Using the vFabric License Check Tool

You use the vFabric License Check Tool for two tasks:

Check the Validity of an Existing License Key

If you have previously installed one or more vFabric components, such as vFabric GemFire or vFabric Hyperic, you might already have a license key (also referred to as a serial number in the following procedure). However, you need to confirm whether it is valid for the latest release of the component or in the context of vFabric Platform. The vfabric-licensetool checkserial utility checks the validity of your existing license key.

For each license key that you input, the utility displays detailed information such as the vFabric component to which it is associated, the type of license key, the capacity, and its expiration date.

Procedure

From the Drivers and Tools tab of the download page for tc Server, Hyperic, or GemFire download the vfabric-licensetool checkserialutility ZIP file onto the computer on which you want to run it.
Unzip the file into a directory.
The utility and supporting files are unzipped into the vfabric-vfchksn-version child directory.
If necessary, install a JDK or JRE on the computer.
Be sure the JAVA_HOME and PATH environment variables point to the JDK or JRE.
For example, if you installed the JDK in /usr/java/jdk1.6.0_24, you can set the environment variables in the user's Linux profile as follows:
```
export JAVA_HOME=/usr/java/jdk1.6.0_24
export PATH=$JAVA_HOME/bin:$PATH
```
Open a command (Windows) or terminal (Linux) window, change to the directory in which you unzipped the utility, and run the following (Linux):
```
prompt$ vfabric-licensetool checkserial [options] serial-number
```
On Windows:
```
prompt> vfabric-licensetool.bat checkserial [options] serial-number
```
You can specify the following options:
- -f input-filename : Read the license key from a text file called input-filename rather than from the command line.
- -o output-filename : Print results to a file called output-filename rather than to the standard output.
- -? : Print usage information.
For example, to view information about the validity of a license key (G52D1-9FQ1K-48CLT-0CZK2-3RWJG in the example) and write the output to a file called validity-output.txt, run the following (Linux):
```
prompt$ cd /opt/vfabric/utils/vfabric-vfchksn-1.0.1
prompt$ vfabric-licensetool checkserial -o validity-output.txt G52D1-9FQ1K-48CLT-0CZK2-3RWJG
```
In the preceding example, it is implied that you unzipped the ZIP file into the /opt/vfabric/utils directory.
The validity-output.txt file contains information similar to the following:
```
G52D1-9FQ1K-48CLT-0CZK2-3RWJG:
vFabric 5.0 License.
   Product:        vFabric
   Edition:        vf.pfm.adv
   Description:    VMware vFabric Advanced
   Quantity:       50
   ExpirationDate: never
   Addons:         none
```

Display the Component Events File in Readable Format

Each vFabric component keeps an events file that records events such as when the component start and stop times, as well as when it used its license. This events log file is difficult to read in its raw form, so you can use the vfabric-licensetool printevents utility to display these events in a more readable format.

Procedure

From the Drivers and Tools tab of the download page for tc Server, Hyperic, or GemFire download the vfabric-licensetool printevents utility ZIP file onto the computer on which you want to run it.
Unzip the file into a directory.
The utility and supporting files are unzipped into the vfabric-vfchksn-version child directory.
If necessary, install a JDK or JRE on the computer.
Be sure the JAVA_HOME and PATH environment variables point to the JDK or JRE.
For example, if you installed the JDK in /usr/java/jdk1.6.0_24, you can set the environment variables in the user's Linux profile as follows:
```
export JAVA_HOME=/usr/java/jdk1.6.0_24
export PATH=$JAVA_HOME/bin:$PATH
```
On the VM on which the vFabric component is installed, open a command (Windows) or terminal (Linux) window, change to the directory in which you unzipped the utility, and run the following (Linux):
```
prompt$ vfabric-licensetool printevents -f events-file
```
On Windows:
```
prompt> vfabric-licensetool.bat printevents -f events-file
```
In the preceding commands, events-file refers to the full pathname of the component events file that you want to display. Each component names and stores its events file differently by default, as described in the following bullets (for Linux):
- tc Server: /opt/vmware/vfabric-tc-server-standard/<instancename>/logs/vf.tc-events.txt
- Spring Insight: /opt/vmware/vfabric-tc-server-standard/<instancename>/insight/data/license/vf.ins-events.txt
- EM4J: /opt/vmware/vfabric/vfabric-tc-server-standard/<instancename>/logs/vf.emj-events.txt
- Hyperic: /opt/hyperic/server-current/hq-engine/hq-server/webapps/ROOT/WEB-INF/license/vf.hyp-events.txt
- GemFire Data Management Node: /var/log/vmware/gemfire/cacheserver/vf.gf.dmn-events.txt
- GemFire Application Cache Node: /var/log/vmware/gemfire/cacheserver/vf.gf.acn-events.txt
- RabbitMQ: /opt/vmware/vFabric/vf.rmq-events.txt
Note that the locations of the events files might differ for your particular vFabric component, depending on how exactly you installed it.
For example, to display event log information in readable fashion for a vFabric RabbitMQ component in which the events file is in its default location, run the following (Linux):
```
prompt$ cd /opt/vfabric/utils/vfabric-vfchksn-1.0.1
prompt$ vfabric-licensetool printevents -f /opt/vmware/vFabric/vf.rmq-events.txt
```
In the preceding example, it is implied that you unzipped the ZIP file into the /opt/vfabric/utils directory.
You should see output similar to the following:
```
2011-11-28T11:16:40 [INFO] The license client's event manager has started.
2011-11-28T11:16:40 [INFO] A local license has been activated with serial number = AB123-AB123-AB123-AB123-AB123, total available = 65535, 
   expiration type = floating-eval, expiration date = unset, allowed components = vf.rmq-2.
2011-11-28T11:16:40 [INFO] A local license has been activated with serial number = DC456-DC456-DC456-DC456-DC456, total available = 60, 
   expiration type = floating-eval, expiration date = unset, 
   allowed components = vf.ins-2+vf.ins-1+vf.tc-3+vf.gf.acn-7+vf.hyp-5+vf.emj-2+vf.rmq-2+vf.hyp-4+vf.ws-5+vf.emj-1+vf.ws-6+vf.sf-2+vf.sf-1+vf.tc-2+vf.gf.acn-6+vf.rmq-3.
2011-11-28T11:16:40 [INFO] Component Instance "self" changed state to "on" at 2011-11-28T11:16:40.
2011-11-28T11:16:40 [INFO] Calculated new state for license with total available units = 65535, license type = local, 
   expiration date = 2011-12-28T11:16:40, enforcement = soft, addons = <empty> It now has a total used count of 1.
2011-11-28T11:16:40 [INFO] Component Instance "self" changed state to "off" at 2011-11-28T11:16:40.
2011-11-28T11:16:40 [INFO] Calculated new state for license with total availableunits = 65535, license type = local, 
   expiration date = 2011-12-28T11:16:40, enforcement = soft, addons = <empty>. It now has a total used count of 0.
```
You can also specify the -o output-file option to print the results to a file called output-file rather than to the standard output. For example, to write the output to a file called events-output.txt:
```
prompt$ vfabric-licensetool printevents -f /opt/vmware/vFabric/vf.rmq-events.txt -o events-output.txt
```