Install LicenseServer (Linux)

Altova LicenseServer can be installed on Linux systems (Debian, Ubuntu, CentOS, RedHat).

System requirements

•	CentOS 6 or newer

•	RedHat 6 or newer

•	Debian 8 or newer

•	Ubuntu 14.04 or newer

The following libraries are required as a prerequisite to install and run the application. If the packages below are not already available on your Linux machine, run the command yum (or apt-get if applicable) to install them.

Required by	CentOS, RedHat	Debian	Ubuntu
LicenseServer	krb5-libs	libgssapi-krb5-2	libgssapi-krb5-2

Uninstalling old versions of LicenseServer

On the Linux command line interface (CLI), you can check whether LicenseServer is installed with the following command:

[Debian, Ubuntu]: dpkg --list | grep Altova

[CentOS, RedHat]: rpm -qa | grep server

If LicenseServer is not installed, go ahead with the installation as documented in the next steps. If LicenseServer is installed and you wish to install a newer version of it, uninstall the old version with the command:

[Debian, Ubuntu]: sudo dpkg --remove licenseserver

[CentOS, RedHat]: sudo rpm -e licenseserver

Installing Altova LicenseServer

On Linux systems, LicenseServer must be installed independently of other Altova server products. It is not included as part of the installation packages of Altova server products. Download Altova LicenseServer from the Altova website and copy the package to any directory on the Linux system.

Distribution	Installer extension
Debian	.deb
Ubuntu	.deb
CentOS	.rpm
RedHat	.rpm

In a terminal window, switch to the directory where you have copied the Linux package. For example, if you copied it to a user directory called MyAltova (that is located, say, in the /home/User directory), then switch to this directory as follows:

cd /home/User/MyAltova

Install LicenseServer as a root user. If you do not wish to be logged in as root, you can use the sudo command to temporarily exercise root-user privileges. Install LicenseServer with the following command:

[Debian]: sudo dpkg --install licenseserver-3.1-debian.deb

[Ubuntu]: sudo dpkg --install licenseserver-3.1-ubuntu.deb

[CentOS]: sudo rpm -ivh licenseserver-3.1-1.x86_64.rpm

[RedHat]: sudo rpm -ivh licenseserver-3.1-1.x86_64.rpm

•	The LicenseServer package will be installed in: /opt/Altova/LicenseServer/bin

•

A user named altovalicenseserver will be created, which will have the necessary rights to run LicenseServer. When LicenseServer is started as a daemon (or service), it will be started automatically as this user. (You can also, of course, (i) create a new user with privileges that will enable this user to access LicenseServer, or (ii) start LicenseServer as root user (which has maximum privileges), but neither of these steps is either required or recommended, because (i) they each have their disadvantages, and (ii) the altovalicenseserver user has all the rights that are needed to run LicenseServer and is a separate and dedicated user.)

Note: You can also run LicenseServer as altovalicenseserver in interactive mode. For example on CentOS 7, you can debug like this: sudo runuser -l altovalicenseserver -c '/opt/Altova/LicenseServer/bin/licenseserver debug'. The disadvantage of the interactive mode is that LicenseServer will stop running when the terminal session is closed.

Background information about running LicenseServer as a service

Note the following points:

•	It is best to run LicenseServer as a daemon (or service). If you run LicenseServer in interactive mode, then it will stop running when the terminal session is closed.

•

When running LicenseServer as a daemon, it is best to manage LicenseServer via the initctl or systemctl command. Both of these commands can be run only with root-user privileges. So, if you are running as a non-root user, then use the sudo command to temporarily gain root-user privileges (sudo initctl... and sudo systemctl... ).

•

Once LicenseServer has been started as a daemon, it will automatically run as the altovalicenseserver user, which (i) was created by the LicenseServer installer at installation time, and (ii) has all the necessary rights for running LicenseServer. For more information, see the section about starting LicenseServer.

For information about how to proceed with assigning licenses, see the section How to Assign Licenses.

Version compatibility between LicenseServer and Altova products

New versions of Altova products can only be licensed with the version of LicenseServer that is the latest at the time of the Altova product's release. However, older versions of Altova products will work with newer versions of LicenseServer.

Consequently, if you are installing a new version of an Altova product and if your current LicenseServer version is not the latest, then de-install the older LicenseServer version and install the latest version from the Altova website. All registration and licensing information held in your older version of LicenseServer will be saved at the time of de-installation to a database on your machine, and will be imported automatically into the newer version of LicenseServer.

If you choose to install a newer version of LicenseServer without de-installing your older version, then the older version will be de-installed automatically by the LicenseServer installer before the newer version is installed.

The version number of your LicenseServer is given at the bottom of all tabs of the LicenseServer configuration page.

Also see: Updating LicenseServer