Overview:

• Step 1: Setup log file
• Step 2: Restart the RMS Sentinel License Manager Service
• Step 3: Obtaining the results in a more readable format
  • Format of the CSV file
• Do you still require help?

Further (external) information/alternative logging options:

• Sentinel License Manager (LM) - System Administrator Guide (PDF)
• SDL Licensing Server Manager logging features (Part 1)
• SDL Licensing Server Manager logging features (Part 2)

Step 1: Setup log file

Set up -l usage-log-file option for the LSERVOPTS system environment variable. As per the "System Administrator's Help.html" document, this option specifies the location (directory) and name of the license server’s usage log file, which enables usage logging. By default, usage logging is disabled.

For example, we can setup the log file to be c:\Test\usage.txt by setting the system environment variable as shown in the figure below (the directory c:\Test must exist; the log file itself, ie. usage.txt may or may not exist):

Step 2: Restart the RMS Sentinel License Manager Service

Restart the RMS Sentinel License Manager Service for the new options to take place:

From this point on, the license usage is being logged into the c:\test\usage.txt file.

Step 3: Obtaining the results in a more readable format

If you would like to get the results in a more readable format you can run the lsusage command located in “C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\SDL\Sentinel”.
Running the following string from the command line...

...will create a c:\temp\usage.csv file that contains the usage statistics in a comma-separated-values format. See example:

The CSV file can be imported to Excel or Access to visualize the usage statistics.

Format of the CSV file

The format of the CSV file is not documented in Sentinel documentation, but the following was determined from the investigation of the csv file:

(1) The description of the individual fields is provided below:

A. FeatureName - name of the product and feature or level

B. Version - version of the product

C. DayOfWeek - day of week when the license was checked in or out

D. DateOfTrans - date when the license was checked in or out

E. TimeOfDay - time when the license was checked in or out

F. LoggingType - 0 for license was checked out, 2 for license was checked in

G. KeysInUse - number of licenses that were checked out for the given product level or feature

H. UsageTime - number of seconds the license was checked out

I. UserName - name of the user who checked the license in or out

J. HostName - host name of the computer from which the license was checked in or out

K. LmLibVer - version of Sentinel License Manager Server

L. NoOfLicenses - number of licenses that were checked in or out

M. ClientLockedStr

N. QueueKeyId

O. AbsPos

P. GrpPos

Q. GrpName

(2) Rows with columns (F, H) = (0, 0) are when the license was gotten, and the rows with (F, H) = (2, t) are when the license was released, with t = time difference between these, in seconds. The time t can be easily confirmed by differencing column E of the rows.

(3) There does not appear to be a way to determine which end row corresponds to which beginning row for the same user, but a very simple logic could be written to figure it out. It is also easy to see how many simultaneous license are open, by adding the check-outs and subtracting the check-ins, in sequence.

(4) The last 5 columns are details of the license and they are not needed for license usage tracking.

Do you still require help?

If this article has not solved your issue or if you require assistance, contact the SDL Support Team:

• For customers holding a support contract:
  1. Log in to the SDL Gateway with your SDL Account.
  2. Click on the blue Log a Case button.
     Note: For detailed instructions, refer to the video tutorial.
• For customers without a support contract: request support through our Web Form for TP Licensing & Installation Issues on https://gateway.sdl.com.