Installation Overview

PMOD supports two licensing schemes: stand-alone and network licenses.

Licensing, Stand-alone License

The PMOD software stand-alone licensing mechanism consists of two components:

1. a USB protection key (WIBU-Box/RU, WIBU-SYSTEMS AG, http://www.wibu.com), and
2. a license file pstarter.lcs (in sub-directory system/lcs of the PMOD installation).

During PMOD startup the license information encoded in the USB key is read and compared to that in the license file. Only if the two informations match, startup proceeds. Next is a check whether the PMOD version purchased allows running the currently installed version. If all checks are successful, the PMOD ToolBox appears showing the purchased modules, and processing can start. Note that the USB key must remain connected while running PMOD.

Licensing, Network License

The PMOD network licensing scheme consists of a PMOD license server which manages a pool of purchased licenses, and an arbitrary number of PMOD clients which can check out unused licenses from the server. As soon as the PMOD program on a client is closed, the license is returned to the managed server pool. If the PMOD client crashes for some reason, the license is re-collected to the pool after about 15 minutes. On the other hand, if the license server is stopped, the clients show a warning message to the user and allow to continue work for a few minutes. Then, the clients will be stopped, unless the server has been started again.

On the license server PMOD is installed in the same way as for a stand-alone license with the USB key, but the license file turns it into a license server.

On the clients PMOD is also installed in the standard way, except that

• installation of the drivers for the USB protection key is not required;
• no license file is required.

Note the following:

• The license server PMOD installation is only intended for server purposes and not for data processing.
• The license server must be running and the USB key must be connected at all times.
• The license server and the clients must run the same PMOD version.
• It is not required that the license server and the clients have the same operating system.

Java Runtime Environment (JRE)

The entire PMOD software has been programmed in Java and therefore requires an appropriate Java Runtime Environment (JRE) to be executed. During PMOD installation, an appropriately configured JRE is extracted into the java sub-directory of the PMOD installation. This dedicated JRE will then be used for running PMOD. By this controlled environment, PMOD will remain unaffected from changes due to automatic upgrade procedures.

Installation Steps

The installation of the PMOD software consists of the following steps which should be performed in the proposed sequence. They are explained in detail in the following installation sections.

1. Extraction of the PMOD program files, the JRE, and optionally the example data to the Pmod3.9 directory in a user-defined directory.
   This installation step is required for: Stand-alone Installation, License Server, Network Clients.
2. Installation of the USB protection key drivers for reading the information from the WIBU-Box/RU plugged into the USB port. Please do not connect the PMOD USB protection key before this installation has been completed.
   This installation step is required for: Stand-alone Installation, License Server.
3. Installation of the PMOD license file pstarter.lcs. The license file can be downloaded from the Support area of the PMOD website after the personalized login (please refer to the delivery note of your PMOD package for login information).
   This installation step is required for: Stand-alone Installation, License Server.