| Applies To | |||
| Product(s): | SELECTserver and Subscription Entitlement Service | ||
| Version(s): | N/A | ||
| Environment: | N/A | ||
| Area: | Administration | ||
| Subarea: | License Management | ||
| Original Author: | Jeremy Hoesly, Bentley Technical Support Group | ||
This support solution provides strategies for limiting product usage to avoid unintentional overuse of products.
Background
The SELECTserver licensing system serves as a reporting mechanism that gathers Bentley product usage from client machines and transmits the data to Bentley. To ensure product availability when needed the system does not require real-time communication, therefore it does not deny product usage. The newer Subscription Entitlement Service can now alert users before using products in excess of a defined limit to assist with usage management, but some product owners may wish to restrict usage further to remain within their limits. This support solution provides a number of strategies that can be employed to address that request.
Steps to Accomplish
Option 1: Use dedicated workstations for Bentley product use
Because usage for many Bentley desktop applications is counted by unique machines, Bentley usage can effectively be limited to one usage per 10-minute interval by limiting all usage to dedicated machines that equal the total number of product licenses. Engineers can physically work on these dedicated machines. Even if usage is logged and reported under different user accounts on a dedicated machine, the usage will be consolidated for billing purposes.
For dedicated machines running a client operating system (i.e. Windows Vista, 7, 8, etc.), remote access can be enabled to share it with others that do not have physical access while providing the same usage benefits. Client operating systems will only allow one person to utilize a workstation at a time which complies with Bentley's licensing agreement. For clarity, the licensing agreement does not permit simultaneous usage by multiple users if they are indistinguishable from each other.
To enable remote access, please perform the following steps:
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Open the System control panel.
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Click the “Remote settings” link on the left sidebar.
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Under the Remote Desktop heading, select the second or third option to permit connections via Remote Desktop.
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Click the Select Users button to restrict access to specific users if needed.
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Click the OK button to save changes.
Important: The Remote Desktop option above is only advantageous for use on client operating systems since they limit usage to one active user at a time. A server operating system (i.e. Windows Server 2008, 2012, etc.) in contrast permits more than one user to connect and use Bentley products simultaneously.
Note: When finished with a Bentley product in use over a remote session, please be sure to explicitly close the product. Do not merely disconnect from the remote session. Disconnecting from a session will not close the product! As a best practice, please open the Windows Start menu, and select Sign Out. This will close any open products and log off of the machine, closing the remote session as well. As a safety measure, the following wiki provides instructions for automatically logging out disconnected users.
Option 2: Schedule time for product usage in an online calendar
Use an online calendar such as Microsoft Outlook or Google Calendar to schedule one or more hours to use a specific product. Then use the product only within the allotted time.
Option 3: Use a third-party license manager
Bentley is aware of the following third-party license managers that explicitly support Bentley products and enforce license compliance by maintaining separate usage statistics:
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K2 from Sassafras Software
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SofTrack from Integrity Software
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Licentie Controle Applicatie (English version) from 4D Select
Note: While Bentley is aware of the third-party license managers above, it does not develop or have in-depth knowledge of their inner workings. Consequently, troubleshooting efforts for product activation issues arising from the use of such license managers may require involvement from the vendor's product support team.