Silently authorize ArcGIS License Manager 10.x on Linux

Summary

A silent authorization on Solaris/Linux needs a valid X Windows environment to operate.

Although the silent authorization process does not generate any GUI output, the DISPLAY environment variable must still be set to a valid X Display. This requirement arises from the third-party, MainWin software used internally during the authorization process.

The instructions provided describe how to create a virtual display server and perform a silent authorization process in an environment where no physical X Display is available. The following steps review how this can be done using a program called 'Xvfb'.

Procedure

1. Start a virtual display server. The following command is typical for a basic service.
   
   

   Code:
   Xvfb :500 -screen 0 1280x1024x24 &

   
   
   
   

   Note:
   This example uses '500' as the display number. This can be changed as needed if a conflict arises.

   
   
   The following folders are the usual install locations where Xvfb can be found:
   
   Linux
   

   /usr/X11R6/bin/Xvfb

   
   Solaris 9
   

   /usr/openwin/bin/Xvfb

   
   Solaris 10
   

   /usr/X11/bin/Xvfb

   
   
2. Set the DISPLAY to the virtual display server.
   
   
   C Shell
   

   Code:
   setenv DISPLAY :500.0

   
   Bourne, Bash shell
   

   Code:
   DISPLAY=”:500.0”; export DISPLAY

   
   
3. Run the silent authorization procedure by running the following command.
   
   

   Code:
   SoftwareAuthorizationLS –s –lif <prvs file>

   
   
   

   Note:
   A Provisioning File (*.prvs) file can be obtained through the Customer Care Portal.

   
   
4. Stop the virtual display server by using the 'ps' command to identify its process number and then using the kill command to stop it. On Solaris, the process name started by the Xvfb command is actually 'XSun'.
   
   
   Linux
   

   Code:
   ps –ef | grep –i xvfb

   
   
   Solaris
   

   Code:
   ps –ef | grep –i xsun

   
   
   Kill Command
   

   Code:
   kill -9 process_id