Library Characterization Tidbits: Accelerating Signoff with Liberate - Installation and Licensing - Part 2

Hello again! 

A few weeks ago, in the Accelerating Signoff with Liberate - Installation and Licensing - Part 1 blog, Rajni Dhiman (Lead Support AE at Cadence) had answered some frequently asked questions (FAQ) related to configuration and licensing of the Cadence^® Liberate^TM Characterization Portfolio tools. I have requested her once again to answer a few more related questions in this second edition. Hope you will find the information useful in optimizing the resources available at hand.

 Abha: If I am noticing an unexpected license check-in and check-out behavior, what should I verify first?

Rajni: In such a scenario, you must ensure that the license daemon (cdslmd) and the license server (lmgrd) have the same version. Also, check that the version of both cdslmd and lmgrd is the same as required for the LIBERATE release you are working on. An unexpected license behavior is usually observed if a mismatch of versions is detected.

For example, the license search path can be reset to none after a failed license check out request. This can result in incorrect license checking process. To determine the license version shipped with the release, run the following commands:

${ALTOSHOME}/bin/cdslmd -ver

${ALTOSHOME}/bin/lmgrd -ver

On a 64-bit license host, the 64-bit cdslmd and lmgrd must be used instead of the default 32-bit ones.

If the latest version of cdslmd and lmgrd is needed, download Lic+Config_Utils from the LINUX tab available on https://downloads.cadence.com.

 Abha: How can I write the check-in and check-out of the licenses in a file?

Rajni: Before starting the tool, set the following environment variable in the terminal:

% setenv CDS_LIC_QA_TesT ~/lic.log

The CDS_LIC_QA_TesT environment variable creates a file named lic.log to record the traces of licenses that are checked out and checked in.

For more information, refer to the following article posted on the Cadence Support portal: How do I set the CDS_LIC_QA_TesT variable?

Also, ensure that the version of cdslmd and lmgrd is the same. 

 Abha: How can I ensure that a Liberate tool will wait till it gets the required licenses?

Rajni: ​To enable license queuing, set the ALTOS_QUEUE environment variable as following:

% setenv ALTOS_QUEUE 1

By default, the tool waits for 86400 seconds to procure a license. If you think that the tool is taking long, you can reset this default waiting time using the lic_max_timeout parameter.

 Abha: Assume that I have both spectre_char_opt and Spectre licenses. Is it possible to run Liberate characterization using the spectre_char_opt licenses only, and not using the Spectre licenses?

Rajni:  Yes, this scenario is a feasible one. To accomplish it, set the following Liberate variables in the Tcl files:

set_var spectre_use_mmsim_token_license 0

set_var spectre_use_char_opt_license 1

set_var packet_require_spectre_char_opt 0

For more information, refer to the Liberate Characterization Reference Manual.

Abha: What should I do if license-related messages such as the following are displayed while running Liberate?

INFO (LIB-700): (Mar 21 15:33:12): ERROR (LMF-11005): License call failed for feature Liberate_Server, version <number> and quantity <number>. The license server search path is defined as <none>. The FLEXnet error message is as following: 
FLEXnet ERROR(-5, 234, 0): No such feature exists.

Run 'lic_error LMF-11005' for more information.

Rajni:  To avoid getting such license-related messages, first check the available licenses using the following command:

% lmstat -S | grep Liberate

In addition, ensure that cdslmd and lmgrd have the same version as is required for the LIBERATE release.

Then, check if correct path to the license file has been set using the LM_LICENSE_FILE and CDS_LIC_FILE environment variables as shown below:

% setenv LM_LICENSE_FILE <license_location_path>

% setenv CDS_LIC_FILE $LM_LICENSE_FILE

You can also reduce the number of license queries sent by the application to the license server while attempting to checkout server and client licenses. To accomplish this, in the order of priority, use one of the following methods:

• Specify an additional command line argument, --lorder <list>, while starting the tool.
• Set the LIBERATE_LORDER environment variable and then start the tool.

Both these methods accept one of the following:

• For À La Carte licenses, specify a case-insensitive, colon-separated, ordered list of server and client licenses for Liberate, Liberate LV, and Liberate Variety. The specified list is read in the given order from left to right.
• For Liberate_Unified_Cell (ALT910) token licenses, specify the "TOKENS" keyword as shown in the following examples:

% liberate –-lorder “TOKENS” char.tcl

OR

% setenv LIBERATE_LORDER TOKENS

% liberate

Note: Mixing of À La Carte and token licenses in the same run is NOT supported.

For more details and assistance, contact your Cadence Customer Support representative.

I'll humbly sign off this blog now with a "Thank You" to you for reading it and Rajni for responding to the FAQs. I’ll return in a few weeks with another Subject Matter Expert (SME) and yet another topic that might be of interest to you. Till then, take care. Ciao!

~Abha Rawat

Related Resources

• Product Manuals for Liberate Characterization Portfolio

For more information on Cadence circuit design products and services, visit www.cadence.com. 

About Library Characterization Tidbits

Library Characterization Tidbits is a blog series aimed at providing insight into the useful software and documentation enhancements in the LIBERATE release. In addition, this series would broadcast the voices of different bloggers and experts, who would share their knowledge and experience about all the tools in Liberate Characterization Portfolio. To receive notifications about the new blogs in this series, click Subscribe and submit your email ID in the Subscriptions box.