JP2013084154A - License management program and license management system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To simplify installation work for a program onto a computer.SOLUTION: A license management program is downloaded with an installation target program to a computer as an installation destination of the target program, and causes the computer to execute a first transmission procedure for transmitting an installation start notification which is preset in the license management program and includes identification information of the target program, to an information management device which manages the number of uses of the program via a network, and an installation procedure for executing installation of the target program when a response sent back in response to the start notification from the information processing device indicates authorization to install the target program.

Description

  The present invention relates to a license management program and a license management system.

  Since the program can be easily copied, the seller needs to manage the license in order to obtain a reasonable price. That is, it is important for the seller side to obtain a price according to the number of licenses of the program, not the number of programs sold (for example, the recording medium on which the program is recorded).

  For example, when installing the same program on a large number of PCs (Personal Computers) or the like, such as a company, the minimum storage medium necessary for the installation work is obtained, and the price corresponding to the number of licenses is paid. .

  However, license management has a problem of complicating program installation. For example, at the time of installation, it is required to input a character string called a product key or a CD key indicating a valid purchaser. In an environment where there are a large number of installation destination PCs, such as a company, even the input of a CD key or the like can be a heavy work burden for a system administrator or the like.

  In the technique described in Patent Document 1, it is necessary to install the agent in the client PC in advance, and time and effort for that is generated.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and an object of the present invention is to provide a license management program and a license management system capable of simplifying the installation work.

  In order to solve the above problem, the license management program is downloaded to the computer where the program is installed together with the program to be installed, and an installation start notification including the identification information of the program set in advance in the license management program When the response sent back from the information processing apparatus to the first transmission procedure and the start notification to the information management apparatus that manages the number of uses of the program indicates permission to install the program And causing the computer to execute an installation procedure for executing the installation of the program.

  Installation work can be simplified.

It is a figure which shows the system configuration example of the license management system in embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the hardware structural example of the information processing apparatus in embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the function structural example of the license management server in embodiment of this invention. FIG. 10 is a sequence diagram for explaining an example of a processing procedure of installer download processing; It is a figure which shows the function structural example of information processing apparatus. It is a sequence diagram for demonstrating an example of the process sequence of an installation process. It is a figure which shows the structural example of a license use status memory | storage part. It is a sequence diagram for demonstrating an example of the process sequence of an uninstall process.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a system configuration example of a license management system according to an embodiment of the present invention. In the license management system 1 in FIG. 1, one or more information processing apparatuses 10 such as the information processing apparatuses 10a, 10b, and 10c and the license management server 20 are connected via a network 30 such as a LAN (Local Area Network) or the Internet. Communication is possible.

  In the present embodiment, the information processing apparatus 10 is a computer that is an installation destination of a program. The license management server 20 is a computer that manages a program to be installed and a license of the program.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a hardware configuration example of the information processing apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention. The information processing apparatus 10 in FIG. 2 includes a drive device 100, an auxiliary storage device 102, a memory device 103, a CPU 104, an interface device 105, a display device 106, an input device 107, and the like that are mutually connected by a bus B.

  A program for realizing processing in the information processing apparatus 10 is provided by a recording medium 101 such as a CD-ROM. When the recording medium 101 storing the program is set in the drive device 100, the program is installed from the recording medium 101 to the auxiliary storage device 102 via the drive device 100. However, the program need not be installed from the recording medium 101 and may be downloaded from another computer via a network. The auxiliary storage device 102 stores the installed program and also stores necessary files and data.

  The memory device 103 reads the program from the auxiliary storage device 102 and stores it when there is an instruction to start the program. The CPU 104 realizes functions related to the information processing apparatus 10 according to a program stored in the memory device 103. The interface device 105 is used as an interface for connecting to a network. The display device 106 displays a GUI (Graphical User Interface) or the like by a program. The input device 107 includes a keyboard and a mouse, and is used for inputting various operation instructions.

  The license management server 20 only needs to have hardware similar to the hardware shown in FIG. However, the license management server 20 may not include the display device 106 and the input device 107.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a functional configuration example of the license management server according to the embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, the license management server 20 includes an installer transfer unit 21 and a license management unit 22. Each of these units is realized by processing that the program installed in the license management server 20 causes the CPU of the license management server 20 to execute.

  The license management server 20 also includes an installer storage unit 23, a license usage state storage unit 24, and the like. Each of these storage units can be realized by using an auxiliary storage device of the license management server 20 or a storage device connected to the license management server 20 via a network.

  In response to a request from the information processing apparatus 10, the installer transfer unit 21 transfers the installer p1 and the license management module p2 stored in the installer storage unit 23 to the requesting information processing apparatus 10. The installer p1 is, for example, a self-extracting archive file including a program to be installed and a program for executing an installation process. In the present embodiment, for convenience, the program to be installed is referred to as an “application program”. However, the use and function of the program to be installed are not limited to specific ones.

  The license management module p2 is a program module that has a one-to-one correspondence with the installer p1 and that causes the computer to execute processing control related to license management of the application program installed by the installer p1. “Corresponding one-to-one with the installer p1” means that setting information is set in advance for the application program installed by the installer p1. Specifically, identification information (hereinafter referred to as “application name”) of the application program is preset in the license management module p2. The form of setting is not limited to a specific one. For example, the application name may be written in the source code of the license management module p2, or the application name may be described in an external file of the license management module p2. The latter form is desirable from the viewpoint of ensuring versatility of the license management module p2.

  In the figure, only one installer p1 and one license management module p2 are shown. However, when a plurality of application programs are to be installed, there is an installer p1 and a license management module p2 for each application. Note that the license management module p2 may be integrated with the installer p1.

  The license management unit 22 uses the license usage state storage unit 24 to execute processing for ensuring that the usage state (number of uses) of the application program is within the range of the purchased license (use authority). . The license usage status storage unit 24 stores the usage status of each application program license.

  Note that the management function of the installer p1 and the license management function may be implemented in different computers. For example, the installer transfer unit 21 and the installer storage unit 23 may be mounted on a computer different from the license management server.

  Hereinafter, a processing procedure executed in the license management system 1 will be described. FIG. 4 is a sequence diagram for explaining an example of the processing procedure of the installer download processing.

  For example, in the information processing apparatus 10a, when an application name is specified by an operator such as a system administrator and an acquisition (download) instruction for the installer p1 is input, the information processing apparatus 10a Then, an acquisition request for the installer p1 related to the application name is transmitted (S101). The designation of the application name and the input of the acquisition instruction for the installer p1 may be performed via, for example, a website regarding the license management server 20. In the Web site, a desired installer p1 can be downloaded from the list of installers p1 stored in the installer storage unit 23.

  The installer transfer unit 21 of the license management server 20 returns the installer p1 and the license management module p2 corresponding to the designated software name to the information processing apparatus 10a that is the acquisition request source (S102). For example, the installer p1 and the license management module p2 are stored in the auxiliary storage device 102 of the information processing apparatus 10a.

  By downloading the installer p1 and the license management module p2, the information processing apparatus 10a has a functional configuration as shown in FIG.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a functional configuration example of the information processing apparatus. In the figure, an information processing apparatus 10a includes an install unit 11, an uninstall unit 12, an application program, and the like. The installation unit 11 and the uninstallation unit 12 are realized by processing that the installer p1 causes the CPU 104 of the information processing apparatus 10a to execute. The application program is stored in the auxiliary storage device 102 of the information processing apparatus 10a when the installer p1 is expanded or decompressed.

  The information processing apparatus 10a further includes a device identification information acquisition unit 13, an installation notification unit 14, an installability determination unit 15, an uninstallation notification unit 16, a deletion unit 17, and the like. These units are realized by processing that the license management module p2 causes the CPU 104 of the information processing apparatus 10a to execute.

  The installation unit 11 executes an application program installation process. The uninstaller 12 executes an application program uninstall process.

  The device identification information acquisition unit 13 acquires or collects identification information of the information processing device 10a (hereinafter referred to as “device identification information”) from the information processing device 10a. The device identification information includes, for example, an IP address, a host name, a MAC address, or a manufacturing number. In the present embodiment, a combination of a host name and an IP address is used as device identification information. However, in an environment where changes such as an IP address and a host name are frequently performed, it is desirable to use a MAC address, a manufacturing number, or the like as device identification information.

  The installation notification unit 14 transmits a notification of application program installation start to the license management server 20. The installation availability determination unit 15 determines whether installation is possible based on a response from the license management server 20 to the installation start notification.

  The uninstall notification unit 16 transmits an application program uninstall start notification to the license management server 20. The deletion unit 17 deletes the file of the license management module p2 with the uninstallation.

  Next, the installation process will be described. FIG. 6 is a sequence diagram for explaining an example of the processing procedure of the installation process.

  In step S201, the installer p1 is activated by the operator in the information processing apparatus 10a. The activation of the installer p1 corresponds to a process start instruction to the installation unit 11. In response to the process start instruction, the install unit 11 inputs a process start instruction to the license management module p2.

  The device identification information acquisition unit 13 of the license management module p2 acquires or collects device identification information of the information processing device 10a from, for example, the auxiliary storage device 102 (S202). Subsequently, the installation notification unit 14 transmits an installation start notification to the license management server 20 (S203). The installation start notification also has a meaning as a license use request or an inquiry about whether or not to install.

  In the installation start notification, device identification information, an installation target application name, and the like are specified. If transmission of the installation start notification fails, installation of the application program is canceled. That is, the application program is not installed. By doing so, for example, unauthorized use of the license due to not connecting the information processing apparatus 10a to the network can be prevented.

  When receiving the installation start notification, the license management unit 22 of the license management server 20 refers to the license usage state storage unit 24 for the presence / absence of a license for the application program associated with the application name specified in the start notification. (S204).

  FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of the license usage state storage unit. In the figure, each record in the license usage status storage unit 24 has items such as an application name, usage status, host name, and IP address. The number of records having the same application name depends on the number of licenses for the application program related to the application name. That is, as many licenses as the number of licenses are registered.

  For example, in the figure, three records are registered for application A, and two records are registered for application B. This indicates that for application A, the number of licenses is 3, and for application B, the number of licenses is 2. Therefore, it can be said that the license use state storage unit 24 stores the use state, the host name, and the IP address for each license of the application program.

  The use state indicates whether or not the license is used. “In use” indicates that it is being used. “Unused” indicates that it is not used. The host name and IP address are device identification information of the information processing device 10 using the license. It can be said that the number of licenses used is the number of application programs used.

  In step S <b> 204, it is determined whether or not the license usage status storage unit 24 has a record whose usage status is “unused” for the application name specified in the installation start notification. Installation is allowed if there is a corresponding record. If there is no corresponding record, installation is not allowed.

  Also, in the license usage status storage unit 24, when the device identification information (host name, IP address) specified in the start notification is already registered for the application name specified in the installation start notification The installation may not be permitted. That is, a check for avoiding redundant installation of the same application program to the same information processing apparatus 10 may be performed.

  When the installation is permitted, the license management unit 22 includes the application name specified in the installation start notification in the license usage state storage unit 24, and the license management unit 22 applies the license to the record whose usage state is “unused”. Usage is registered (S205). That is, the usage state is updated to “in use”, and the host name and IP address of the device identification information specified in the start notification are registered in the host name and IP address of the record.

  Subsequently, the license management unit 22 returns a response including the result of the installation permission / rejection determination in step S204 to the information processing apparatus 10a (S206).

  The installability determination unit 15 controls installation execution based on the response. That is, when the response indicates permission of installation, the installability determination unit 15 requests the installation unit 11 to execute installation. In response to the request, the installation unit 11 executes an application program installation process (S207).

  On the other hand, when the response indicates that installation is not permitted, the installability determination unit 15 does not request the installation unit 11 to perform installation. As a result, the application program is not installed.

  Note that if the license management unit 22 of the license management server 20 determines that installation is not permitted, the license management unit 22 is an electronic device that indicates that there are not enough licenses for the e-mail address of the system administrator (the information processing apparatus 10c in the figure). A mail is transmitted (S208). Alternatively, even when installation is permitted, if the number of remaining licenses is less than or equal to the threshold value, an e-mail notifying the possibility that the number of licenses is insufficient may be transmitted.

  Next, the uninstall process will be described.

  FIG. 8 is a sequence diagram for explaining an example of the procedure of the uninstall process. In the figure, it is assumed that the application program is already installed in the information processing apparatus 10a as a result of the processing in FIG.

  In step S301, the information processing apparatus 10a receives an uninstall instruction. In the uninstall instruction, the name of the application to be uninstalled is specified.

  Subsequently, the device identification information acquisition unit 13 acquires or collects device identification information of the information processing device 10a from, for example, the auxiliary storage device 102 (S302). Subsequently, the uninstallation notification unit 16 transmits an uninstallation start notification to the license management server 20 (S303). The uninstallation start notification also has a meaning as a license release request.

  In the uninstallation start notification, device identification information, an application name to be uninstalled, and the like are specified. If the uninstallation start notification fails to be transmitted, the uninstallation is canceled. That is, the application program is not uninstalled. If uninstallation is executed in a state where the license is not released, the license management server 20 manages a state in which many licenses are used with respect to the actual number of licenses used, resulting in a disadvantage for the user. Because it does.

  Upon receiving the uninstallation start notification, the license management unit 22 of the license management server 20 releases the license related to the application name and device identification information specified in the start notification (S304). Specifically, in the license usage status storage unit 24, the usage status value of the record in which the application name and the device identification information (host name, IP address) are recorded is set to “unused”. Also, the host name and IP address values are deleted from the record. As a result, one license is released.

  Subsequently, the license management unit 22 returns a response including the result of the license release process (information indicating success / failure) to the information processing apparatus 10a (S305).

  When the response indicates successful release of the license, the deletion unit 17 deletes the file of the license management module p2 from the auxiliary storage device 102 of the information processing apparatus 10a (S306). Subsequently, the uninstaller 12 executes an uninstall process for the application program to be uninstalled (S307).

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, the license management module p2 that executes processing for cooperation with the license management server 20 for license management is downloaded together with the installer p1. Therefore, it is not necessary to install a program corresponding to the license management module p2 in the information processing apparatus 10 in advance.

  In addition, since an application name is set in advance in the license management module p2, it is not necessary to input an application name at the time of installation.

  Therefore, the installation operation can be simplified while managing the license of the application program.

  Further, since the license management module p2 is also deleted along with the uninstallation, it is possible to avoid consuming storage capacity by the unnecessary license management module p2.

  As mentioned above, although the Example of this invention was explained in full detail, this invention is not limited to such specific embodiment, In the range of the summary of this invention described in the claim, various deformation | transformation・ Change is possible.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 License management system 10 Information processing apparatus 11 Installation part 12 Uninstallation part 13 Device identification information acquisition part 14 Installation notification part 15 Installation availability determination part 16 Uninstall notification part 17 Deletion part 20 License management server 21 Installer transfer part 22 License management part 23 Installer storage unit 24 License usage state storage unit 100 Drive device 101 Recording medium 102 Auxiliary storage device 103 Memory device 104 CPU
105 Interface device B bus

JP 2006-092382 A

Claims (4)

Downloaded together with the program to be installed to the computer where the program is installed,
In response to a first transmission procedure for transmitting an installation start notification including the identification information of the program set in advance in the license management program to an information management device that manages the number of uses of the program, and the start notification When the response returned from the information processing apparatus indicates permission to install the program, the license management program causes the computer to execute an installation procedure for installing the program. A second transmission procedure for transmitting an uninstallation start notification including identification information of the program to the information device in response to an instruction to uninstall the program;
The license management program according to claim 1, wherein the computer executes a deletion procedure for deleting the license management program together with the program. Causing the computer to execute an acquisition procedure for acquiring identification information of the computer;
3. The license management program according to claim 1, wherein in the first transmission procedure, an installation start notification including identification information of the program and identification information of the computer is transmitted to the information management apparatus. Downloaded together with the program to be installed to the computer where the program is installed,
In response to a first transmission procedure for transmitting an installation start notification including the identification information of the program set in advance in the license management program to an information management device that manages the number of uses of the program, and the start notification A license management program for causing the computer to execute an installation procedure for executing installation of the program when a response returned from the information processing apparatus indicates permission to install the program;
A license management system comprising the information management apparatus.

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