The PathScale compilers are supplied with software that manages
subscriptions. In order to run the PathScale compilers it is necessary for you
to have a valid subscription.

There are two types of subscriptions available to be used and both are
equivalently priced:

1. Node-locked, for one or more named
   users on the same machine
2. Floating, multiple named or unnamed
   users on multiple machines

When you order a subscription for the PathScale compilers, you are initially emailed a temporary subscription key. This temporary key allows subscribers to install and activate the compliers with the least amount of delay.

Once the compiler is installed, you will be contacted by PathScale and asked to select what form of subscription best suits your needs (shortly, this will be a web process). Nodelocked subscriptions are bound to a specific system and do not require a subscription daemon. Floating subscriptions provide the greatest flexibility, but require a subscription daemon to be installed and contactable by the systems that use the compiler.

You will be asked to provide information about the systems on which the compilers will run. This information is used by the subscription management software to verify that the subscription is valid. Once PathScale has the information, you will receive a file in email that provides the subscription software with all the information it needs in order to enable the compilers.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many copies of the compiler suite should I purchase?

In general, you should purchase one subscription for each developer who actively uses the compiler in a given day. If you compile on more systems than you have developers, you should purchase enough subscriptions to cover those additional systems. Please purchase enough subscriptions for the maximum of either active developers or active systems.

If you elect to use a nodelocked subscription, the solution is simple, you supply PathScale with the names of the users and provide the system information for the machine(s) on which they will use the compiler.

If you elect to use floating subscriptions, then you have more flexibility. Developers may use the compiler on an arbitrary machine, so long as it can contact the system running the subscription manager. The subscription manager will allow as many users to run as there are subscriptions, on as many machines as there are subscriptions.

How is floating subscription different from other companies concurrent user model?

Concurrent licenses count each node a developer compiles on. Two developers compiling on 5 systems would require 10 concurrent licenses. PathScale uses the maximum of the number of developers, and the maximum number of systems being used. So long as the both maximums do not exceed the number of subscriptions, users can continue to concurrently use the compiler across all the systems. So in the previous example, PathScale developers would only require 5 subscriptions.

Floating subscriptions may be dedicated to a named user, who gets priority over other occasional users.

Floating subscriptions are 'sticky', that is they are leased on a long-term (15 minute) basis to a given user. The lease is automatically extended at each invocation of the compiler. One benefit of long term leases is they survive network outages (until the lease period expires).

My organization has both heavy users, and occasional users, what kind of license should I purchase?

A floating subscription can be tied to a named set of users. This can be done in two ways: exclusive and non-exclusive.

• Exclusive users: In this mode, only
  the named users will be granted leases for available subscriptions. No other users
  will be allowed to use the system.
• Non-exclusive users: Like the
  exclusive case, this allows a list of users to be specified. Unlike
  the exclusive case, however, other users will still be allowed to use the compiler, but with
  a lower priority than those users who are known to the subscription manager.
  If a named (priority) user wishes to gain a lease, a non-priority user may
  lose his lease in preference to the named user. This will only happen if
  there are no available seats and the unnamed user chosen to lose the lease
  will be the one who has the least time to run on the lease.

The priority user scheme allows a core set of users to be specified to be given the highest priority, but also allows others to use the compiler when there are available subscriptions not being used by the core users.

The set of named users, and the exclusivity of the set is contained in the subscription file and can be modified by the administrator to add or remove users and change the exclusivity.

Do you require a runtime license for the compiled binaries?

No, you may run your compiled binary on any system.

Is there a technical description of the subscription manager?

Yes, in the PathScale Compiler Suite Install Guide. This document is available during product download, and ships with the CD.

Are there security issues with the subscription daemon?

The daemon runs on the customer network and makes no contact to the Internet at large. It uses a non-privileged port, and runs as a non-privileged user. It has negligible performance impact on the system CPU, network, and memory.

What happens when I run out of subscriptions or my annual subscription expires?

You are obligated to pay for each subscription you use. The subscription manager can be configured to have a hard limit. When you have exceeded this hard limit, the compiler will exit saying no subscriptions are available. Alternatively, the subscription manager can be configured (through the subscription key itself) to provide a soft limit where it logs usage. This usage is visible to the administrator and can indicate that an overage has occurred. In this case, you are obligated to contact PathScale to increase your number of subscriptions.

At the end of the subscription period, the subscription manager will warn for an additional 30 days that your subscription has expired. At the end of this 30 day grace period the compiler will exit saying there are no subscriptions available.