What is TASKING License Manager? #
TASKING, a software development solution owned by Altium Ltd., offers embedded development tools for computer processing units (CPU), which include Infineon TriCore, AURIX, ST Micro C166, ST10, SPC5, Freescale Qorivva, Renesas RH50, Bosch GTM-IP MCS, 8051, etc. Its most popular product, VX Toolset for TriCore, is a complete toolset for software development and troubleshooting for Infineon Technologies; TriCore, AURIX, and AURIX 2G processors.
All TASKING products are protected and managed through its proprietary license management software: the TASKING License Manager (TLM). TLM can be installed on the local area network or as a remote license server. Supported license types are node-locked, which locks the software to a specific machine, and floating licenses, which can be shared among users on the network. TLM allows license borrowing through a utility that temporarily moves a floating license to a node-locked license for a specified number of days.
TASKING License Manager User Monitoring and Management #
Aside from license borrowing, TASKING also provides several utilities for license and user management. These include tools for user access restrictions through commands in the access files, which are processed from top to bottom, i.e., a succeeding command can override the commands before it. It also has tools for bulk installation of the software and joining licenses, which can combine floating licenses with different license keys into just one overall license pool.
More importantly, however, TLM also includes utilities for monitoring the status of the license server either through a browser or on the command line. These utilities can display the current license information including license key, product code, serial number, dates of validity and expiration, license type (Float or Node), total number of floating licenses, number of floating licenses currently in use, and list of current users. This information can also be logged into a file.
How Open iT Supports TASKING License Manager #
The basic reports provided by TLM utilities are not enough to uncover an organization’s true active usage of TASKING licenses. To get better visibility of their license usage, organizations need to employ a more robust and complete software usage metering solution, which would greatly help not only in effective software license management, but also in license usage efficiency and cost optimization.
Open iT LicenseAnalyzer periodically polls TLM for raw license usage information and also collects its log files. It then parses and combines these collected data with usage data from other sources, such as OS logs, I/O, CPU, keyboard and mouse, etc., for a complete and more accurate license usage overview. Real-time license usage can be viewed through the Open iT License Monitor Dashboard. A wide selection of historical usage reports that can help in determining the company’s current license position is available out-of-the-box. Custom reports that can be used for more in-depth license usage analyses can also be created.
