1. If the SilkMeter version is less than 15.0 check that it is not installed on a Virtual Machine
SilkMeter versions less than 15.0 are not supported to run on a virtual machine. You will need to attach a Windows PC to your network to act as the SilkMeter license server.
2. On the license server - Ensure that the license policy is tied to the correct HostID
Open a command prompt on the license server and type ipconfig/all - make a note of the physical address. Open the license policy in notepad and look for the ServerID. The ServerID should match the physical address.
3. On the license server - Ensure that Silk Meter Manager is running as a service
- Start | Settings | Control Panel
- Double click on the Services Icon (if it is not here, it will be in Administrative Tools, depending on what Operating System you are running on)
- Scroll down to SilkMeterManagerService/SilkMeterProxyService - This needs to be "Started" and "Automatic". If it is already started then you must stop it and then restart it.
4. On the license server - Ensure that the policy is imported into Silk Meter
- Start | Programs | Borland | SilkMeter | Policy Administrator
- Can you see your product license on the left hand side?
If not go to File > Import Policy. If Import Policy is disabled go to Options > Change Security mode and click on OK. The username and password is usually blank, only if you have set up grants should you enter your username and password. The import policy should now be enabled and you can browse to where you saved your license policy and select it. You should now see your license policy on the left hand side of the Policy Administrator window.
5. On the license server - Check the SILK_CONFIG_PATH points the correct directory
Right click the My Computer icon on your desktop, go to Properties and click on the Advanced tab and click on the Environment Variables button. In the system variables section scroll down to SILK_CONFIG_PATH.
The path should be pointing to the Silk Meter configuration directory:
1. for all versions from SilkMeter 2006 to SilkMeter 2008 the default is C:\Program Files\Borland\cfg.
2. from Silk Meter 15.0 onwards the path is C:\ProgramData\Borland\Silk\SilkMeter\cfg
If SILK_CONFIG_PATH does not appear in the variables you should uninstall and reinstall Silk Meter.
6. On the client machine - Check the three .ref files contain the hostname of the license server
- From Windows Explorer navigate to C:\ProgramFiles\Borland\cfg
- Check that the files CosPropertyServices.ref, CosLicensingService.ref and ls_segue.ref contain the hostname of the license server, for example you will see something like:
IIOP://localhost:5461/CosLicensingService
7. On the license server and client machine - You must be able to ping
- Make sure that you can ping from the license server to the client machine and from the client machine to the license server using both the long and short hostnames.
- If you can't ping add the ip address and fully qualified hostname of the license server into the hosts file on the client machine. The hosts file is found in C:\System32\drivers\etc\.
- You then have to add an entry for the license server, for example 123.123.123.123 licensemachine.mycompany.com
- If you still have problems pinging your machines you will need to contact your own IS department about host name resolution.
8. On the license server - Remove and install the Silk Meter service through the command prompt
Open a command prompt and navigate to "C:\Program Files (x86)\Silk\Silk Meter xx.x\Bin" OR for older versions "C:\ProgramFiles\Borland\SilkMeter\bin", enter the following calls:
smSystem -remove (enter)
smSystem -autoinstall -start -host computer_name (enter)
where computer_name is the name of your license server.
9. Be able to telnet
You must be able to telnet to port 5461. This is the port that Silk Meter uses, for example open a command prompt and enter telnet license_server_hostname 5461 If this is successful you will not get any messages to inform you so, the command prompt will just be blank. If it fails you will get a message that it has failed, in this case you need to consult with your IS department so that you have access to this port.
10. Ensure that your network card is enabled
A license policy is tied to the physical address/MAC address of a machine. (This is also known as the HostID or ServerID with regards to our license policies). If the machine is running multiple network cards then the network cards need to be enabled before Silk Meter is installed. If you have multiple network cards and your license policy is tied to a particular physical address/MAC address ensure that this network card is enabled.
11. Check the Windows Firewall
If it is turned on, ensure that the port used by Silk Meter is open for use. The default port is 5461.
12. Check that McAfee is not blocking communication
This problem has also been caused by McAfee Host Intrusion Prevention 7.0 disabling communication between SilkMeter and the licensed product. The exact versions known to cause the problem are:
McAfee Agent v4.5.0.1270
Host Intrusion Prevention v7.0.0.1159
Safeboot Device Encryption v5.2.8
McAfee Site Advisor Enterprise Plus v3.0.0.476
McAfee AntiSpyware Enterprise Module v8.7.0.129
Scan Engine v5400.1158
The solution is to allow McAfee to 'learn' the Recorder and Open Agent processes. See the McAfee documentation on how to do this. Please note that other versions of McAfee may also cause the same problem.
13. If the MAC address (HostID) is correct but when importing a license, Silk Meter throws a "no license found" error
Check to see if the server has two or more NICs and is being used as a load balancer.
Silk Meter was never designed to work with a virtual adaptor. The preferable solution here is to move the Silk Meter server onto a PC that is not being used as a load balancer. If for operational reasons this is not possible, please contact the Micro Focus licensing department.
14. SilkMeter refuses to either import a policy file or to issue a license if it has imported a policy file.
If your system is built using a VLAN where any given VLAN card has an underlying physical NIC, SilkMeter will be unable to communicate with the physical NIC and will assume that you are running a virtual image. The same will happen if your VLAN NICs are created in software. The solution to this is to supply the MAC address of the physical NIC underlying the VLAN or in the second case, to move SilkMeter to a PC that has only a single physical NIC in it.
A second reason is that the policy (.pol) file has been opened and modified in (e.g. NotePad) and then saved. Even opening the .pol file and then saving it without making any changes will destroy the hash and cause an import failure.
15. On the license server - Remove and install the Silk Meter service through the command prompt
Open a command prompt and navigate to C:\ProgramFiles\Borland\SilkMeter\bin, enter the following calls:
smSystem -remove (enter)
smSystem -autoinstall -start -host computer_name (enter)
where computer_name is the name of your license server.
16. The administrator password is not known
Uninstall and reinstall SilkMeter to return it to its default state. The licence files and any Grants that have been allocated will be automatically re-imported.
17. The Silk Meter Policy Administrator will not start
Open Control Panel | Administrative Tools | Services and check that the Silk Meter Proxy Service is running. Ensure that its startup type is set to Automatic.
Check also that Micro Focus Unified Functional testing (UFT) has not been installed on the Silk Meter server. UFT will prevent the Policy Administrator from starting - this is a UFT problem and not a Silk Meter problem. The only solution here is to install Silk Meter on a PC that has never seen UFT.