License Server Release Notes
Virtual GPU License Server Release Notes
Release information for all users of NVIDIA virtual GPU License Server.
These Release Notes summarize current status, information on supported platforms, and known issues with NVIDIA vGPU software License Server, version 2018.10.
If either of the following conditions is met, you must uninstall any previous version of NVIDIA vGPU software License Server before installing this release:
- You are using a Windows platform. For details, see Upgrade on Windows doesn't upgrade Apache Tomcat.
- The version of your current license server software is 2015.12 or earlier. For details, see Upgrade installation does not operate correctly.
Installed NVIDIA vGPU software licenses are not retained across an uninstallation followed by reinstallation. You must reinstall your licenses after reinstalling the license server software.
All releases of the License Server are compatible with all releases of NVIDIA vGPU software.
1.1. Supported Platforms
1.1.1. Operating Systems Supported
This release of NVIDIA vGPU software License Server has been tested on several releases of the Windows and Linux operating systems.
Support for installation in console mode on Windows and Linux was introduced in license server release 2018.06. It is not supported in earlier license server releases. The license server installer for earlier releases must be run in a graphical desktop environment. Installation in silent mode is not supported in any release.
1.1.1.1. Windows Operating Systems Supported
- Windows 10 64-bit
- Windows Server 2016
- Windows Server 2012 R2
On Windows, the license server supports only the English locale.
1.1.1.2. Linux Operating Systems Supported
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7.3 64-bit
- CentOS 7.3 64-bit
- Ubuntu 16.04 64-bit
1.1.2. Java Runtime Environment Requirements
NVIDIA vGPU software License Server requires one of the following Java Runtime Environment (JRE) versions:
- Oracle Java SE JRE version 1.8 only
- OpenJDK JRE version 1.8 only
For information about the licenses under which these JRE releases are provided, see Oracle Java SE Licensing FAQ.
JRE should be installed before the License Server installer package is run, as described in the Virtual GPU License Server User Guide.
On Windows 32-bit and 64-bit platforms, NVIDIA vGPU software License Server requires a 32-bit JRE.
1.1.3. .NET Framework Requirements
On Windows platforms, NVIDIA vGPU software License Server requires .NET Framework 4.5 or later.
1.1.4. Apache Tomcat Server Requirements
The License Server’s management interface requires Apache Tomcat version 7x or 8x. An Apache Tomcat package is included with the License Server installer package for Windows. For Linux, Tomcat should be installed before running the License Server installer package, as described in Virtual GPU License Server User Guide.
1.1.5. Web Browser Requirements
The license server’s web browser–based management interface supports the following browsers:
- Mozilla Firefox versions 17 and later
- Google Chrome versions 27 and later
- Microsoft Internet Explorer version 9 and later
1.2. Changes in this Release
- New utility nvidialsadmin for administering the license server from the command line
- User and password authorization for logging in to the license server management interface
- Support for connections to the license server over the HTTPS protocol
- Miscellaneous bug fixes
- Support for the OpenJDK Java Runtime Environment
1.3. Security Updates
Inclusion of an updated Apache Tomcat version (8.5.34) with the License Server installer package for Windows
Only resolved issues that have been previously noted as known issues or had a noticeable user impact are listed. The summary and description for each resolved issue indicate the effect of the issue on the NVIDIA vGPU software license server before the issue was resolved.
3.1. The length of the license server host name cannot exceed 30 characters
Description
The License server host name field on the Settings page of the license server management interface cannot accept a string more than 30 characters long.
You might configure the license server with an SSL certificate in which the license server is identified through a name that is more than 30 characters long. In this situation, you cannot specify that name in the License server host name field when setting the license server protocol to HTTPS.
Workaround
This workaround requires system administrator privileges.
- Ask the CA from which you obtained your SSL certificate to re-generate the certificate to identify the license server through a name whose length does not exceed 30 characters.
- In the hosts file on the license server host, add an alias that maps the IP address of the license server to the shorter name.
- On Windows, the hosts file is %SystemDrive%:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc\hosts.
- On Linux, the hosts file is /etc/hosts.
The following example adds the alias that maps the IP address
10.31.20.45
to the nameshorter-lic-server.example.com
.10.31.20.45 shorter-lic-server.example.com
- When setting the license server protocol to HTTPS, specify the shorter name in the License server host name field.
Status
Resolved in NVIDIA vGPU software license server release 2019.05
Ref. #
200505006
3.2. Apache Tomcat Servlet/JSP Container Default Files Vulnerability (Nessus ID: 12085)
Description
The License Server requires an Apache Tomcat server. On Windows, Apache Tomcat is included with the License Server installer package. On Linux, Apache Tomcat must be installed separately.
By default, files such as documentation, the default index page, example JSP files, and example servlets are installed on the host where the Apache Tomcat software is installed. These files may help an attacker uncover information about the Apache Tomcat installation or the host where the Apache Tomcat software is installed. Furthermore, the files may themselves contain vulnerabilities that might allow attacks such as cross-site scripting attacks.
Mitigations
- Review the files and delete the files that are not needed.
- Provide a custom error page for common HTTP errors such as error 404 or 500.
See Also
- Securing Tomcat from the Open Web Application Security Project (OWASP)
- How do I get a customized error page? FAQ on the Tomcat wiki
3.3. Time stamps in the License Server Management Interface and log files are inconsistent
Description
The time shown in the Client Expiry field on the Client Details page is inconsistent with the time stamps in the license server log files.
For example, the log files might show these time stamps:
-
License acquired time is - Wed May 30 16:18:23 2018
-
Borrow interval is 1440 mins
From these time stamps, the expected client expiry time is 2018-05-31 16:18:23
. However, on the Client Details page, the Client Expiry field shows 2018-05-31T10:48:59.999Z.
This inconsistency occurs because the time of day in the license management interface is given in Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), not the local time of the license server host.
Status
Not an NVIDIA bug
Ref. #
200418046
3.4. Deleting a license reservation deletes the entire reservation group
Description
When the management UI is used to delete a single entry from the Reservation page, all entries on the page are deleted because the management UI supports operations only on reservation groups, not individual reservations, specifically:
- Deleting an existing reservation group. Deleting individual reservations within a reservation group is not supported.
- Adding reservations to a new reservation group. Adding reservations to an existing reservation group is not supported.
Workaround
To add or delete reservations in an existing group:
-
Delete the existing group.
-
Re-create the group with the set of reservations that you want:
- Include the existing reservations that you want to keep and any new reservations that you want to add.
- Exclude any reservations that you want to remove.
You can re-create the group by using the Add Reservation page or by importing reservations from a JSON file. For instructions, see Virtual GPU License Server User Guide.
Note:If you are importing reservations from a JSON file, ensure that the
name
attribute of each array of reservations is set to a non-null value. Although thename
attribute is optional, any imported reservation groups for which thename
attribute is not set cannot be deleted through the management UI.
Status
Not a bug
Ref. #
200418787
3.5. Sudden shutdown of the license server can cause database corruption
Description
If the license server is shut down suddenly and cannot be shut down cleanly, the trusted storage database may become corrupted. If the database is corrupted, it cannot be read and the flexnetls-nvidia service cannot start.
When the flexnetls-nvidia service cannot start because the database is corrupted, messages similar to the following examples for each platform are written to the license server log file:
-
On Windows:
org.h2.message.DbException: General error: "java.lang.IllegalStateException: File corrupted in chunk ${chunk_number}, expected page length ${page_length}, got ${actual_page_length}" [50000-193] org.h2.message.DbException: General error: "java.lang.IllegalStateException: Reading from nio:C:/Windows/ServiceProfiles/NetworkService/flexnetls/nvidia/flexnetls_licenses.mv.db failed; file length ${file_length} read length ${read_length} at ${index}"
-
On Linux:
org.h2.message.DbException: General error: "java.lang.IllegalStateException: Reading from nio:/var/opt/flexnetls/nvidia/flexnetls_licenses.mv.db failed; file length ${file_length} read length ${read_length} at ${index}"
On Windows, event 6008 may be written to the event viewer log indicating that the license server was shut down abruptly and could not be shut down cleanly.
Workaround
Restore the database from a backup as explained in Virtual GPU License Server User Guide.
If the database remains corrupted after it is restored, the backup that you restored it from may also be corrupt. In this situation, delete the trusted storage files, start the flexnetls-nvidia service, and reinstall your licenses. For instructions for performing these tasks, see Virtual GPU License Server User Guide.
Status
Not an NVIDIA bug
Ref. #
2104881
3.6. License server MAC address cannot be changed in the management interface
Description
The management interface of the license server enables the MAC address of the license server to be changed and the change to be saved. However, when the license server host is restarted, the MAC address reverts to its previous setting.
Workaround
Change the MAC address by editing the license server settings file, updating the license server settings from the edited file, and restarting the license server.
Before attempting this workaround, ensure that the JAVA_HOME
or JRE_HOME
environment variable is set to the directory where the Java runtime environment is installed on the license server host.
This workaround requires system administrator privileges. On Windows:
-
Open the file license-server-installation-folder\server\flexnetls.settings in a plain text editor such as WordPad.
- license-server-installation-folder
- The folder in which the license server software is installed. The default license server installation folder is %SystemDrive%:\Program Files (x86)\NVIDIA\License Server.
-
Uncomment the
#ACTIVE_HOSTID=
line and append the MAC address to the line followedby /Ethernet
.For example:
... ACTIVE_HOSTID=4E7DBF3A250A/Ethernet ...
-
Save your changes and exit the editor.
-
As an Administrator user, open a Command Prompt window and change to the license-server-installation-folder\server folder.
For example:
C:\>cd C:\Program Files (x86)\NVIDIA\License Server\server C:\Program Files (x86)\NVIDIA\License Server\server>
-
In the Command Prompt window, run the command to update the license server settings from the edited file.
C:\Program Files (x86)\NVIDIA\License Server\server>flexnetls.bat -update Updating service FNLS-nvidia Service FNLS-nvidia successfully stopped Uninstalling service FNLS-nvidia Installing service FNLS-nvidia C:\Program Files (x86)\NVIDIA\License Server\server>
-
In the Command Prompt window, run the command to restart the license server.
C:\Program Files (x86)\NVIDIA\License Server\server>flexnetls.bat -start Service FNLS-nvidia successfully started C:\Program Files (x86)\NVIDIA\License Server\server>
On Linux:
-
As root, open the file /opt/flexnetls/nvidia/local-configuration.yaml in a plain text editor.
-
Uncomment the
#ACTIVE_HOSTID=
line and append the MAC address to the line followedby /Ethernet
.For example:
... ACTIVE_HOSTID=4E7DBF3A250A/Ethernet ...
-
Save your changes and exit the editor.
-
As root, restart the flexnetls-nvidia service.
# sudo systemctl restart flexnetls-nvidia.service
Status
Open
Ref. #
200397697
3.7. After restart, the log level reverts to its default level
Description
After the license server is restarted, the log level reverts to its default level of INFO, even if a different level has been set.
Workaround
Set the license server log level to the level that you require as explained in Virtual GPU License Server User Guide.
Status
Open
3.8. The logging threshold can only be uppercase
Description
The logging threshold under Logging properties on the Configuration page accepts input only in uppercase. When a valid logging threshold value in lowercase is entered, an error message similar to the following message is displayed:
The value "error" for "Logging Threshold" is not valid. [Logging Threshold, error]
Workaround
Enter logging threshold values in all uppercase.
Status
Not an NVIDIA bug
Ref. #
200334630
3.9. License Server upgrade fails
Description
An attempt to upgrade from License Server version 2015.12-0001 to the current version fails with the following error:
One or more newer versions of the product are installed. An update is not available.
Version
2018.10
Workaround
- When the error dialog box opens, click Abort to abandon the upgrade.
- Cleanly uninstall License Server version 2015.12-0001.
- Install the current version of the License Server software.
Status
Open
Ref. #
200301811
3.10. Log files can exhaust local disk space
Description
A long-running license server may fail because the license server log files flexnetls.log and access.log have exhausted the disk space on the server. Although the license server rotates log files by opening a new log file each day, it does not automatically delete old log files.
Workaround
Delete old log files when they are no longer required. On Linux, you can use a cron job to delete files that are more than a specific number of days old.
Status
Open
Ref. #
1932568
3.11. Client in time zone ahead of license server may fail to check out a license close to its expiry time
Description
A client located in a time zone that is ahead of the license server’s time zone may fail to check out a license, if the license expiration time has passed in the client’s time zone.
Platform
All
Workaround
Locate the license server in a time zone proximate to the clients it will serve.
Status
Open
Ref. #
1685774
3.12. License server fails to start because of an IP address change
Description
If the IP address of the license server changes, the license server fails to start. The license server management interface reports a connection error to the FNE server:
The license server logs report this error:
2015-09-06 14:47:41,726 FATAL Database may be already in use:
"Locked by another computer: 10.31.223.39".
Possible solutions: close all other connection(s); use the server mode [90020-184]
2015-09-06 14:47:41,726 INFO Sending stop request to FlexNet License Server.
Platform
All
Workaround
None. Ensure that the license server host is configured with a constant IP address.
Ref. #
1685681
3.13. Uninstallation on Windows doesn’t remove Apache Tomcat
Description
Running the Windows License Server uninstaller fails to remove Apache Tomcat.
Platform
All Windows variants
Workaround
Remove Apache Tomcat manually.
- Open Windows Control Panel.
- Select Programs and Features.
- In the list of programs, select Apache Tomcat and click Uninstall/Change.
Status
Open
Ref. #
1684980
3.14. Upgrade on Windows doesn't upgrade Apache Tomcat
Description
Upgrading the license server software on Windows does not upgrade Apache Tomcat.
Platform
All Windows variants
Workaround
Uninstall Apache Tomcat and the license server software manually before upgrading the license server software on Windows.
Status
Duplicate of 1684980
Ref. #
200475014
3.15. Upgrade installation does not operate correctly
Description
If the license server is installed on a platform on which license server software version 2015.12 or earlier is installed, the license server installer is incorrectly executed. The upgrade installation is not indicated to the user and, on Windows, the Apache Tomcat installer is erroneously rerun.
Platform
All
Version
This issue affects upgrades from version 2015.12 or earlier.
Workaround
Before installing this release of the license server, uninstall the previous license server software and, on Windows, uninstall the Apache Tomcat software.
Installed NVIDIA vGPU software licenses are not retained across an uninstallation followed by reinstallation. You must reinstall your licenses after reinstalling the license server software.
Status
Open
Ref. #
1713544, 1713532
3.16. After installation or upgrade on Windows, the license server may fail with the error
<a href="#bug-200488813-ls-not-installed-windows-connection-refused" target="_self">Connection refused: connect</a>
Description
After the license server is upgraded or installed on Windows, the license server may fail with the error Connection refused: connect
.
This error occurs if the Windows service Server is not running when the license server installer is run. The license server installation script depends on this service. When this error occurs, the license server service FlexNet License Server – nvidia does not exist.
Platform
Windows
Workaround
-
Uninstall the license server software and the Apache Tomcat software.
-
Start the Windows service Server.
-
Start the Services desktop app.
-
In the list of Services, context click Server and choose Start.
-
-
Install the license server software.
Note:Installed NVIDIA vGPU software licenses are not retained across an uninstallation followed by reinstallation. You must reinstall your licenses after reinstalling the license server software.
Status
Open
Ref. #
200488813
3.17. Rerunning the installer doesn’t launch modify/uninstall
Description
Rerunning the license server installer doesn’t provide options to modify or uninstall the license server. Instead, an error is reported that an upgrade is not applicable.
Platform
All
Workaround
To uninstall the license server, follow the uninstallation instructions in the Virtual GPU License Server User Guide.
Status
Open
Ref. #
1713546
3.18. Linux uninstaller allows execution as nonroot user
Description
The Linux uninstaller allows execution as a nonroot user. The uninstallation fails, and leaves the license server operational.
Platform
Linux
Workaround
-
Change to the license server installation directory.
[~]$ cd /opt/flexnetls/nvidia
-
Run the uninstaller as root.
[~]$ sudo ./Change\ License\ Server\ Installation
Status
Open
Ref. #
200162338
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HDMI
HDMI, the HDMI logo, and High-Definition Multimedia Interface are trademarks or registered trademarks of HDMI Licensing LLC.
OpenCL
OpenCL is a trademark of Apple Inc. used under license to the Khronos Group Inc.
Trademarks
NVIDIA, the NVIDIA logo, NVIDIA GRID, vGPU, Pascal, Quadro, and Tesla are trademarks or registered trademarks of NVIDIA Corporation in the U.S. and other countries. Other company and product names may be trademarks of the respective companies with which they are associated.
Third-Party Software
This NVIDIA product contains third party software that is made available under their respective software licenses. Apache Tomcat (https://tomcat.apache.org/download-80.cgi) is provided under the following terms: Copyright 2015 NVIDIA Corporation Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance with the License. You may obtain a copy of the License at http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0 Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied. See the License for the specific language governing permissions and limitations under the License.