Generating and Sharing FlexNet License Usage Logs with nTop

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Overview

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Before you begin

• Administrator access to the license server machine. Run LMTOOLS, Command Prompt and PowerShell as administrator.
• The nTop license tools. lmutil, lmgrd, LMTOOLS and the nTop vendor daemon (ntoplm.exe) are installed by ntoplm-1.0.0.msi into the ntoplm folder inside your nTop installation folder. The commands below are run from that folder.
• Your license server address, in the form port@hostname (for example, 27000@licserver).
• A folder the license service can write to. Revenera recommends a sub-folder of C:\ProgramData because the license service, running as LocalService, can write there by default. This article uses C:\ProgramData\nTopLM\logs. Create it before you start.

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Which files nTop needs

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Step 1: Turn on usage logging

1. In the folder that holds your nTop license file, create a text file named ntoplm.opt. The vendor daemon finds a file with this name automatically. If you keep it elsewhere, add its path to the VENDOR ntoplm line of the license file as OPTIONS=<path>.
2. Add these two lines (keep the quotes):

DEBUGLOG +"C:\ProgramData\nTopLM\logs\ntoplm_debug.log" OBF_ADDMARK
REPORTLOG +"C:\ProgramData\nTopLM\logs\ntoplm_report.rl" HIDE_USER

• + appends to the file instead of overwriting it each time the server restarts.
• OBF_ADDMARK places markers around each user name in the debug log (for example OBF_STRT:jsmith:OBF_END@ENG-WS-042). The Step 4 script handles these markers.
• HIDE_USER hashes user names (SHA-2) before they are written to the report log.

3. Apply the change. In LMTOOLS, open Start/Stop/Reread and click ReRead License File, or run lmutil lmreread -c 27000@licserver from the ntoplm folder, or restart the nTopLM service.
4. Confirm a file named ntoplm_debug.log now appears in C:\ProgramData\nTopLM\logs. Open it in a text editor and check for OUT: and IN: lines after someone opens and closes nTop.

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Step 2: Capture a status snapshot

1. Open Command Prompt as administrator and go to the ntoplm folder.
2. Run this command, replacing the server address with yours:

lmutil lmstat -a --no-user-info -c 27000@licserver > "%USERPROFILE%\Desktop\ntoplm_status.txt"

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Step 3: Collect the files

• ntoplm_debug.log from C:\ProgramData\nTopLM\logs
• ntoplm_status.txt from Step 2
• Only if Support asked for it: the report log. First close it so the copy is complete, by switching the server to a new report log file:

lmutil lmswitchr -c 27000@licserver ntoplm "C:\ProgramData\nTopLM\logs\ntoplm_report_new.rl"

• Only if Support asked for it: the server (lmgrd) debug log. Its location is the Path to the debug log file field under Config Services in LMTOOLS.

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Step 4: Remove personal information

09:14:02 (ntoplm) OUT: "ntop_full" jsmith@ENG-WS-042
09:14:02 (ntoplm) OUT: "ntop_full" user001@host001

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4a. Replace user names, computer names, IP addresses and personal paths

$in = "C:\ProgramData\nTopLM\to_share\ntoplm_debug.log"
$out = "C:\ProgramData\nTopLM\to_share\ntoplm_debug_redacted.log"
$key = "C:\ProgramData\nTopLM\redaction_key.csv" # stays on your server
$users = @{}; $hosts = @{}

Get-Content $in | ForEach-Object {
 $line = [regex]::Replace($_, '(?:OBF_STRT:)?(?<u>[\w.$-]+)(?::OBF_END)?@(?<h>[\w.-]+)', {
 param($m)
 $u = $m.Groups['u'].Value; $h = $m.Groups['h'].Value
 if (-not $users.ContainsKey($u)) { $users[$u] = 'user{0:D3}' -f ($users.Count + 1) }
 if (-not $hosts.ContainsKey($h)) { $hosts[$h] = 'host{0:D3}' -f ($hosts.Count + 1) }
 "$($users[$u])@$($hosts[$h])"
 })
 $line = $line -replace '(?i)(C:\\Users\\)[^\\]+', '$1[user]'
 $line = $line -replace "\b$([regex]::Escape($env:COMPUTERNAME))\b", 'licserver'
 $line -replace '\b\d{1,3}(\.\d{1,3}){3}\b', '[IP]'
} | Set-Content $out

(@($users.GetEnumerator()) + @($hosts.GetEnumerator())) |
 Select-Object @{n='Real';e={$_.Key}}, @{n='Placeholder';e={$_.Value}} |
 Export-Csv $key -NoTypeInformation

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4b. Review by hand before sending

• Any remaining user or computer names, including on DENIED and error lines
• Your license server’s own host name. The script replaces it, but check for any fully qualified form for example licserver.corp.example.com
• File paths containing a person’s name outside C:\Users (the script covers C:\Users\jsmith\...)
• Email addresses, domain names, or project names you consider confidential
• In an lmstat file made without --no-user-info, the per-user lines under each feature. Delete them and keep the counts

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Step 5: Send the files to nTop Support

1. Put only the redacted files in a new folder: ntoplm_debug_redacted.log, ntoplm_status.txt and, if requested, ntoplm_report.rl. Leave out the key file, the original logs and your license file.
2. Compress the folder into a .zip file named with your company name and date, for example Acme_ntoplm_logs_2026-10-19.zip.
3. Open a ticket at Request Support and attach the .zip. Include:

• The period the logs cover
• Your FlexNet Publisher version (from lmutil lmver lmgrd.exe)
• What you would like us to look at, such as denials, peak usage, or a server error

4. ITAR customers: use the Request ITAR Support option on the same page instead of the standard form.

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Troubleshooting and FAQ

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References

• Debug Log File · Debug Log Messages · Informational Messages
• Report Log File · REPORTLOG · lmswitchr
• DEBUGLOG · NOLOG · Creating an Options File
• Capturing Debug Log Output for a License Server
• lmstat · · Command-Line Utilities