JP2001142689A - License management system, license managing method and recording medium - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To exactly grasp the number of execution of application and to relieve a burden of a system administrator. SOLUTION: A client 12 executes (starts) the application by receiving execution permit of the application to perform a license authentication request and generates a client process identification key to uniquely identify processes by the application on the server side (3). A server 14 starts a monitoring process by receiving the client process generation key generated by the client 12 (4). In the monitoring process, the application is monitored whether it is executed or not by the client 12 at every prescribed time. (5). When no application is executed, the processes (a license management process, a monitoring process) on the server side are completed.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a license management system, a license management method, and a recording medium. A license management system comprising: a server for restricting the issuance of a number of licenses or more; and a client for starting the execution of the software after receiving the issuance of the license by the server when the software is executed. The present invention relates to a method and a recording medium.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Since application software (hereinafter referred to as "application") used on a computer can be easily copied, it can be illegally used without signing a license (right to use the application). There were many. In order to prevent such unauthorized use of applications, various license management systems for managing application licenses have been developed.

On the other hand, in recent years, companies and the like have been constructing networks such as LANs and WANs, and accordingly, application license agreements (hereinafter referred to as “simultaneous use licenses”) have been granted in such a manner that the maximum number of simultaneous use on the network is permitted. Are increasing.

For example, in the case of an application that needs to be used by all computers connected to a network but is not frequently used on each computer, a normal license agreement (one per computer, one per user) If one license agreement is concluded, the license usage fee becomes extremely high for the time (frequency) of actually using the application. On the other hand, with the simultaneous use license, it is very reasonable to make a license contract that matches the time (frequency) of actually using the software.

[0005] In the case of such a simultaneous use license application, generally, a "lock" is attached to a network to install the application, use restrictions are imposed, and use of the software is permitted from a license management server during use. In response to the "key" to be used, usage restrictions are removed and used. At this time, the server manages the number of issued “keys” to prevent unauthorized use of the application. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 9-319570 discloses a license management method in this case.

More specifically, as shown in FIG. 8, a client-side computer (hereinafter simply referred to as a “client”) receives a request for activating an application (“Yes” in step 400). ), And transmits a license authentication request including the machine ID of the client and the name of the application requested to be activated to the license management server (step 402).

In response to the license authentication request, the license management server performs a license management process for the application. Specifically, the license information stored in the license file is read (step 500), and it is determined whether the client can execute the application (step 502).

If it is determined that the client can execute the application, an authentication result indicating the execution permission (corresponding to the above-mentioned “key”) is transmitted to the client (step 504), and the application is currently executed. The content k of a counter for counting the number of clients present is incremented by 1 (step 50).
6). On the other hand, if it is determined that the client cannot execute the application, an authentication result indicating the non-execution is transmitted to the client (step 50).
8).

When the client receives an authentication result indicating execution permission (Yes at step 404 (Y))
Is executed, the application is activated, and processing by the application is executed (step 406).
However, if an authentication result indicating that execution is not permitted is received (negative determination (N) in step 404), the application is not started.

When the client terminates the application after executing the processing by the application (step 408), a termination notification including the application name is sent to the license server (step 410).

When the license management server receives the end notification, it decrements the content k of the counter storing the number of clients currently executing the application by one (step 508).

Here, specifically, the number of concurrent executions (hereinafter referred to as “the number of licenses”) defined in the license contract for the application is “m”, and k clients currently execute the application. And the above processing will be described.

If k is smaller than m (k <m) and another client 2 requests the activation of the application, the license management server determines that the client can execute the application, and executes the application. Send the authentication result indicating permission.

When k is m (k = m) and another client 2 requests the activation of the application, the current number of executions has already reached the number of licenses, and further execution is permitted. Since it is not possible, the license management server sends an authentication result indicating that execution is not permitted to the client. Therefore, the application is not executed on the client.

[0015]

However, according to the prior art, when an application terminates abnormally, such as when the application is executed (started) on a client and some kind of trouble occurs and the application goes down, A process corresponding to the application remains on the server side, and the license count for the abnormal termination has not been cleared (decremented). Therefore, there is a problem that the number of clients that can execute the application at the same time becomes smaller than the original number of licenses.

Further, in order to return the application to a state in which the application can be simultaneously executed by the original number of licenses, the system administrator needs to execute a process corresponding to the application in which any of the processes running on the server is abnormally terminated. The process had to be determined and the process had to be manually terminated.

The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and provides a license management system, a license management method, and a recording medium that can accurately grasp the number of executed applications and reduce the load on a system administrator. The purpose is to do.

[0018]

In order to achieve the above object, according to the first aspect of the present invention, a license for permitting the execution of software whose use is restricted is issued, and a predetermined number of licenses are issued. A license management system comprising: a server that restricts the issuance of the license; and a client that starts executing the software after receiving the issuance of the license by the server when the software is executed, The server includes: a monitoring unit that monitors whether the software is executed in the client; and a recognition unit that recognizes a current number of issued licenses based on a monitoring result by the monitoring unit. And

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the server includes the monitoring means and the recognition means. The monitoring means monitors whether or not the software is being executed on the client. Therefore, if any failure occurs on the client and the software is abnormally terminated, the server
It is possible to detect that the software is not being executed by the client.

The recognizing means recognizes the number of issued licenses based on the monitoring result of the monitoring means. Therefore, even if the software is abnormally terminated, the server determines whether the current number of issued licenses, that is, The number of currently running clients can be accurately determined.

As a result, it is possible to prevent the number of clients capable of simultaneously executing software from becoming smaller than the original number of licenses (predetermined number determined by contract) and reduce the load on the system administrator. can do.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a server for issuing a license for permitting execution of software whose use is restricted, and for limiting issuance of a predetermined number or more of the license, And a client that starts executing the software after receiving the license issued by the server, wherein the server stores a current number of issued licenses. Storage means, at predetermined time intervals, monitoring means for monitoring whether or not execution of the software started by receiving the license is continued in the client; and monitoring by the monitoring means, When it is detected that the software is not running And updating means for updating by subtracting the number of issued the license stored in the storage means,
It is characterized by having.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the server includes the storage unit, the monitoring unit, and the updating unit. The storage unit stores the current number of issued licenses, and the server can limit the issuance of a predetermined number or more of the licenses based on the current number of issued licenses.

In the monitoring means, the client monitors whether or not the execution of the software started after the issuance of the license is continued. This monitoring makes it possible to detect that the software is not being executed by the client when the software is abnormally terminated due to some failure in the client.

When it is detected that the software has not been executed, the updating means reduces the number of issued licenses stored in the storage means and stores the updated license.
That is, even when the software is abnormally terminated, the server can accurately grasp the current number of licenses, that is, the number of clients currently executing the software.

Thus, the number of clients that can execute software simultaneously can be prevented from becoming smaller than the original number of licenses (predetermined number determined by contract), and the load on the system administrator can be reduced. can do.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the second aspect of the invention, when the client executes the software, the generating means generates identification information for identifying the execution of the software by the client. And notifying means for notifying the server of the identification information generated by the generating means, wherein the monitoring means is configured to monitor a client and a software to be monitored based on the identification information notified by the notifying means. Is selected and monitored.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, the client includes the generating unit and the notifying unit. When executing the software, the client generates identification information for identifying the execution of the software by the client by the generation unit, and notifies the server of the identification information by the notification unit. In the server side monitoring means,
Based on the identification information, the client and software to be monitored are selected and monitored. As a result, it is possible to monitor only clients and software that need to be monitored.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the third aspect of the present invention, when the client executes the software, the client notifies the identification information by the notifying means, and the server executes the software. In response to the notification of the identification information, monitoring by the monitoring means is started.

According to the invention described in claim 4, the client notifies the server of the identification information when executing the software, and the server starts monitoring by the monitoring means with the notification of the identification information as a trigger. I do. Thus, monitoring can be performed when monitoring is required.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a server for issuing a license for permitting execution of software whose use is restricted, and for restricting issuance of a predetermined number or more of the license, Executing a software after receiving the issuance of the license by the server, wherein the server executes the current issuance of the license. When the client executes the software in response to the issuance of the license, the client generates identification information for identifying the execution of the software by the client, and stores the generated identification information in the server. The server notifies the server based on the notified identification information. Selects the client and software to be monitored, and monitors whether the client selected as the monitoring target continues to execute the software selected as the monitoring target, and selects the monitoring target for the client selected as the monitoring target. When it is detected that the executed software is not executed, the stored license issuance number is reduced and updated.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a recording medium readable by a computer, wherein a program for executing the license management method according to the fifth aspect is recorded by the computer. Features.

According to the fifth and sixth aspects of the present invention, when the client executes the software,
Identification information for identifying the execution of the software by the client is generated, and the generated identification information is notified to the server. The server selects a client and software to be monitored based on the identification information, and monitors whether the software is being executed on the client. That is, the server monitors only the client and software that need to be monitored.

In the server, if it is detected by the monitoring that the software selected as the monitoring target is not executed in the client selected as the monitoring target, the server stores the current number of issued licenses stored in the server. Is reduced and stored.

In this way, if any failure occurs in the client and the software is abnormally terminated, it is detected that the software is not being executed by the client, and based on the stored current number of issued licenses, Since the number of abnormal terminations is decremented, the current number of licenses, that is, the number of clients currently executing the software can always be grasped accurately.

Therefore, it is possible to prevent the number of clients that can execute software simultaneously from becoming smaller than the original number of licenses (predetermined number determined by contract), and reduce the load on the system administrator. be able to.

[0037]

Next, an example of an embodiment according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

(Configuration) FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a license management system to which the present invention is applied. As shown in FIG. 1, the license management system 10
Is a set of clients 1 running the application
2 and a license server (hereinafter, referred to as “server”) 14 that manages licenses of applications are mutually connected via a local area network (LAN) 16.

As shown in FIG. 2, each client 12 has a CPU 20, a ROM, a RAM, an HDD (Hard Dis
k Drive) and an I / O port 24. The CPU 20, memory 22, I / O
The O ports 24 are mutually connected via a system bus 26.

The memory 22 has an OS (Operating System)
m) and various programs 28 of application software. Note that, among the programs of the application software (hereinafter referred to as “applications”), the usage-constrained applications are restricted in use.

The client 12 performs various processes (processes) by reading out the program 28 and executing it by the CPU 20 as necessary (the CPU 12 corresponds to the generating means and the notifying means of the present invention).

The server 14, as shown in FIG.
PU30, ROM, RAM, HDD (Hard Disk Driv
e) and the like, and a memory 32 and an I / O port 34. The CPU 30, the memory 32, and the I / O port 34 are mutually connected via a system bus 36.

The memory 32 stores various programs 38 for managing licenses of applications executed on the client 12. The server 14 reads out the program 38 as necessary, and
By executing at 0, processing (process) related to license management of the application is performed (the CPU 30 corresponds to the monitoring unit, the recognition unit, and the update unit of the present invention).

The memory 32 naturally stores the OS
Various programs such as and other applications are also stored.

The memory 32 stores the client 12
A license file 40 storing license information on an application to be executed is stored. The server 14 manages licenses of applications whose license information is stored in the license file 40.

The license file 40 stores license information and its cipher text for each license contract. As the license information, for example, client 1
2 includes a machine name (machine ID), an application name, an expiration date, the number of licenses, and the like.

Note that the term of validity is a term by which the use of the application is permitted by the license agreement, and is specified by, for example, a date. The number of licenses refers to the number of clients that can execute the application at the same time as permitted by the license agreement. In the following, a description is given assuming that the value of the number of licenses is m.

The ciphertext of the license information is obtained by expressing the above-mentioned license information as a character string meaningless to the user using an encryption key. Even when the license information is falsified, the server 14 can acquire correct license information from the ciphertext, and can prevent unauthorized use of an application outside the license contract.

The memory 32 also stores a counter file 42 that counts the current number of executions of each application managed by the server, that is, the number of clients currently executing (starting) each application. (This number of clients corresponds to the number of issued licenses of the present invention, and the memory 32 corresponds to the storage means of the present invention). In the following, the count value of the number of executions is k
It will be described as.

Next, the relationship between the processes performed by the client 12 and the server 14 will be described with reference to FIG. The description will be made according to the order of arrows in the figure.

[0051] On the client 12 side, an application execution process is activated by an application execution request input by a user operating a keyboard, a mouse or the like as a trigger.

When the application execution process is started, the client 12 requests the server 14 for a license of the application from the client 12, and the server 14 uses the license request from the client 12 as a trigger to manage the license. The process is started. In the license management process, the execution of the application for which the license authentication request has been made is permitted (license authentication).

The client 12 receives the permission (license authentication) to execute the application that has issued the license authentication request, executes (starts) the application, and uniquely identifies a process by the application on the server side. Such a client process identification key (corresponding to the identification information of the present invention) is generated.

On the server 14 side, the client 12
Receiving the client process identification key generated in
Start the monitoring process.

On the server 14 side, a monitoring process monitors whether or not an application is being executed on the client 12 (whether the application is running) at predetermined time intervals. If the application has not been executed, the server-side processes (license management process, monitoring process) are terminated.

(Operation) Next, as an operation of the present embodiment, when the application of the simultaneous use license contract is executed in the client 12, the client 1
2. Processing executed by each of the servers 14 will be described.

(Client side processing) Each client 1
In 2, when the user inputs an execution request for executing (starting) the application of the simultaneous use license contract, the application execution process of FIG. 5 described below is executed. The application execution request is input by the user operating a keyboard, a mouse, and the like provided in the client 12.

In the application execution process, first, in step 100, a license authentication request for the application requested to be executed is transmitted to the server 14. The license authentication request includes information indicating the machine name (machine ID) of the client and the name of the application requested to be executed.

Thereafter, when an authentication result for the transmitted license authentication request is received from the server 14 (step 1).
02), proceeds to step 104, and determines whether the authentication result indicates permission to execute the application.

If the authentication result indicates that execution is permitted (step 1
04), the use restriction of the application is released, and the application is executed (activated) (step 106). That is, it is determined that a license permitting the execution of the application has been issued,
The application is executed.

At the same time, a client process identification key for identifying the executed (started) application process is generated and notified to the server (step 108). The client process identification key is set by the server 14 so that the process of the executed (started) application can be uniquely identified.

When the application is executed (started), the user operates the keyboard, the mouse, and the like provided in the client 12 so that the client 12 can execute the processing by the application.

Thereafter, when the application is terminated by the user (Yes at step 110),
Proceeding to step 112, the server 14 is notified that the application has been terminated, and then terminates the application execution process.

On the other hand, if the authentication result indicates that execution is not permitted (No in step 104), the application execution process is terminated.

(Server side processing) On the other hand, in the server 14,
When a license authentication request for an application requested to be executed is received from the client 12, a license management process shown in FIG. 6 is executed to perform license authentication and management of the application.

In the license management process, first, in step 200, the received license authentication request is analyzed, and license information corresponding to the machine name (machine ID) and the application name indicated in the license authentication request is stored in the license file 40. Read from Specifically, the license information is obtained from the cipher text of the license information corresponding to the machine name (machine ID) and the application name.

In the next step 202, based on the read license information, an authentication judgment for the received license authentication request is performed. That is, it is determined whether or not the client 12 that has transmitted the license authentication request (the client corresponding to the machine name indicated in the license authentication request) can execute the application (the application indicated in the license authentication request). .

The determination is made in the following manner. The machine name (machine ID) and the application name indicated in the license authentication request are replaced with the machine name (machine ID) indicated in the license information obtained from the ciphertext. )
And whether they match the application name, respectively. • Whether the current date is within the expiration date indicated in the license information obtained from the ciphertext. • Count corresponding to the application in the counter file 42 This is performed by determining whether the value, that is, the current number of executions (k) of the application is smaller than the number of licenses (m) indicated in the license information obtained from the ciphertext.

The machine name (machine ID) and the application name indicated in the license authentication request match the machine name (machine ID) and the application name indicated in the license information obtained from the ciphertext, respectively. The date is within the expiration date indicated in the license information obtained from the ciphertext, and the current number of executions of the application is smaller than the number of licenses indicated in the license information obtained from the ciphertext If (k <m), it is determined that the execution of the application by the client 12 that has transmitted the license authentication request is permitted.

In other cases, it is determined that the execution of the application by the client 12 having transmitted the license authentication request is not permitted.

If it is determined that the execution is permitted (Yes at step 202), the process proceeds to step 204, where the authentication result of the execution permission is transmitted to the client 12 that has transmitted the license authentication request. That is, the client 12
Is issued a license that permits execution of the application.

In the next step 206, the count value corresponding to the application stored in the counter file 42, that is, the current execution number (k) of the application is incremented by one.

Next, at step 208, the process waits until the client process identification key is received from the client 12, and proceeds to step 210 when the client process identification key is received. In step 210, the monitoring process shown in FIG. 7 is started.

In the monitoring process, it is determined in step 300 whether a predetermined time has elapsed. If the predetermined time has elapsed (affirmative determination), the process proceeds to step 302.

In step 302, based on the client process identification key, the process of the application (see step 106 in FIG. 5) executed (started) by the client 12 according to the authentication result of the execution permission (see step 204 in FIG. 6). , It is determined whether or not it is currently being executed (activated).

If the client 12 is executing (starting) the process by the application (Yes at Step 302), the process returns to Step 00. That is, it is monitored every predetermined time whether the process of the application executed (activated) by the client 12 is being executed (is being activated) based on the authentication result of the execution permission.

If the client 12 has not executed the process by the application (No in step 302), the process proceeds to step 304, in which the license management process which has started the monitoring process is instructed to end, and End the monitoring process.

In the license management process (see FIG. 6), after the monitoring process is started, the end of the executed (started) application is notified from the client 12 based on the authentication result of the execution permission (see step 204) (see FIG. 6). The process waits until an instruction to end the license management process is issued by the monitoring process (see step 304 in FIG. 7) (steps 212 and 214).

The termination of the application is performed on the client 1
If the notification has been received from step 2 (Yes in step 212), step 210 is executed in step 210 described above.
After terminating the monitoring process started in step 21,
Proceed to 8.

When the end of the license management process is instructed by the monitoring process (Yes in step 214), the process proceeds to step 218.

At step 218, the counter file 4
The count value corresponding to the application stored in 2, that is, the current execution number (k) of the application is decremented by one. Thereafter, the license management process ends.

On the other hand, if it is determined that the execution is not permitted (negative determination in step 202), the process proceeds to step 220, where the client 1 that has transmitted the license authentication request
After transmitting the authentication result of the execution non-permission to No. 2, the license management process ends.

As described above, when executing (starting) an application, the client 12 generates a client process identification key for identifying a process by the application, and the server 14 generates the generated client process identification key. In response, the monitoring process is activated, and the client 12 monitors whether the process of the application is being executed (activated).

As a result, even if a failure occurs and the application ends abnormally while the application is being executed (started) on the client 12, the termination of the application can be detected by the monitoring process.

When the termination is detected, the server 14
Ends the corresponding license management process by decrementing the number of activated applications. That is, since the number of licenses for the abnormal termination is cleared (decremented), the current number of executions of the application can be accurately grasped, and waste of the number of licenses can be eliminated. Also, there is no need to bother the system administrator.

The present invention does not limit the processing executed by the client 12 and the server 14 to each of the processes described above. The server 14 monitors whether the client 12 is executing an application. By doing so, it is essential to accurately grasp the current number of executions of the application.

For example, in the above, the server 14 receives the client process identification key from the client 12 and
Started the monitoring process, but the server 14 constantly monitors (or at predetermined intervals) all the managed clients 12 and counts the number of clients executing the application based on the monitoring result. By doing so, the current execution number of the application may be ascertained. In this case, the generation and generation of the client process identification key in the client 12 are performed.
Notifications can be omitted.

Further, in the above description, the client process identification key is notified from the client 12 to the server 14 only at the time of starting the execution of the application. 2) The client 14 may be notified of the client process identification key, and the server 14 may monitor the execution of the application on the client 12 depending on the presence or absence of the notification.

In the above description, the server 14 monitors whether or not the application is running at predetermined time intervals in the monitoring process. However, the server 14 may always monitor. In this case, since monitoring can be performed in real time, the client 12 may omit the end notification for notifying the server 14 that the application has been ended (normally ended). Also, when the predetermined time is set short and monitoring is possible in near real time, the end notification can be omitted.

Further, in the above description, a program for performing license management is recorded in the memories 22 and 32 in advance, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the FD (Fl
oppyDisk), CD-ROM, DVD (Digital Versatil)
e Disc), a magnetic tape, or another recording medium, and the program may be read from the FD, CD-ROM, DVD, or magnetic tape and installed in the memory. Alternatively, the information may be transmitted and installed on a wired or wireless network by a transmission means such as a telephone line.
As described above, the program can be distributed by at least one of a tangible storage medium and a transmission unit.

[0091]

As described above, the present invention has an excellent effect that the number of executed applications can be accurately grasped and the load on the system administrator can be reduced.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of a license management system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of a client.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of a license management server.

FIG. 4 is a conceptual diagram illustrating a relationship between processes performed by a client and a license management server.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a flow of processing of an application execution process performed by a client.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a flow of a license management process performed by a license management server.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating a flow of processing of a monitoring process performed by the license management server.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing a conventional process flow of a client and a license management server.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 License Management System 12 Client 14 License Management Server (Server) 16 LAN 20 CPU (Generating Unit, Notifying Unit) 22 Memory 24 I / O Port 26 System Bus 28 Program 30 CPU (Monitoring Unit, Recognizing Unit, Updating Unit) 32 Memory (Storage means) 34 I / O port 36 System bus 38 Program 40 License file 42 Counter file

Claims (6)

[Claims] A server for issuing a license permitting execution of the software whose use is restricted, and a server for restricting the issuance of a predetermined number or more of the license; A license management system comprising: a client that starts execution of the software after receiving the license issued by a server, wherein the server monitors whether or not the software is executed in the client; A license management system comprising: a recognition unit configured to recognize a current number of issued licenses based on a monitoring result of the monitoring unit. 2. A server for issuing a license permitting the execution of software whose use is restricted, and a server for restricting the issuance of a predetermined number or more of the licenses. A license management system comprising: a client that starts executing the software after receiving the license issued by a server, wherein the server stores a current number of issued licenses; Monitoring means for monitoring whether or not the execution of the software started in response to issuance of the license is continued in the client; and the software is executed in the client by monitoring by the monitoring means. If it is detected that there is no License management system characterized by having, a updating means for updating said subtracting the number of issued licenses that are. And a generation unit configured to generate identification information for identifying the execution of the software by the client when the client executes the software; and transmitting the identification information generated by the generation unit to the server. 3. A notifying unit for notifying, wherein the monitoring unit selects and monitors a client and software to be monitored based on the identification information notified by the notifying unit.
License management system described in 1. 4. When the client executes the software, the client notifies the identification information by the notifying unit, and the server receives the notification of the identification information and starts monitoring by the monitoring unit. The license management system according to claim 3, wherein: 5. A server for issuing a license permitting the execution of the software whose use is restricted, and a server for restricting the issuance of a predetermined number or more of the licenses. A license management method in a license management system including a client that starts executing the software after receiving the license issued by the server, wherein the server stores a current number of issued licenses, When the client executes the software in response to the issuance of the license, generates identification information for identifying the execution of the software by the client; notifies the generated identification information to the server; Based on the notified identification information, the license to be monitored The software selected as the monitoring target is monitored by the client selected as the monitoring target whether the execution of the software selected as the monitoring target is continuing, and the software selected as the monitoring target is executed at the client selected as the monitoring target. When it is detected that the license has not been issued, the stored license issuance number is reduced and updated. 6. A recording medium readable by a computer, wherein a program for executing the license management method according to claim 5 is recorded by a computer.