The Sentinel RMS License Manager Service is not running on the license server - There is no lock ID in the License Server Manager and no option to Activate “This computer…”. Why is this?

Background

For Perpetual (on-premises) server licenses, the Tekla Structural License Service uses an underlying third party licensing system called Thales Sentinel RMS.  For a server license, this involves the Sentinel RMS License Manager application which you will find listed in the Windows Control Panel > Programs and Features as shown below.  This is automatically installed by the Tekla Structural License Service, so there is no need to install it separately.

As of April 2024, the latest version of Sentinel RMS used by Tekla Structural Licensing is version 10.1.xx (the picture below shows a previous version).

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The Sentinel RMS application runs a Windows Service called “Sentinel RMS License Manager”.  A Service is a process that runs ‘in the background’ of Windows: for more see for example Wikipedia >  Windows service .  The Sentinel RMS Service hosts and serves server licenses for Tekla Structural programs like Tedds and Structural Designer.  The service is started automatically by the installation and then will appear in the list of Windows Services as shown below.

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The Service Status will display as “Running” when it has been started successfully.  The properties of the service can be opened to view further details, such as the location of the application that is running the service.  For the Sentinel RMS Service this is:

C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\SafeNet Sentinel\Sentinel RMS License Manager\WinNT\lservnt.exe

The Tekla Structural License Server Manager is essentially an interface (a GUI) for the underlying Sentinel RMS system.  Using the Manager you can activate PAKs and manage licenses etc.

Symptoms

If the Sentinel RMS Service is not running, then server licensing will not work.  Typical symptoms are:

• On the client (engineer's PC) Structural Design applications will not open - typically the License Manager will be displayed after a delay listing Error[3] or Error[5]
• On the license server, the License Server Manager application takes a long time to open.
• When the License Server Manager is open, the option to Activate “This computer…” is not available, even though the computer is connected to the internet.
• No Lock ID is displayed in the License Server Manager info bar at the top-middle as shown in the picture below.

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Solution

There are three main reasons why the server licensing system may not be functioning correctly with these symptoms:

1. The Sentinel RMS Service has been stopped or was not correctly started by the installation
2. The Sentinel RMS Service cannot be started.
3. There is a Conflict with another version of Sentinel Licensing running on the same server.

See each section below in the order given for the steps to take depending on your issue.

The Service is Missing or Not Started

Close the License Server Manager if it is open.

Now open Windows Services (there are several ways to do this - e.g. via Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Computer Management > Services and Applications) and search the list of services for “Sentinel RMS License Manager”.  There are three common scenarios:

• The Service is not listed at all
• The Service is listed but is not running
• The Service cannot be started

See below for steps for each scenario:

The service is not listed at all

The service should be both added and started by the Tekla Structural License Service installation.  However sometimes (for unknown reasons as for many Windows issues) this does not occur. 

If so you can add and start the service manually using the Sentinel RMS application for this purpose:

• Browse to the Sentinel RMS program directory C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\SafeNet Sentinel\Sentinel RMS License Manager\WinNT\

• Run the application loadls.exe as administrator. You must run it as administrator or it will not work!

• Click the [Add] button - if the process is successful you should see a message to this effect as shown in the picture below

Now go back to Windows Services and check the service is both listed and running - if it is listed but not running move on to the next section.

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The service is listed but is not running

This may be the case if you have added the service manually as described above.

• Open Windows Services (Hint - click the keyboard Windows button and start tying "Services" then the option should appear)
• Locate the “Sentinel RMS License Manager” servcie and select (single click) it.
• Click the option to Start the service as shown below.

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• When started the status will = Running and the Start option will be replaced by; Stop, Pause and Restart.  Now run the License Server Manager and continue with what you were attempting to do e.g. activate your PAK.
• If the Service will not start you may see a message similar to that shown below.  Move on to the next section if so.

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The Service cannot be started

Rarely the service may not start - or rather it will start, but then will be immediately stopped.  This appears to be a permissions issue related to the service Log on credentials. In this case do the following:

• Firstly check (or double-check!) that there is not another version of Sentinel RMS/ LM installed as detailed above.

• Open Windows Services and locate “Sentinel RMS License Manager”

• Open the service Properties dialog (double-click on the Service name or right-click > Properties from the context menu)

• On the “Log On” page, select the “This account” option and enter your Domain Administrator account credentials - account name and password - then OK (these will be unique to your server/ system so we cannot say what they will be.  Hence the details in the picture below are just the initial blank ones displayed when this option is selected).

• Now Start the service (see above)

• Then run the License Server Manager and continue with what you were attempting to do e.g. activate your PAK.

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Conflict with another version of Sentinel

Only a single version of Sentinel RMS can run on a single server.  This is a limitation of the Sentinel licensing system and there is no workaround we are aware of.  The typical symptom of this circumstance is that the Sentinel RMS service cannot be started.  To check for and resolve this do the following:

• As shown in the picture above, check in Control Panel > Programs & Features if there is another version of Sentinel RMS or Sentinel LM installed.
• As shown in the picture above, check if there is another version of the Sentinel Service running in Windows Services.  You can look at the Properties of the service to find where the service executable is installed.
• If there is another version of Sentinel RMS or LM installed and running either:
  • Uninstall the other version or disable its Windows Service (see above for how to Start/Stop a service).  Check with the vendor(s) of the application(s) it licenses if they are compatible with Sentinel RMS 9.7.xx which is the version used by Tekla Strucural Licensing.  If so - in theory - they should continue to work when Tekla Structural Licensing and Sentinel RMS 9.7.xx is installed.
  • If you wish to retain the existing different version of Sentinel RMS/ LM on this server, you must use a different server for Tekla Structural Licensing.