'Running out' of mvBase licenses unexpectedly.

Occasionally, users may encounter a situation where they are unable to connect additional mvBase clients (mvTERM, telnet sessions, terminals or modems attached to COM ports etc) because the mvBase server believes that all licenses are in use.

This is always due to some inappropriate or inaccurate configuration of the mvBase clients in the mvBase workstation, or the lack of disconnection control being specified at TCL.

What often happens is one or more of the following:

1. mvBase Administrators configure the mvBase Workstation COM port client to Connect on Workstation Startup and then forget that they do not have terminals (or other devices) attached to all the COM ports they're causing to be connected to the server.

   Specifying Connect on demand (which is when the Connect on Workstation Startup checkbox in the Com Port client configuration in the mvBase Administration utility is clear) will cause those COM port clients with no terminals or other serial devices attached to them to not consume licenses.

2. mvBase Administrators configure the mvBase Workstation COM port clients and then use them for serial printers, but forget to set the Serial Printer checkbox. This causes the serial printer clients to consume a license unnecessarily.

   Similarly, the mvBase Telnet server clients can also be used to accept connections from Network Terminal Servers that have serial printers attached to one or more of their ports. Each port used for a serial printer (as opposed to a terminal or modem) attached to a Network Terminal Server should have the Serial Printer checkbox set.

3. Customers have more terminals than licenses and only expect to have some of the terminals in use at any one time. When terminal users logoff, they forget to manually disconnect from the server, thus continuing to consume a license.

   They should either use the Disconnect on Logoff feature available in the COM port client, or the AUTO-DISCONNECT TCL verb, (or less preferably, alter their OFF TCL verb to be a Proc or mvBASIC program which executes a DISCONNECT verb before executing OFF).

4. mvBase Administrators setup one or more mvTELNET telnet servers and have users connecting in from other systems. Each connection consumes a license since the Telnet Clients are on a different system to the mvTELNET server (which is where the mvBase Workstation is being run). Then after the users have logged off, they forget to disconnect their telnet session and thus continue to consume a license. They should use the AUTO-DISCONNECT TCL verb. To ensure that the client disconnects when the user has logged off.

If a problem still appears to exist with licenses being unexpectedly consumed after eliminating all of the above causes, then at the point when the licensees appears to run out, check do the following:

STOP everyone from logging OFF or disconnecting clients. The following quick actions require a static environment in order to be meaningful so that the information gathers represents the 'out of licenses' situation.

Logon to the DEMO account and run the USYS command. This will display (amongst other information) the number of users connected and the number of licenses that those connections consume.

Then quickly, at TCL run a LISTLINES (A or just a LISTLINES command and see how many LINES have clients connected (The client type should show mvTERM, Telnet: xxxx, the name of some Windows printer, or a COM port #).

Reconcile all the information you gather to see which clients are using the licenses.