Licensing

Use the Licensing tab of the application properties screen to configure application license metering. By managing application license usage in your Workspace Control environment, you can enforce license compliance to e.g. Microsoft licensing models.

It fully depends on the type of software license whether or not preventing access is enough for license management. The method of preventing access must comply with the type of software license. Here is an overview of the license types that Workspace Control can enforce. This enforcement is done on top off the access management of the application (i.e. a user may be granted access based on a distribution group, but the license enforcement may prevent the application from being used).

Concurrent user licensing

This type of licensing is uncommon for Microsoft applications. Workspace Control keeps track of the number of unique users that simultaneously use the same application. If the threshold is reached, then no additional users can launch the application. The maximum number of concurrent users as well as the users that used the application can be tracked for later reporting.

Named user licensing

This type of licensing is uncommon for Microsoft applications. Workspace Control keeps track of the number of unique users that used the same application. If a new unique user tries to launch the application while the threshold is reached, then the application will not be accessible. A list of unique users is maintained (including the denied users). Also, the users that used the application can be tracked for later reporting.

Seat licensing

This type of licensing is very common for Microsoft applications. Workspace Control keeps track of the number of unique computers that run the same application. There is an exception: if the application is run on a remote desktop, then the client computer accessing the remote desktop is being tracked instead. If the threshold of maximum allowed seats is reached, then no additional new (client) computers can launch the application. A list of unique seats is maintained (based on domain and computer names) including the denied seats. Also, the users and computers that used the application can be tracked for later reporting.

How to configure application licensing

  • Open the application and click Properties > Licensing.
  • Select the application license type in the License type field and configure the selected application license type:

    Grants unlimited access to all users in the Workspace Control environment. The number of users can still be controlled through the Access Control options.

    • Enter the license cost in the License cost field.
    • Enter the number of licenses in the # of licenses field. This will automatically calculate the total cost of licenses in the Total cost field.
    • In the Max. # of users field, enter the maximum number of users that can be granted access to the application. This field is only available if access to the application is managed by application managers.

    Grants access to the application based on server licenses. If all server licenses are in use, additional users will not be granted access to the application. Instead, a message will be displayed that all licenses are in use.

    • Enter the license cost in the License cost field.
    • Enter the number of licenses in the # of licenses field. This will automatically calculate the total cost of licenses in the Total cost field.
    • In the Max. # of users field, enter the maximum number of users that can be granted access to the application. This field is only available if access to the application is managed by application managers.

    Seat licenses limit application usage to the number of computers that have logged in and claimed a seat. By linking licenses to client names instead of users, Workspace Control can enforce seat licenses for desktops and laptops, but also for Thin Clients.

    With "Per Seat" licensing, it is possible to define a maximum number of seats per Zone. This can be used for example if each physical location within a company has a certain number of seat licenses available. In this case, define a Zone for each physical location, and set the maximum number of seats for each Zone. When seat licenses have been configured per Zone, the View reserved and rejected seat licenses window will let you choose which Zone to display the seat information for. To define the maximum number of seats per Zone, click Browse [...] next to the # of licenses field (this button will not appear until you have selected Per seat license). As long as there are no Zone-specific seats configured, Workspace Control will work as before, with one global number of seat licenses.

    • In the field If database connection not available, specify the license metering behavior if there is no connection to the Datastore and the actual number of licenses or seats cannot be determined.
    • Always grant access: access to the application will always be granted and the claimed license will be cached to be processed later. You can change the default setting for new applications at Composition > Applications, on the application's Properties > Licensing tab.
    • Do not grant access: to force compliance with the configured licensing options, access to the application will be denied if a Datastore connection is not available.
    • Enter the license cost in the License cost field.
    • Enter the number of licenses in the # of licenses field. This will automatically populate the Total cost field with the total cost of licenses.
    • Click Browse button to configure the number of seat licenses per Zone. This will open the Seat licenses per Zone window.
    • In the Max. # of users field, enter the maximum number of users that can be granted access to the application. This field is only available if access to the application is managed by application managers.
    • Click Seats to view the number of seats currently in use and the information about the computers (users) that have claimed them. This button is only available if the application uses seat licenses.

    Grants access to the application based on specified users. This allows for back order situations, while keeping track of the actual available number of licenses. If all licenses are in use, additional users will not be granted access to the application. Instead, a message will be displayed that all licenses are in use. If application access is managed by an application manager, this message will be displayed to him.

    • Enter the license cost in the License cost field.
    • Enter the number of licenses in the # of licenses field. This will automatically populate the Total cost field with the total cost of licenses.
    • In the Max. # of users field, enter the maximum number of users that can be granted access to the application. This field is only available if access to the application is managed by application managers.
    • Click Named users to view which users have access to the application. You can configure access to the application on the Access Control tab. If you have delegated access to the application to an Application Manager, the Information about users and applications window will open, which displays information about the application and the users with access to it.

    Concurrent user licenses limit application usage to the number of concurrent users. This form of licensing is supported for desktops and server-based computing environments. When all available licenses are in use, the next user who starts the application receives the message that all licenses are in use, plus a list of the users who are using the application at that moment. This avoids the purchase of needless additional user licenses, because it allows users to arrange access to the application among themselves up to the total number of licenses. Workspace Control will automatically retry to claim a concurrent license after 30 seconds. Users can use the Retry button to speed up this process.
    If you use this license type, you cannot configure the Maximum instances of the application on the application's Properties > Settings tab.

    • In the field If database connection not available, specify the license metering behavior if there is no connection to the Datastore and the actual number of licenses or seats cannot be checked.
    • Always grant access: access to the application will always be granted and the claimed license will be cached to be processed later. You can change the default setting for new applications at Composition > Applications, on the application's Properties > Licensing tab.
    • Do not grant access: to force compliance with the configured licensing options, access to the application will be denied if a Datastore connection is not available.
    • In the field Idle timeout in minutes, specify how long the application can remain inactive before it is forcibly closed by Workspace Control. Because an inactive application unnecessarily holds a lock on a concurrent user license, selecting this option is useful if the number of available licenses is limited. If an application is forcibly closed, this will be logged in the Event Log of the user.
    • By default, only the application's main process is closed when the timeout expires. To also forcibly close child processes of the application when the idle timeout expires, select Force close of child processes.
    • Enter the license cost in the License cost field.
    • Enter the number of licenses in the # of licenses field. This will automatically calculate the total cost of licenses in the Total cost field.
    • In the Max. # of users field, enter the maximum number of users that can be granted access to the application. This field is only available if access to the application is managed by application managers.
    • Click Concurrent usage on the application's Properties > Licensing tab to see which users are currently using the application.

If you select Per seat license or Per concurrent license, the setting Only Workspace Control is allowed to launch this application on the application's Security > Authorized Files tab will be selected automatically, to ensure that the user can only start the application via his Start Menu or desktop. This allows Workspace Control to check how many application licenses are in use.

Difference between # of licenses and # of users

The maximum number of users that can be granted access to an application can be set in the # of users field.

This is useful if you have granted users access while awaiting the arrival of extra licenses. For example: there are 100 licenses available and all licenses are already in use. You need to grant access to an additional 10 users that entered the company today. You can do this by setting the # of users field to 110 and order an additional 10 licenses. Until the licenses arrive, you can see the difference between the number of users and the actual number of available licenses, telling you that you have a back order running of 10 licenses or that you still need to buy 10 additional licenses. When the licenses arrive, you can then set the # of licenses field to the appropriate value, in this case 110.

If an application uses Concurrent User licensing and the maximum number of users is reached on all Terminal Servers or workstations, the next user who starts up the application will receive a message that the maximum number of licenses has been reached. A list of concurrent users will also be displayed so that the user can take action without having to contact the IT department.

The Application Manager will see a similar message when he tries to grant a user access to an application for which the maximum number of available licenses has been reached.