Monitoring InputAccel Licenses, Page Counts, and Grace Periods

Monitoring InputAccel Licenses, Page Counts, and Grace Periods

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Contents InputAccel Licensing... 1 Understanding Page Counts... 1 Monitoring Licenses and Page Counts... 1 To monitor the dates when licenses expire:... 2 To monitor total server page counts:... 2 To monitor available module or server page counts:... 2 Creating a log filter to monitor logs for expiring licenses or page counts:... 3 Actions to consider when page count limit is reached:... 3 Understanding Server Grace Period... 3 To monitor the server grace period:... 4 Factors Causing a Server Hardware Grace Period... 4

InputAccel Licensing InputAccel provides different types of licensing, depending on processing needs. InputAccel licensing is based on date ranges, page counts per day, and other factors, and is customized for the needs of each customer. Because licensing is centralized within the InputAccel Database, the Administration Console can manage licenses and page counts for all InputAccel Servers throughout an enterprise. License types include daily, group, periodic, service bureau, and attended client licenses. More information on licenses is available in the Administration Guide. Also, if you are unsure about your licensing, contact your Account Manager. Understanding Page Counts Page counts determine the number of pages that you can process through the InputAccel system. The available page count is determined by your license. The page count decrements each time a page enters the system. A page is defined as a single-sided image, which is scanned or imported into an InputAccel Server by modules such as ScanPlus, Multi-Directory Watch, Email Import, WS Input, Ricoh GlobalScan Plug-in, or any other module that can add a page for processing. For every page scanned or imported in simplex mode, one page is counted. For every page scanned or imported in duplex mode, two pages are counted. Each single-sided page is counted once when it enters an InputAccel system. Monitoring Licenses and Page Counts Administrators need to know when module licensing is nearing a critical point. Critical points happen when any of the following occur: Available module page count is nearing zero Available server page count is nearing zero Valid Until date is approaching Not enough licensed module connections When a license nears a point where it will no longer enable a module to process pages (typically, when its available page count is nearing zero), the InputAccel Server logs appropriate messages to the Windows Event log on the InputAccel Server machine. Users can monitor the Event log for these messages or monitor licenses and page counts through the Administration Console. The Administration Console provides the Module Licenses window to monitor InputAccel module licenses and available page counts. Various columns display the pages used and pages available, as well as the percentage of available pages and the percentage of total number of licensed copies of each module used. By monitoring this window, you can determine whether you have adequate licenses and be aware of approximately how long until your licensed page count is reached. 1

To monitor the dates when licenses expire: 2. Select Licensing / Security from the navigation panel. The Licensing / Security pane displays. 3. In the Licensing pane, click View License Codes. The License Codes pane displays the license codes added to the system. 4. The Valid until column displays the date until when the license is valid. The license expires after that date. Note that this column is not enabled by default. Users must add this column to the grid or double-click on the license code to view all its parameters. To monitor total server page counts: 2. Select Licensing / Security from the navigation panel. The Licensing / Security pane displays. 3. In the Licensing pane, click View License Codes. The License Codes pane displays the license codes added to the system. 4. The Pages column displays the number of pages that can be processed with the license and provides the date in the Issue Date column when the page count is reset. Only the date and month are relevant. To monitor available module or server page counts: 2. In the Administration Console window, select Licensing / Security from the navigation panel. The Licensing / Security pane displays. 3. In the Licensing area, click View Module Licenses. The Module Licenses pane displays a list of licensed modules on each InputAccel Server. 4. Monitor these three columns: Pages used: Displays the number of pages that have already been processed by the module/server using the current set of license codes. Pages Available: Displays the number of remaining pages that the module/server can process using the current set of license codes. Percent Pages Used: Percentage of page licenses that have been used for the module/server on the InputAccel Server. 2

Creating a log filter to monitor logs for expiring licenses or page counts: All warning and errors are logged to the Windows Event log that customers can monitor. Other than the Windows Event log, customers can create custom logs in Administration Console to monitor specific warnings that they are interested in. 1. In the Administration Console window, select Reports / Logs from the navigation panel. 2. Select View Log View Filters to display the Log View Filters pane. 3. Click Add. The Add Log View Filter pane displays. 4. Type a Name and optional Description for the filter. 5. Select Log Type and Codes from the Filtering list box. 6. From Available Log Codes, select the appropriate server log code to monitor by the log rule. Click the > arrow to move the log code into the Selected Log Codes box. Click OK to save the filter. Examples of log codes that you can select: IAS.768: logs a warning when the maximum page count is about to be reached. IAS.769: logs a warning when the module license is about to expire. IAS.779: logs a warning when the grace period has expired. IAS.1157 warns about reaching licensing capacity. 7. Refer to the InputAccel Documentation: InputAccel Server: Error, Warning, and Audit Log Codes topic for a list of all server log codes that you can monitor. 8. Monitor the created log view filter: a. In the Administration Console window, select Reports / Logs from the navigation panel. b. Select View Logs to display the Logs pane. c. Select the filter you created from the Filter drop down list and monitor the log entries. Actions to consider when page count limit is reached: Obtain a new license with additional page counts. Contact your Account Manager or Licensing Operations. Wait until the Valid Until date of your license for the page count to reset. Understanding Server Grace Period Within an InputAccel system, InputAccel Servers are authorized to function by activating and by using hardware or software security keys. The security key establishes the Server ID. Activating an InputAccel Server authorizes the server to function. To enable immediate operation during the time it takes to obtain server activation codes, InputAccel Servers function for a predefined grace period. During the grace period, the InputAccel Server operates with full functionality and performance and can be used just as a customer would use an activated and licensed InputAccel Server. However, once the grace period expires, all license codes stop to work and the InputAccel Server stops functioning. There is only minimal functionality that is maintained to enable the Administration Console to connect to the server for the purposes of establishing a valid activation. 3

To monitor the server grace period: 2. In the Administration Console window, select Licensing / Security from the navigation panel. The Licensing / Security pane displays. 3. Select Server Activations. Monitor the Grace Period column and make sure to activate the server before the grace period expires. Factors Causing a Server Hardware Grace Period When the server Profile ID changes, the server goes into a hardware grace period. After the hardware grace period is reached, the server is no longer valid and needs to be reactivated. The profile ID is computed based on a hardware profile snapshot of the InputAccel Server machine at the time that you run the installation wizard. As a result, it is machine specific. The Profile ID is used to activate the server, and acts as a security measure to prevent installing InputAccel Servers with the same Server ID on multiple machines. Thus, it is propriety information as to what factors will cause the Profile ID to change. Changes that can cause the server profile ID to change: Modifying the server machine name Modifying CPUs Moving InputAccel Server from one VM image to another Changes to the Disk Controller Changes to the network Adapter Changes to the Video Adapter Adding or removing disk drives These changes can result in the server Profile ID changing. When this happens, the server moves into a hardware grace period and you will get a message similar to the following: "The InputAccel Server environment has changed significantly since the last time you activated the product. The server is now fully operational in a grace period that will expire in x days, x hours, x minutes. To resolve this, reconfigure your server hardware back to its previous configuration and restart InputAccel Server or reactivate the product. To reactivate now, refer to the InputAccel Installation and Configuration Guide." After the grace period, the server is no longer valid and needs to be reactivated by obtaining a new server activation key and then reactivating the server. 4