to use a single copy of a product. License Server receives requests for license tickets from client applications and issues tickets to them upon verification, eliminating the need to configure clients individually.
There are two kinds of license tickets:
License Server is supplied in two distribution options:
To install and configure License Server bundled with Apache Tomcat:
JAVA_HOME and assign it to JRE installation home using forward slashes in the path (for example, c:/Program Files/Java/jre1.6.0_03 or /usr/local/java/jre):
JAVA_HOME environment variable under Windows XP:
JAVA_HOME.JAVA_HOME environment variable under UNIX/Linux, execute the following command:
env JAVA_HOME=pathlicenseServer.war package, execute one of the following scripts:
<Tomcat root>\bin\startup.bat (Windows).<Tomcat root>/bin/startup.sh (UNIX/Linux/MacOS).http://<host-name>:8080/licenseServer in the address bar of your web browser.To deploy License Server standalone WAR file under Apache Tomcat:
licenseServer.war from <delivery package>/apache-tomcat-<version>/webapps/ into <Tomcat root>/webapps subdirectory.http://<host-name>:<port-number>/licenseServer in the address bar of your web browser.For either License Server distribution, you can optionally do any of the following:
By default license server's log files are written into <Tomcat-Home>/logs/jetbrains-license-server directory.
The logs location can be changed using jetbrains.license.server.logs Java property.
For Tomcat it can be done via the JAVA_OPTS environment variable. Add a new system environment variable JAVA_OPTS with the value like this:
-Djetbrains.license.server.logs=c:/custom/logs/folder
Note that system reboot may be necessary for the environment variables to take effect.
To configure automatic License Server discovery:
Add a DNS TXT record url=<server_url> for the following name:
_jetbrains-license-server.<network-domain-name>
To verify the record in a Unix environment:
Run the following command:
dig _jetbrains-license-server.<domain_name> TXT
A valid response should look like this:
_jetbrains-license-server.acme.com. 3600 IN TXT "url=http://lsserver:8080/licenseServer" |
License Server comes with embedded Apache Derby database. However, you can configure License Server to work with an external database. The following databases are supported:
To migrate to an external database, make the following modifications to licenseServer.war/WEB-INF/classes/META-INF/modelContext.xml:
org.apache.commons.dbcp.BasicDataSource bean properties, comment out driverClassName property referencing the embedded database, and uncomment driverClassName property corresponding to the external database of your choice.com.jetbrains.licenseServer.model.impl.LSTopLinkJpaVendorAdapter bean properties, comment out databasePlatform property that references oracle.toplink.essentials.platform.database.DerbyPlatform SQL dialect, and uncomment the databasePlatform property corresponding to the external database of your choice.url, username, and password properties of dataSource bean with production values. Make sure to set necessary database connection settings using the url property.You can extend License Server to verify clients in one or more ways before they can obtain tickets. When you add one or more custom verifications, the following rules apply:
You can add as many verifications as required by your corporate policy. All your verifications are executed one by one during request processing.
License Server doesn't execute custom verifications in a particular order. It is your responsibility to develop verification rules the way that doesn't depend on the order in which they are executed.
License Server doesn't cache verification results, meaning that a client is verified for each request it sends.
To apply a custom verification procedure, you should create a JavaBean implementing ClientVerifier public interface:
/**
* @param productFamilyId - Product family ID
* @param userName - User name how it comes in a ticket request
* from a product, i.e. IntelliJ IDEA, ReSharper, etc.
* @param hostName - Host name how it comes in a ticket request
* from a product, i.e. IntelliJ IDEA, ReSharper etc.
* In the log file, user ID is represented as userName@hostName
* @param machineId - User machine-specific ID
* @return TRUE if a request with the specified userName, hostName and machineId for a specified product
* should be accepted as a result of successful authorization,
* and FALSE otherwise
*/
public interface ClientVerifier {
boolean isAuthorized(String productFamilyId, String userName, String hostName, String machineId);
}
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If isAuthorized method in any ClientVerifier implementation returns false, the requesting client is considered unauthorized and is not granted a license ticket.
For every implementation of ClientVerifier, you should create a separate Spring bean. Every such bean should be added to License Server classpath (<Tomcat version>/webapps/licenseServer/WEB-INF/classes/) and registered as a standard Spring bean using a bean descriptor in an existing application context file or in a new file named classpath/META-INF/<pluginName>-plugin.xml, such as the following:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<beans xmlns="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans"
xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans-2.0.xsd">
<bean id="yourCustomPlugin" class="A.B.C.D"/>
</beans>
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To sum it up, a registered License Server verification plug-in consists of:
licenseServerClasspath/META-INF/<pluginName>-plugin.xmlThe following is a sample implementation of CustomVerifier interface:
package com.intellij.licenseServer.plugin.nameVerifier;
import com.jetbrains.licenseServer.openapi.ClientVerifier;
import java.util.List;
/**
* This is a simple implementation of ClientVerifier
* If Type==BLACK_LIST - if a user name specified in a ticket request is found in a black list,
* the request is rejected.
* If Type==WHITE_LIST - if a user name specified in a ticket request is found in a white list,
* the request is accepted.
*
* @author shkate@jetbrains.com
*/
public class ClientVerifierExample implements ClientVerifier {
public enum Type {
BLACK_LIST, WHITE_LIST
}
private Type type = Type.BLACK_LIST;
private List<String> userNames;
public void setType(Type type) {
this.type = type;
}
public void setUserNames(List<String> userNames) {
this.userNames = userNames;
}
public boolean isAuthorized(String productFamilyId, String userName, String hostName, String machineId) {
if (userName == null) {
return type != Type.WHITE_LIST;
}
return (type == Type.BLACK_LIST && !userNames.contains(userName)) || (type == Type.WHITE_LIST && userNames.contains(userName));
}
}
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Here's a bean descriptor used to register the sample custom verification plug-in in License Server:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<beans xmlns="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans"
xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
xmlns:util="http://www.springframework.org/schema/util"
xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans-2.0.xsd
http://www.springframework.org/schema/util http://www.springframework.org/schema/util/spring-util-2.0.xsd">
<bean id="baseNameVerifier" class="com.intellij.licenseServer.plugin.nameVerifier.ClientVerifierExample">
<property name="type" value="BLACK_LIST"/>
<property name="userNames">
<util:list>
<value>user1</value>
</util:list>
</property>
</bean>
</beans>
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Open your web browser and type http://<host-name>:8080/licenseServer in the address bar.
When you start License Server in your web browser for the first time, the Setup Server page opens (fig. 1) where you should complete four mandatory fields:
Figure 1. The Setup Server page
Every time you open License Server after you have set it up, the Login page displays (fig. 2).
Figure 2. The Login page
Enter the credentials that you specified during server setup in the E-mail and Password fields.
Click Remember me so that License Server recognizes you at any time, unless the system is rebooted. You can open other web resources or close the browser window in the meantime.
You can subsequently log out by clicking the Logout link in the top right corner of any License Server page.
After you have successfully logged in, the JetBrains License Server home page displays (fig. 3).
It consists of two tabs, Status and Settings.
Figure 3. JetBrains License Server | Status
The Settings page (fig. 4) contains a number of essential server settings that can be modified when necessary:
Figure 4. JetBrains License Server | Settings
The Status page (see fig. 3) contains a table designed to track ticket allocation statistics server-wide, across all supported products.
You can open a detailed product-specific control panel by clicking the name of the corresponding product (for example, IntelliJ IDEA) in this table.
A product-specific control panel (for example, IntelliJ IDEA) includes seven tabs:
The General tab (fig. 5) contains a product-specific statistics table with four rows:
Figure 5. Product-Specific Control Panel | General
If you have added an unlimited license key, Total Tickets and Free Tickets rows are not assigned a numerical value because you can issue as many tickets as you wish.
This table is only populated with non-zero values after you have added at least one license key.
This tab contains the Add Keys From Purchase E-mail link. Click it to open a pop-up window (fig. 6), and paste the entire body of the e-mail message with license keys provided to you by a JetBrains representative.
Figure 6. Product-Specific Control Panel | License Keys | Add License Keys From Purchase E-Mail
After you click Add, this window closes and the number of keys that were processed and saved displays in the yellow box at the top of the License Keys tab (fig. 7).
Figure 7. The message that displays after processing and saving license keys
If no keys were processed and saved after you've copied the message into the pop-up window, make sure you've pasted the entire message body.
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If the controls in Add License Keys From Purchase E-mail are grayed out, try upgrading your browser to Internet Explorer 7.0 or Mozilla Firefox. |
After you have added at least one key, the Keys In System table displays in the License Keys tab (fig. 8).
Figure 8. Product-Specific Control Panel | License Keys | Keys In System
This table contains the following columns:
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Any license key provided for a certain version of a product makes available not only this version, but all of its preceding versions. For example, a license key generated for IntelliJ IDEA 7.0 allows you to use IDEA 7.0, IDEA 6, and all other legacy versions of IDEA. |
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License keys and server settings are stored in an encrypted database located at |
This tab displays only if the Enable Permanent Tickets check box is selected in a product-specific Settings tab.
It contains a table that identifies clients who have requested and received permanent tickets.
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When a client obtains a permanent ticket, its floating ticket is released.
When at least one permanent ticket has been issued, a table displays in the Permanent Tickets tab specifying e-mails to which activation codes were sent, as well as versions of client applications that received permanent tickets (fig. 9).
Figure 9. Product-Specific Control Panel | Permanent Tickets
To revoke a permanent ticket issued to a specific client, click the revoke link in the third table column next to this client's credentials. When the Remove Permanent Ticket? pop-up window opens, confirm or cancel the revocation.
This tab (fig. 10) contains a table with a list of clients that have received floating tickets, consisting of three columns:
Figure 10. Product-Specific Control Panel | Floating Tickets
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This tab helps you generate reports on the usage of tickets within any time span. To specify the time span, use Start date and End date links. Click Generate to display a report table (fig. 11) with the following columns:
Figure 11. Product-Specific Control Panel | Report
The Total Max row displays the maximum daily number of tickets issued to individual versions as well as to all versions of the product within the specified period of time.
Full XML Report and Short XML Report links in the bottom part of the tab create signed XML files with reports previously generated in this tab. A short XML report contains product version names and the number of tickets issued to each of them. A full XML report adds the total number of tickets issued every day.
Two user controls are available in this tab (fig.12):
Figure 12. Product-Specific Control Panel | Settings
Clicking OK saves your settings.
This tab (fig. 13) displays the contents of the log file maintained by License Server. The log file includes all ticket issue/release events along with additional data. Log records are generated with the following format:
Date Time [event severity] Action UserID, ticketID
For example:
2007-10-09 16:06:16,274 [INFO] Prolonged ticket for User.Name@unit-059.Int.YourCompany.Com, ticketId=5
Figure 13. Product-Specific Control Panel | Log
Note that only 10 Kb of the log's most recent records are displayed in this tab. You can view the entire log by opening it from the Tomcat root directory. Note that for every product managed by License Server, a separate log is maintained under the name <ProductID>.log where ProductID is the unique product family identifier that can also be found in the URL of the corresponding product-specific control panel in License Server.
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You can generate custom reports that match your specific needs by retrieving specific data from the log files using awk scripts. |