Washington College: A Top-Tier Maryland Liberal Arts College

By partnering with other education institutions across the state of Maryland, Washington College is able to offer software discounts usually given only by much larger distributors. There are three discount programs, all under the MEEC (Maryland Education Enterprise Consortium) contract.

MEEC/Microsoft Contract for Faculty & Staff Computers

MEEC/Microsoft e-Academy for Student, Faculty & Staff Personal Computers

MEEC/McAfee Contract for Faculty, Staff and Student Computers

• Acrobat Professional
• Dreamweaver
• EndNote
• Inspiration
• Maple
• Photoshop
• SPSS

Licensing works like this: Washington College buys a set number of software licenses for each application offered and then special software manages the number of people accessing a given application. This is often called "keyserving and comes in these forms:

KeyServer

The KeyServer®, bySassafras Software, Inc., provides license metering, version control, and usage monitoring for software applications available to networked computers. Most new software licenses are KeyServed. Distributing software by controlling the concurrent use of a fixed number of software licenses, provides software availability to more campus users than would otherwise be economically feasible. Before distributing software CDs and licenses of programs which have their licenses controlled by the KeyServer, OIT personnel must ensure that the KeyClient (K2Client, or K2Mobile) is installed on the designated computer.

Interaction between the network KeyServer and all keyed applications is handled by KeyClient, which must be installed on client computers. Client computers silently log onto the network KeyServer at startup, and users launch their KeyServed applications as usual. The KeyServer checks that the number of current users for that application is below the licensed maximum, before it provides the key to allow the program launch to proceed. When all licenses of a requested application are currently checked out, KeyServer offers to queue the user, and sends notification when a key becomes available. The user does not need to send repeated requests to the KeyServer for the unavailable application. When another user returns a key, it is reserved for five minutes for the next waiting user, who is notified that the application can be launched. KeyServed programs can be configured to run for only a certain time period, or automatically quit if the application is left unused in the background for longer than a specified time

For Windows computers, the latest K2Client.exe and K2Mobile.exe programs can be downloaded from ftp://ftp.washcoll.edu/Windows/KeyedSoftware/KeyClient/ClientInstallers/. Mac users can download the latest K2Client.sea.bin and K2Mobile.sea.bin programs from ftp://ftp.washcoll.edu/Mac/KeyedSoftware/KeyClient/ClientInstallers/. When the KeyClient installation asks for the location of the KeyServer, use 192.146.226.9 as the IP Address.

When the KeyClient is installed on computers, KeyServer Version 6.x automatically audits all software installed all campus computers. It also automatically learns and reports the operating system and manufacturer hardware serial number of all computers. The KeyServer administrator can choose what programs to control (key). The administrator can also choose to just monitor the use of designated programs, or choose to have the KeyServer ignore them entirely for control and reporting functions.

KeyServer also addresses the problem of controlling software on laptop computers, which are often used when disconnected from the network. When the mobile client (K2Mobile) is installed on a laptop computer, the mobile client will allow a keyed program to run when disconnected from the network by using a “Portable” key, then report program usage to the KeyServer when the laptop is reconnected to the network. To use a KeyServer controlled program license when not connected to the network, the user gets a portable key using "KeyCheckout", which is analogous to checking a book out of a library. To launch and use KeyCheckout, K2 Mobile must be installed on a computer. K2 Mobile is the same as K2Client, except that K2Mobile also installs KeyCheckout. When a Portable license is checked out, the license/program can be launched without any connection the the server/network. The only downside of a license being checked-out, is that that license is not available for use by anyone else while it is checked-out. If the KeyServer administrator were to recall a Portable license before the time period expires, the next time that the network saw the laptop with that portable key, it would take away the Portable key, and the program would not work until the KeyServer reissued a license. While connected to the network launch KeyCheckout by:

Mac OS X - from the hard drive, go to Library, then KeyAccess/KeyCheckout.app

Windows XP - to use KeyCheckout, launch KeyCheckout by selecting the Start button, then KeyServer Client/KeyCheckout

Vista - to use KeyCheckout, select the Start button, then Programs/Sassafras K2/KeyCheckout

In KeyCheckout, drag the desired license to the hard drive. Specify how long you want to "checkout" the license. Presently most licenses can be checked out for a maximum of 1 year. When the portable license expires, just perform this process again. If you want to return the license earlier,just open KeyCheckout and drag the license from the hard drive back to the server.

Mac OS X

Windows

KeyClient programs, and some KeyServed applications, for Macintosh and Windows computers can be downloaded from ftp://ftp.washcoll.edu/

For security purposes, software license/registration numbers are not posted on ftp://ftp.washcoll.edu/. License/registration numbers, installation CDs (rather than download from ftp://ftp.washcoll.edu/), and installation help can be obtained from the HelpDesk.

SPSS Sentinel

SPSS "license activation" strategy, starting with SPSS version 13, does not allow us to control concurrent licensing using the KeyServer. Our 50 concurrent licenses of SPSS Base/Tables/Advanced Models, are for Windows only, and come bundled with their own license manager called Sentinel. Sentinel controls concurrent license usage in a manner similar to KeyServer. When installing SPSS, the networking option is selected, rather than the single user option. The networking installation is then given the address 192.146.226.9, which is the same address as the KeyServer application.

Similar to the KeyServer Portable key, SPSS Sentinel also provides a means to launch SPSS when not connected to the network, and is the “Commuter License”. To use the SPSS Commuter license in Windows XP or Vista:

Select the Start button, then All Programs/SPSS/Commuter License.

Highlight the license, change the “Duration Days” to the desired period (presently 7 is the maximum number of days permitted by SPSS), then click onto the “Check Out” button

Maple FLEXlm

Maple "license activation" strategy, starting with version 10, does not allow us to control concurrent licensing using the KeyServer. Our 50 concurrent Maple licenses are available for Windows, Mac OS X and Linux installations, and come bundled with their own license manager called FLEXlm. FLEXlm controls concurrent license usage in a manner similar to KeyServer. When installing Maple, the networking option is selected, rather than the single user option. The networking installation is then given the address 192.146.226.9, which is the same address as the KeyServer application.