Self-Hosted Subscription Licenses Are Missing or Unavailable After a Restart

If licenses previously added to Ranorex Subscription License Manager are no longer visible or available after restarting Windows, verify that the Windows IP Helper service is enabled and running.

Symptoms

The issue occurs after restarting Windows, installing a Windows update, or changing system policies. You may experience one or more of the following symptoms:

• Licenses previously added to the Subscription License Manager no longer appear available.
• Client machines cannot obtain a self-hosted subscription license.
• Ranorex Studio cannot connect to Subscription License Manager.
• Attempts to add or validate a license fail.

Cause

Ranorex Subscription License Manager requires the Windows IP Helper service (iphlpsvc) to be enabled and running to share licenses with other machines on the network. If the service is stopped or disabled, communication with Subscription License Manager may fail, making the licenses appear unavailable.

The IP Helper service can be affected by:

• Windows or system updates.
• Group Policy changes.
• Manual changes to Windows service settings.
• Security or system-hardening policies.
• Changes to service dependencies.

Note: Starting with Subscription License Manager 1.0.2, the installer automatically enables the IP Helper service. However, system or organizational policies can change its configuration after installation.

Solution

Verify the IP Helper service

To check the service in Windows:

1. Press Win + R.
2. Enter services.msc.
3. Select OK.
4. Find IP Helper in the list.
5. Check its status and startup type. The service should have the following settings:
   • Status: Running
   • Startup type: Automatic

You can also check the service from an elevated Command Prompt:

sc.exe query iphlpsvc

If the service is running, the command returns:

STATE: 4  RUNNING

If it returns STATE: 1 STOPPED, start the service as described in the following section.

Start the IP Helper service

To start the service:

1. In the Windows Services window, right-click IP Helper.
2. Select Start.
3. Wait for the service status to change to Running.

Configure IP Helper to start automatically

To ensure that IP Helper starts after Windows restarts:

1. In the Windows Services window, right-click IP Helper.
2. Select Properties.
3. From Startup type, select Automatic.
4. Select Apply.
5. Select OK.

Alternatively, run the following command from an elevated Command Prompt:

sc.exe config iphlpsvc start= auto

Important: If Windows services are controlled through Group Policy or another device-management system, contact your system administrator before changing the service configuration. Your administrator may need to update the applicable organizational policy to prevent the service from being disabled again.

Configure Service Recovery (Recommended)

To ensure IP Helper restarts automatically if it stops unexpectedly:

Option A: Via the Services UI

1. Right-click IP Helper > Properties > Recovery tab.
2. Set:
   • First failure: Restart the Service
   • Second failure: Restart the Service
   • Subsequent failures: Restart the Service
   • Reset fail count after: 1 day
   • Restart service after: 1 minute (minimum allowed through the UI)
3. Click Apply > OK.

Option B: Via Command Prompt (allows shorter restart delay)

Run in an elevated Command Prompt to set a 5-second restart delay:

sc failure iphlpsvc reset=86400 actions=restart/5000/restart/5000/restart/5000

Note: The Services UI only allows a minimum of 1 minute for the restart delay. Using the command line, you can set it as low as 5 seconds (5000 milliseconds), which minimizes downtime.

Restart Subscription License Manager

After starting IP Helper:

1. Open the Windows Services window.
2. Find Ranorex Subscription License Manager.
3. Right-click the service and select Restart.
4. Wait up to 5 minutes for the Subscription License Manager services to become fully available.
5. Open the Subscription License Manager web interface.
6. Confirm that the licenses are displayed and available.

Temporary license interruptions can occur while the Subscription License Manager services restart.

Verify the fix

After completing the preceding steps:

1. Confirm that the licenses appear in the Subscription License Manager web interface.
2. Try adding a new license.
3. Reboot the system and check again to ensure the fix persists.

Contact Ranorex Support

If the problem continues while IP Helper is enabled and running, contact Ranorex Support and provide:

• Your Subscription License Manager version.
• Your Windows version and build number. Run winver to obtain this information.
• The output of:

sc.exe query iphlpsvc