Error Message: Unable to contact the OpenLink License Manager

Release 6.x (and Release 5.2 on some platforms) and newer drivers ship with the separate OpenLink License Manager, oplmgr.





General Guidance, for Windows, Linux, and other Unix-like OS (except macOS)

If you receive the above error message, check whether the OpenLink License Manager is running on the licensed host -- i.e., the Request Broker host for the Enterprise Edition (Multi-Tier); the client driver host for the Lite or Express Editions (Single-Tier); or the Virtuoso server host.

  • on Windows, use the Task Manager or similar.
  • on Unix-like OS, use a command like this (may vary, depending on your active shell) -- 


    ps -ef | grep oplmgr | grep -v grep

If the License Manager is already running, make sure that networking and firewalls are properly configured.

If networking and firewall are configured properly, and the License Manager is running, but the error persists, then kill the oplmgr process (e.g., kill -9 <PID>), and proceed as below.

If the License Manager is not running, do this:

  1. Ensure the proper license file(s) is/are in place, and named as we shipped them (e.g., pro9_lt.lic, oplrqb.lic, ee_inf_lt.lic).
  2. Remove or rename any expired or otherwise extraneous OpenLink license files.
  3. Create or modify the OPL_LICENSE_DIR environment variable, and ensure that it includes each and every directory that contains one of your active OpenLink license file(s).
  4. Start the License Manager --
    • On Windows, use the Services or Component Services control panel (often found in the Administrative Tools sub-folder).
    • On Unix-like OS, set the OpenLink environment by running the appropriate script for your shell (adjusting the path as appropriate) --
      shell command
      sh, bash, zsh and related . /path/to/openlink.sh
      ksh and related source /path/to/openlink.sh
      csh, tcsh and related source /path/to/openlink.csh

      • Our recent distributions start the License Manager as part of the above scripts; if you see no message about oplmgr starting, then also execute this command -- 


        oplmgr +start

  5. Confirm that the License Manager has started successfully --
    • on Windows, use the Task Manager or similar.
    • on Unix-like OS, use a command like this (may vary, depending on your active shell) -- 


      ps -ef | grep oplmgr | grep -v grep

  6. Test a connection.

Special Guidance for Release 6.x or 7.x on macOS Snow Leopard (10.8.x) and later

Note: This guidance is not relevant for Release 8.x drivers, nor with Release 6.x or 7.x installers with .mpkg dated 2014-12-04 or later.

Changes in the Gatekeeper in Snow Leopard (10.8.x), Mavericks (10.9.x), Yosemite (10.10.x), El Capitan (10.11.x), Sierra (10.12.x), High Sierra (10.13.x), Mojave (10.14.x), and Catalina (10.15.x) required updated License Manager binaries and startup scripts. Installers produced after 2014-12-04 for Release 6.x and 7.x, and all installers for Release 8.x, include these updates. Updated oplmgr installers are also available for users with drivers installed, or driver installers dated, prior to 2014-12-04.

  1. If your Release 6.x or 7.x driver installer .dmg contains an .mpkg dated before 2014-12-04, please download this second installer package for use on macOS Catalina (10.15.x), Mojave (10.14.x), High Sierra (10.13.x), Sierra (10.12.x), El Capitan (10.11.x), Yosemite (10.10.x), Mavericks (10.9), Snow Leopard (10.8.x), or Lion (10.7.x) -- oplmgr.pkg
  2. Double-click to run the .pkg.


  3. This installer should automatically move any previously installed license files from -- 


    /Library/Application Support/openlink/bin/*.lic

    -- to -- 


    /Library/Application Support/openlink/Licenses/*.lic

    -- but some users have reported otherwise, so you may need to do this relocation yourself, with /Applications/Utilities/Terminal.app -- 


    cd "/Library/Application Support/openlink/Licenses"

sudo mv ../bin/*.lic .

  4. Confirm that the oplmgr process is running with this Terminal.app command -- 


    ps -ef | grep oplmgr | grep -v grep

    If it's running, output should look something like this -- 


        0   111     1   0 Wed09AM ??         0:00.57 /Library/Application Support/OpenLink/bin/oplmgr -fd /Library/Application Support/OpenLink/Licenses

    If it's not running, try a reboot, or manually execute the following Terminal.app command, and then check for the process again -- 


    sudo /Library/Application\ Support/OpenLink/bin/oplmgr -fd /Library/Application\ Support/OpenLink/Licenses &

  5. Once the oplmgr process is running, try testing the driver again.

Related Documentation

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