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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 is tied to the machine that runs a licensed test, not to a user or a single run. The license is acquired the first time you run a licensed test on a machine. A message then appears next to the test to confirm it was acquired. From then on, that machine holds the license; it is not returned to the pool when the test finishes.

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. A later machine then fails at the license-check step until a license becomes available. To return a license to the pool, an administrator uninstalls Test Services on a machine that no longer needs it.

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 installed through the Control Panel, using the same licensing subsystem as the rest of OpenLab CDS.

See also​