LicensePower/iFOR

HP-UX 11.0 uses Version 4 of LicensePower/iFOR from Isogon Corporation. Previous HP-UX releases included Versions 4 and earlier of iFOR/LS from Gradient Technologies, Incorporated. Additionally, because NCS is not part of HP-UX 11.0, Version 4 of LicensePower/iFOR supports only the direct binding model of license server discovery.

Summary of Changes

On June 23, 1997, Isogon Corporation assumed responsibility for Gradient Technologies' iFOR/LS license management system, which was renamed to LicensePower/iFOR.

For Systems Updating from HP-UX 10.30

LicensePower/iFOR Version 4 is functionally identical to Gradient Technologies iFOR/LS Version 4 which was shipped on HP-UX 10.30; only the name has changed. However, NCS has been removed from HP-UX 11.0, and therefore only the direct binding model of license server discovery is supported.

For Systems Updating from HP-UX 10.20 or 10.10

Because NCS has been removed from HP-UX 11.0, only the direct binding model of server discovery is supported. License clients obtaining licenses from a LicensePower/iFOR Version 4 server must be configured to use direct binding, not NCS.

Defects fixed for this release include changes available in patch PHSS_8508:

i4target returning "ff000000" for systems which have multiple LAN cards or FDDI Interface.

The directory structure of the iFOR/LS product is simplified to reduce the number of symlinks and the number of directory levels where the files are delivered. Two unnecessary directory levels are removed for this release. Files formerly delivered to /opt/ifor/ls/os/hpux are now delivered to /opt/ifor/ls. For example, commands are found under /opt/ifor/ls/bin, the one remaining shared library is under /opt/ifor/ls/dll, and configuration files are under /opt/ifor/ls/conf.

The symbolic links from /opt/ifor/bin and from /opt/ifor/ls/bin to /opt/ifor/ls/os/hpux/bin are removed.

The symbolic links from /opt/ifor/dll and from /opt/ifor/ls/dll to /opt/ifor/ls/os/hpux/dll are removed.

The removal of these links and of the obsolete files is accomplished by a LSSERV product level preinstall script.

The user interface to the i4config script is modified. This script permits you to configure a license client system using direct binding to a server rather than through the NCS name server capability.

NCS has been removed from HP-UX 11.0, and therefore only the direct binding model of license server discovery is supported.

Impact

For those clients using direct binding, the only change is in the name of the product. Using direct binding is easy and quick, and avoids NCS problems. However, Version 4 on HP-UX 11.0 is incompatible with Version 2 and earlier. Workarounds are discussed below.

Compatibility

License Database Conversion from Version 3 to Version 4

A license database file built with Version 3 of iFOR/LS (HP-UX 10.20 and 10.10) is not compatible with this 11.0 version. Translating an existing license database is accomplished by executing the command /opt/ifor/ls/bin/v3tov4. This command, if necessary, is executed when the new version of the LSSERV product is installed. Data files created with this version are not portable to a system running an older version of iFOR/LS. License databases created with iFOR/LS Version 4 on HP-UX 10.30 are compatible with the HP-UX 11.0 release.

Version 2 Client Incompatibility

Clients linked with Version 2 and earlier iFOR/LS libraries obtaining licenses from an HP-UX 11.0 server will be affected because these clients rely on NCS to communicate with the server.

The preferred solution is for the application to be relinked with the Version 3 or Version 4 iFOR/LS libraries configured to use direct binding. If that is not possible, the customer should contact Hewlett Packard for further support.