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NI Volume License Manager (VLM) 2.1 Usage Log Tools

Primary Software: Other NI Software>>NI Volume License Manager
Primary Software Version: 2.1
Primary Software Fixed Version: N/A
Secondary Software: N/A

Problem:

NI VLM 2.1 creates a usage log in which I can see all the check-out and check-in operations for the license server.  Is there any way to make this data easier to view?



Solution:

Usage Log Parsing Utility

The NI VLM 2.1 log is a comprehensive log of every check-out and check-in operation done by the license server (This does not include disconnected licenses).  However, it can be difficult to properly discern which check-in operation matches a previous check-out.  Other items (such as 'heartbeat' check-outs) also need to be considered when looking at a usage log.

We have created a usage log utility which can be used to simplify the log.  The usage log utility does the following:

  • Properly matches a check-in operation with a previous check-out and puts the two timestamps on a single line in the log.
  • Ignores heartbeat communication between the client and server machines, which is seen as a check-out operation by the license server and is recorded in the usage log.
  • The usage log from NI VLM records every feature that is checked out (for example, LabVIEW Application Builder).  The utility combines all of these feature check-outs and only shows a single package check-out (an example package is LabVIEW Full Development System with Mathscript).

The output of the usage log utility will be saved in a .cleanlog file format.  The clean log file contains the following information on each line:
computer_name    user_name    product_name    product_type    license_type    checkout_time    checkin_time    computer_Department    computer_CostCenter    user_Department    user_CostCenter

Using the Usage Log Parsing Utility

  1. Open NI VLM and save the Usage Log (Options » View Usage Log)
  2. Download the attached UsageLogUtility.exe and save it in the same directory as the Usage Log.
  3. Open the Windows Command Prompt (Start » Programs » Accessories » Command Prompt) and navigate to the directory in which the Usage Log is stored. 
  4. Call the Usage Log Parsing Utility on the Usage Log:

    UsageLogUtility.exe nivlm.log

    If the usage log is large (>1 Mb), there may be a delay in writing the .cleanlog, even though the cursor returns from the command line. 
  5. View the simplified log entitled nivlm.cleanlog.

Attached along with the log utility is a simple usage log from NI VLM (simple.log) along with a log created by the utility (simple.cleanlog).

Note: The usage log utility is a command line application only. 

Sample Usage Log Visualizer Excel Macro

This is an example of a macro you can write in Excel to visualize the cleanlog usage data.  You can modify the Macro in order to display additional information from the cleanlog, such as usage per cost center or End User. Since disconnected license file usage is not contained in the cleanlog, the Usage Log Visualizer cannot include this data in the graph. This macro was intended for use in Excel 2007.
Important Information about What This Graph Represents: Each point on the graph represents the number of unique combinations of users and computers that used a particular license during a given period of time. For a non-concurrent user-based license, this number equals the number of licenses used in the time period. For all other license types, this number is greater than or equal to the number of license seats actually used during the time period. For example, if two different users launch and then exit an NI application at non-overlapping times during a time period, and they use a concurrent license, then only one license seat will actually be used in this time period. However, this graph reports two – the number of different user/computer combinations that used the license during that time period. To minimize this, enter a small number of hours between each point on the Time axis when prompted.  Note that a large number of hours will increase the processing time and memory requirements for this Macro.
To use the Usage Log Visualizer macro:
  1. Parse the usage log with UsageLogUtility.  
  2. Launch Microsoft Excel 2007 and open the cleanlog file.  Choose all the default values in the Text Import Wizard (You can click Finish). 
  3. Press Alt - F11 to open the Visual Basic Editor.
  4. Click File » Import File and open UsageLogVisualizer.bas (attached below) in the Editor.
  5. Click Run » Run Macro to run the UsageLogVisualizer macro.  If prompted, select the UsageLogVisualizer macro and press Run. If the usage log contains more than a few months of data, or there are many licenses in your license file, it may take several minutes for Excel to process.
  6. Switch to the Excel Window and select the worksheet entitled "Usage Activity."

Customizing Your Graph
To customize your graph in Excel 2007, right-click on the Usage Activity graph and choose Select Data. 
The worksheets named for each license in your license file, located to the right of the Histogram worksheet, contain the number of times a unique user/computer combination used the license in a given time period. You can create your own custom graphs from this data.

Related Links:

Attachments:

UsageLogUtility.exe

simple.log

simple.cleanlog



UsageLogVisualizer.bas

Report Date: 05/31/2007
Last Updated: 07/21/2008
Document ID: 49U88E8M

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