Troubleshooting SySAM

Cannot find license type during the Adaptive Server installation

The Adaptive Server installation program displays only the most commonly used license types. If you are using a legacy license or a new license type, your license may not be listed by the isntallation program.

If you do not find the license type you need, select “Unknown” or “Other” from the drop-down list and complete the installation. After the installation is complete, use sp_lmconfig to change the license type. See the Reference Manual:Procedures for sp_lmconfig usage information.

The installation program produces a warning about not finding a suitable license

If you select a served license model, the install program checks for a license with the selected edition and license type. A warning message is displayed if no suitable license is available.

If you are performing a new Adaptive Server installation or upgrading an existing Adaptive Server version 12.5.x or earlier, proceed with the installation. Adaptive Server provides a 30 day grace period to resolve licensing issues. Once the installion is complete, debug the license check-out failure. For more information, see “Adaptive Server cannot check out a license and starts with graced license instead” in this table.

If you are upgrading an existing Adaptive Server version 15.0 or later, Adaptive Server may not start after the upgrade if you do not have a suitable license. Exit the installation program and see if the existing Adaptive Server is able to check-out licenses. If it is not, troubleshoot this issue and then proceed with the upgrade.

If the existing Adaptive Server is able to check-out licenses, verify the license you are using authorizes use of the update you are applying. This can be determined using the date based version of your license file and the date this update was released. You must have a license with a date based version that is greater than or equal to the date the update was released. Adaptive Server provides a grace period for updating the licenses after support is renewed.

The date based version of the license can be determined from the Version column of the output from sp_lmconfig, by looking at the license checkout message in the Adaptive Server errorlog, or by examining the license itself. For more information, see Appendix A, “Anatomy of a License,” of the Sybase Software Asset Management User’s Guide.

The release date of the Adaptive Server can be determined by the date displayed in the version string, cover letter, or SPDC download link. This data is also shown in the error message posted.

You can download an updated license from SPDC, if your support was paid for the date the update was released. If you support was not paid, you are not authorized to install an update.

See Appendix B of Sybase Software Asset Management User’s Guide for explanation of how SySAM uses date-based versioning. See “Updating your Sybase licenses” in Chapter 3, “Getting and Using your Licenses,” in the Sybase Software Asset Management User’s Guide for how to update your license.

The license server executables and scripts are not installed

The sysam wrapper script and the executables for the license server (lmgrd and SYBASE) are not installed or found in the SYSAM-2_0 bin directory.

The license server component is not selected for installation by default. To install the license server, choose the Custom install option and select license server component.

Alternatively, you can download a standalone SySAM license server install program from SPDC.

The license server does not start

The most common cause for the license server failing to start is that there are no served licenses in the server. In order for license server to start, there needs to be at least one served license in the licenses directory. When you install a new license server, there are no served licenses in the licenses directory and the license server does not start until you activate a license from SPDC and copy it into the licenses directory.

Other causes for license server not to start include:

• The license activated from SPDC was an unserved license. Examine the license files. Served licenses always start with a SERVER header. If you do not see a line starting with SERVER at the top of the license, you are using an unserved license which does not work with the license server.

• If you are using a specific port number for the license, that port number may already be in use. Use "netstat -a" to verify that the port number is free. If not, free the port or use a different port number for the license server.

• The host name recorded in the SERVER header does not match the actual host name. The host name is recorded next to the SERVER keyword. If it does not match, correct the host name in the license file or set it to "this_host", which is a keyword that works with any host name.

• The licenses copied may be activated for a different machine. Examine the Host ID recorded in the line. It is recorded next to the host name in the SERVER header. It must match the Host ID for the machine where license server will be running.

The license server does not recognize the license files

If the license server refuses to serve the licenses, this may be because:

• The license was activated for a different machine or activated using incorrect host ID. Examine the host ID recorded in the license with the host ID for the machine. If they are mismatched, check-in and regenerate the license with the correct host ID.

• The license has been altered. Nothing in the license except some designated information can be altered. The license is rejected if you change other information. If the license is being created by typing from a paper copy, verify if there are any errors entering the license. You can also download a new copy of the activated license from SPDC.

If the Host ID for your platform is based on the Network adapter identification, verify that you have used an ID associated with a valid NIC. IDs associated with loopback adapters are not valid. If the ID associated with a removable network adapter was used, ensure that the adapter is attached to the computer.

Adaptive Server does not start, and generates a license check-out failure error

If Adaptive Server cannot check out the required license, it determines whether the license can be issued in grace mode. If a grace period cannot be given, the license is not granted. If the base license for Adaptive Server (ASE_CORE) was in grace and the issue is not fixed by the end of the grace period, Adaptive Server fails to start.

For more information, see “Adaptive Server cannot check out a license and starts with graced license instead” in this table. The troubleshooting tips for resolving licenses issued under grace apply to solve this issue as well.

Adaptive Server cannot check out a license and starts with graced license instead

Execute the sysam diag feature_name command from the SYSAM-2_0 bin directory, where feature_name is the SySAM feature name for Adaptive Server or the optional feature that is in grace mode. The feature name is printed in the Adaptive Server errorlog and in the optional e-mail notifications.

If the diag command shows no licenses available for check-out, this may be due to one of the following reasons:

• If you are using a served model:

  • Verify that the license server is running and reachable from the machine you are using. Use "sysam status" to verify that you can access the license server. If you cannot access the license server, see if the license server is running.

  • If the license server is running, use "sysam status -f feature_name" to determine whether the license server is serving a license for the given feature. If not, obtain the correct licenses from SPDC.

  • All licenses on the license server may be in use. If "sysam status -f feature_name" indicates that no licenses are available, obtain additional licenses or shutdown existing instances of Adaptive Server.

• If you are using an unserved model:

  • The license for the given feature may not be copied in the local licenses directory. Obtain the correct licenses from SPDC and copy them to the local licenses directory.

  • The license may have been activated for a different machine or activated with incorrect host ID. Check-in and reactivate the license with the correct host ID.

• The available licenses are for a different operating system or architecture. Obtain license for the correct platform from SPDC.

• If you are running in a terminal server environment, unserved licenses cannot be used. Set up served licenses for a terminal server environment.

• The available license may not authorize use of this version of Adaptive Server. For information about date based versioning, see Appendix B, “Installing Product Updates, EBFs, and Support Renewal” in the Sybase Software Asset Management User’s Guide. For information about how to update your license, see the “Updating your Sybase licenses” section in Chapter 3, “Getting and Using your License,” in the Sybase Software Asset Management User’s Guide.

Adaptive Server cannot checkout a license and starts with graced license instead (continued)

If the diag command shows the license for the given feature is available for check-out, the reason that Adaptive Server cannot check-out the license could be:

• The product edition or license type does not match the requirement. If the edition and license type configuration parameters are set, Adaptive Server uses only the license that matches these settings.

  1. Run sp_lmconfig to see the configured values.

  2. Check the VENDOR_STRING attribute of the licenses to make sure a matching license exists.

     If a matching license does not exist, obtain a suitable license from SPDC or adjust the Adaptive Server configuration.

     If Adaptive Server cannot start because the grace period expired, examine the servername.properties file located in the ASE-15_0/sysam directory under your SYBASE directory for values. These values are stored in two lines that start with PE= and LT=. These lines are present only if the configuration is set.

• Also see “Adaptive Server cannot find license for optional feature, even though the license exists” in this table for more information.

Adaptive Server shows graced licenses even after the issue has been fixed

Adaptive Server performs license checks periodically, and the license status is not immediately updated. It is updated only after the next heartbeat cycle is completed. This may take a few hours.

Adaptive Server cannot find license for an optional feature, even though the license exists

Execute "sysam diag feature_name" to ensure that license for the optional feature exists and can be checked out from the machine where Adaptive Server is running. If the feature exists, but cannot be checked out from Adaptive Server, this could be because:

• The optional feature is for a different edition.

• The Active or Standby flags do not match for base Adaptive Server and the optional feature.

Execute sp_lmconfig to determine the edition and active and standby configuration value. The edition and active and standby values are displayed in the Property Name / Property Value table. The edition value is displayed in the PE row and active and standby value is displayed in the AS row.

Compare the values of PE and AS for the Adaptive Server with the same values recorded in the VENDOR_STRING and ISSUER fields of the optional feature license. They must match. Some features like ASE_HA are not offered with standby pricing, so there is no "AS=A|S" flag in the license for this feature. This field is not considered when searching for a license without active and standby captability.

Adaptive Server does not start with the expected edition or license type

If the edition and license type configuration parameters are not set, Adaptive Server uses the first available ASE_CORE license. If you have multiple ASE_CORE licenses with different editions and license types, which license is the first available depends on many factors such as license file directory sort order, available licenses on the license server, and so on.

Because what edition and license type is granted cannot be guaranteed, Sybase recommends that you set the edition and license type configuration parameters. When these parameters are set, you are assured that Adaptive Server starts with that configuration. If a matching license were to be unavailable, Adaptive server starts under grace (if available) to allow you to resolve the licensing issue.

Adaptive Server does not pick the correct license

When Adaptive Server looks for a license, it does so in the following locations:

• Any saved values in the registry on Windows platforms, or the .flexlmrc file on UNIX platforms. Use "lmpath -status" to view the saved values.

• The values set for SYBASE_LICENSE_FILE and LM_LICENSE_FILE environment variables.

• All license files (any file with a .lic extension) in the licenses directory under the SYSAM-2_0 directory.

All of the above locations are searched in the order specified until a suitable license is found. When a directory is specified, license files in that directory are loaded in the directory sort order.

The first license that matches the feature name, version, edition, and license type filter is used. This license may not be what you were expecting to use. Adjust the above locations to control this.