Cluster-wise license information replication

1. A method for replicating and enforcing license information in a computer cluster, the method comprising:

receiving, by a core-node selected from a plurality of cluster nodes in the computer cluster, a plurality of peer-license-info from a plurality of peer-nodes selected from the plurality of cluster nodes, wherein each of the plurality of peer-license-info includes license-info collected by and associated with a corresponding one of the plurality of peer-nodes;

generating, by the core-node, a first cluster-license-info based on the plurality of peer-license-info;

propagating, by the core-node, the first cluster-license-info to each of the plurality of peer-nodes, wherein the first cluster-license-info is configured for detecting license violations among the plurality of cluster nodes; and

propagating, by the core-node, a revised cluster-license-info to each of the plurality of peer-nodes, wherein each of the plurality of peer-nodes is configured to perform its corresponding enforcement actions contained in the revised cluster-license-info to adjust its license configuration.

2. The method as recited in the claim 1 , further comprising:

in response to a license-update event from a first peer-node selected from the plurality of peer-nodes, transmitting, by the core-node, a collection-request message to the first peer-node;

receiving, by the core-node, a first peer-license-info from the first peer-node;

generating, by the core-node, a second cluster-license-info by adjusting the first cluster-license-info based on the first peer-license-info; and

propagating, by the core-node, the second cluster-license-info to each of the plurality of peer-nodes.

3. The method as recited in the claim 2 , wherein the license-update event is a new peer-node event, a license-activation event, a license-termination event, or a license-violation event.

4. The method as recited in the claim 1 , further comprising:

in response to a license-remove event from a first peer-node selected from the plurality of peer-nodes, generating, by the core-node, a second cluster-license-info by removing peer-license-info associated with the first peer-node from the cluster-license-info; and

propagating, by the core-node, the second cluster-license-info to each of the plurality of peer-nodes.

5. The method as recited in the claim 1 , wherein the detecting of license violations in the computer cluster comprises:

extracting from the first cluster-license-info a license-configuration and a license-usage-data associated with a specific software; and

detecting license violations by evaluating the license-usage-data based on the license-configuration.

6. The method as recited in the claim 1 , further comprising:

broadcasting, by the core-node, a collection-request message to each of the plurality of peer-nodes; and

in response to a determination that no peer-license-info is received from a first peer-node selected from the plurality of peer-nodes, retransmitting, by the core-node, the collection-request message to the first peer-node.

7. The method as recited in the claim 1 , further comprising:

receiving, by the core-node, the revised cluster-license-info generated based on the first cluster-license-info.

8. The method as recited in the claim 1 , wherein each of the plurality of peer-nodes perform its corresponding enforcement actions by:

in response to a license violation detected on a specific peer-node of the plurality of peer-nodes, adjusting software on the specific peer-node by activating, deactivating, or changing the software's license configuration.

9. The method as recited in the claim 8 , wherein the license violation is a license-expiration violation, a license-abuse violation, or a no-license violation.

10. A system for enforcing license information in a computer cluster, the system comprising:

a plurality of peer-nodes selected from a plurality of cluster nodes, wherein each of the plurality of cluster nodes includes a computing device and a corresponding license configuration; and

a core-node selected from the plurality of cluster nodes, wherein the core-node includes another computing device and is configured to:

receive a plurality of peer-license-info from the plurality of peer-nodes, wherein each of the plurality of peer-license-info includes license-info collected by and associated with a corresponding one of the plurality of peer-nodes,

generate a first cluster-license-info based on the plurality of peer-license-info,

propagate the first cluster-license-info to each of the plurality of peer-nodes, wherein the first cluster-license-info is configured for detecting license violations among the plurality of cluster nodes, and

propagate a revised cluster-license-info to each of the plurality of peer-nodes, wherein each of the plurality of peer-nodes is configured to perform its corresponding enforcement actions contained in the revised cluster-license-info to adjust its license configuration.

11. The system of claim 10 , wherein the core-node is further configured to:

in response to a license-update event from a first peer-node selected from the plurality of peer-nodes, transmit a collection-request message to the first peer-node,

receive a first peer-license-info from the first peer-node,

generate a second cluster-license-info by adjusting the first cluster-license-info based on the first peer-license-info, and

propagate the second cluster-license-info to each of the plurality of peer-nodes.

12. The system of claim 10 , wherein the core-node is further configured to:

in response to a license-remove event from a first peer-node selected from the plurality of peer-nodes, generate a second cluster-license-info by removing peer-license-info associated with the first peer-node from the cluster-license-info, and

propagate the second cluster-license-info to each of the plurality of peer-nodes.

13. The system of claim 10 , wherein the core-node is further configured to:

receive the revised cluster-license-info generated based on the first cluster-license-info.

14. The system of claim 13 , wherein each of the plurality of peer-nodes adjusts its corresponding license configuration by:

in response to a license violation detected on a specific peer-node of the plurality of peer-nodes, adjusting software on the specific peer-node by, activating, deactivating, or changing the software's license configuration.