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About licensing

Most of Test Services is free to use, but a few tests require a license. Knowing which tests need one, how a license is consumed, and where licenses come from helps you plan how many you need. It also helps you avoid surprises when a test fails for lack of one. For the procedure to install and manage licenses, see Manage licenses. For a quick reference of which license enables which test, see Licensing.

What needs a license and what does not​

You do not need any license to log in, to view past results and reports, or to run the tests that confirm the software and the system itself: the System Report, the Software Installation Verification Test, and the Connectivity Test. These run out of the box.

Three tests require a license because they verify deeper aspects of a compliant deployment:

  • Security Test and Storage System Test are enabled by the same license. One license covers both on a given machine.
  • Workflow Test is enabled by its own license.

How a license is consumed​

A license checkout is associated with the machine that runs a licensed test, not with a user or an individual test run. Test Services acquires the license the first time the test runs and holds it for the lifetime of the service process; it is not released when the test finishes. A graceful service shutdown releases the checkout. After an unexpected shutdown, the license server eventually reclaims it. See the documentation for your OpenLab licensing system for information about license checkout recovery times.

This per-machine, held model has a practical consequence. Suppose your deployment has fewer licenses than machines that want to run licensed tests. The machines that acquire licenses first keep them until their Test Services services stop or restart gracefully, or until the license server reclaims the checkouts after an unexpected shutdown. A later machine then fails at the license-check step until a license becomes available.

note

If a licensed test fails at the "Checking for license" step, no license was available for that machine. Previously stored results remain viewable.

Where licenses come from​

All applicable Test Services licenses are included with OpenLab CDS Workstation Plus systems, so a Workstation Plus needs no separate purchase. For every other OpenLab CDS product, the licenses are purchased and installed separately before a licensed test can run.

A common point of confusion is the standard OpenLab CDS 60-day startup license. That startup license does not enable the licensed Test Services tests. To run them, you install the specific Test Services licenses: the Security Test and Storage System Test are covered by the Test Services: OpenLab Security and Storage Test license, and the Workflow Test is covered by the Test Services: CDS Workflow license. Licenses are managed through the Control Panel, using the same licensing subsystem as the rest of OpenLab CDS. The newer Licensing 2.0 electronic licensing system supports online activation and management. Test Services also supports SubscribeNet licenses that are already installed in OpenLab Shared Services.

See also​

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