Q: Message (-17): Communications error with license server, (-111): Connection refused at server or (-105) read error from network

Question

When trying to use a network license, I receive the message:

Error checking out PRODUCT license.

Communications error with license server (-17)

Connection refused at server (-111) / (-105) read error from network

How can I resolve this?

Solution

These warning messages generally mean one of the following:

1. the license server is not running
2. there is a firewall between the license server and the client machine 
3. network security recognises RLM traffic as suspicious and blocks this communication
4. the wrong value has been entered for the "Network license server name" in the LimitState software license dialog on the client machine

Try the following on the server:

• Check is that the license server software is running correctly - to do that, point a browser to http://localhost:5054 on the server machine, and if you get the Reprise License Server Administration screen, look at the Status page.
• Check that the system time on the server machine is correct.
• The optional Diagnostic Tools section of the network license server installer includes a script that runs some local firewall detection programs. This will list if a firewall exception has been made for rlm.exe and ports 5053 and 5054 on the server. If a firewall does exist, try unblocking the ports. Note that the firewall on more recent versions of Windows Server requires a 'rule' for the port as well as an exception in the firewall in order to allow communication.
• If the above does not work, try allowing rlm.exe on the server machine to have inbound and outbound access across all ports.
• If your network is very locked down then we would suggest setting a port for the ISV to run on then allow this through the firewall as well. More information on how to do this can be found in the article here: Can I set the port used in my network license to be static?

Try the following on the client:

• Check that the value entered for the Network license server name in the LimitState software on the client machine matches the name of the computer running the license server - the server name is shown at the top of the Reprise License Server Administration status page - e.g. 'Status for "rlm" on <server_name> (port 5053)'.
• If both of the above are OK, the problem is likely to be a firewall blocking ports 5053 (comms) and / or 5054 (web server interface). The person responsible for the firewall will normally know whether this is the case.

If none of these actions solve the problem:

Please contact our support team on support@limitstate.com  or +44 (0) 114 224 2240

It would also be useful for us to see the diagnostics file for the server machine:

1. Go to the "Reprise License Server Administration" web page on the server (http://localhost:5054)
2. Click 'Diagnostics' on the left-hand-side
3. Save 'rlmdiag.txt' then email it to support@limitstate.com