KB #240151: Disaster Recovery Planning

Type:

Information

Summary:

Below we describe some approaches for Disaster Recovery Planning/Testing with regard to Encryptionizer software and licensing, and as well as steps in a true disaster where the Production machine is down.

Additional Information:

These guidelines are specifically when using Encryptionizer driver version versions released 2023 or later (NLEMSYS.sys version 2201.611.55 or later).
If you have a question about the version of software you are using, you can follow this KB #240145 Determine Current Encryptionizer Driver Information

Many of our customers clone virtual machines or keep a production image to stamp down onto new physical hardware.

Our licensing software is tied to the hardware environment of the machine. When a production machine is cloned or imaged onto new hardware, it is very likely that the DR machine will look like a different one to the licensing software than the one on which the license was originally activated. This can result in disabling our software.

In a planned situation where a VM was being moved, or new hardware was being built, you would deactivate the license on the original machine and then reactivate it in the new location.

However, for DR testing, you are effectively cloning a machine, while keeping the original license up and running.

Below we describe two scenarios:
A. DR test where you want to keep the license on the original machine
B. Real disaster recovery, where the production license is being moved to the DR copy

Scenario A: DR testing:

Situation:

• Production machine is alive and active.
• Testing DR procedure.
• Keep the production license on the original Production machine.

Steps:

1. Visit your License Portal and get the License ID and Activation password for the Temporary License available to you. Our team monitors the account to ensure that you always have a Temporary License available for use for test or real emergencies.
2. Start up the cloned machine (DR). Some important Encryptionizer services will not start because the license is invalid.
3. If you run the primary menu program, it will note that the License is invalid. Click OK.
4. Do not click License Management. If you do, it will ask if you wish to Deactivate the invalid license. Click No.
5. Open Windows File Explorer and delete the License File (.lfx) which can be found in the NetLib installation folder:
   C:Program Files (x86)NetLibSECSQL*.*.lfx
   For example if your license is 6000001, you will find a file: 6000001.***.lfx  Delete this file.
6. Open the Primary Menu program either from the desktop, or run:
   C:Program Files (x86)NetLibSECSQLNLMenu.exe
7. The Menu will indicate that a license is missing
8. Click License Management
9. Activate the Temporary License that you collected in Step 1.
10. Reboot.

The Temporary License will activate the machine for up to 45 days. You can use the same Temporary License in your test scenarios multiple times (up to 4) however it will not extend the expiration date of the Temporary License. You will need to use a new Temporary License. Our team monitors Temporary License usage and will add new Temporary Licenses so that you always have a fresh Temp License available for you.

Note: You may have a non-production license available for use for purposes such as Dev, Test, DR. If you have activations left on it, it can be used on the DR server for testing or live DR.

For test or live DR, you can use this License to reactivate the software instead of the Temporary License in Scenario A. Step 9.

The benefit to using the Non-Production License ID: 6000867 is that this information is static, so that you can build it into the procedure directly rather than having to find a Temporary License in the License Portal when you are under pressure to bring your systems up quickly.

When you are ready to end the test, deactivate the License so that you have the activation available for a future test or actual DR procedure. If you forget to deactivate before destroying the machine, reach out to NetLib Security Support to deactivate it on the Licensing server so that you can reclaim the activation.

Scenario B: Real Disaster Recovery:

Situation:

• Production machine is destroyed/not available.
• DR machine will become the new Production server.
• Want to transfer the production License to the DR server.

Steps:

1. Visit your License Portal and confirm the License ID and Activation password for your Production License (or the machine that is being replaced)
2. Start up the cloned machine (DR). Some important Encryptionizer services will not start because the license is invalid.
3. Open the Primary Menu program either from the desktop, or run:
   C:Program Files (x86)NetLibSECSQLNLMenu.exe
4. The menu will note that the License is invalid. Click OK.
5. Click License Management.
6. It will show a pop-up that the License is invalid, do you wish to Deactivate. Click Yes.
7. Click Deactivate on the next screen. This will remove the license on the machine, deactivate the license on the Licensing server, and give you back the installation allowance to use again.
8. Once the Menu displays again, click License Management once more.
9. Activate with License ID and Activation password for the production license collected in Step 1.
10. Reboot.

Note: If the Disaster is expected to be short-lived (e.g. network outage, etc), and you expect to gain access back to the Production machine in fewer than 45 days, then we recommend following the steps in Scenario A. Use Scenario B only if you do not expect the original copy of production machine to be available again. If Scenario A turns into Scenario B (it turns out that the original machine will not be accessible after all), contact NetLib Security support. We can deactivate the original machine on the Licensing server so that you have an activation allowance available. Then, on the DR (not production) machine, deactivate the Temporary License and activate the Production License.