Using License Server in failover mode

In failover mode, License Server typically runs on three different systems. The way you work with License Server in this case is slightly different than the simple use case where it's running on a single system. (The failover count is part of the license for the license server and must be specified during the purchase of the license server)

Please note: pdfToolbox 10.2 and higher have support  for license server. Fail over mode is only available in pdfToolbox 10.2 (508) and higher.

Launching License Server

In failover mode, each License Server needs to be aware of the other License Servers involved. Assuming the three License Servers are installed on systems with IP addresses <IP1>, <IP2> and <IP3>, they would be launched on each system as:

On LicenseServer 1:
licenseServer --server --licenseserver=<IP2>  --licenseserver=<IP3>
On LicenseServer 2:
licenseServer --server --licenseserver=<IP1>  --licenseserver=<IP3>
On LicenseServer 3:
licenseServer --server --licenseserver=<IP1>  --licenseserver=<IP2>
Click to copy

PLEASE NOTE: It is possible to run multiple license servers on the same computer with different ports and cache folder settings.

Using License Server

In failover mode, whenever a callas tool, such as pdfToolbox, requires a license, it should refer to all three license servers while doing so:

pdfToolbox --licenseserver=<IP1> --licenseserver=<IP2> --licenseserver=<IP3> <further command line>
Click to copy

Failover restrictions

In failover mode, one (1) License Server can fail and other software will still continue to work and receive valid licenses. As soon as two (2) License Servers fail, the remaining License Server will refuse to distribute licenses.