« Prev | Next » Installation and Licensing Introduction ALINT-PRO is a design verification solution developed to help engineers run static analysis based on RTL and SDC™ source files and to uncover critical design issues early in the design cycle. This application note provides an overview of the ALINT-PRO installation package and installation process. It describes how to obtain a license and install the product either using the GUI or command-line mode. Installation package ALINT-PRO is provided for Windows and Linux OS (both for 32-bit and 64-bit architectures). The Installation package is divided into several parts. Main installation: the core entry framework for VHDL, Verilog and SystemVerilog designs; GUI, console and batch-mode environments to configure the settings, manage the verification process and analyze the results in various forms; ALDEC_BASIC rules covering style checks and simple coding mistakes for VHDL and Verilog such as incomplete sensitivity lists, unused or undriven signals, empty code blocks, etc.; and ALDEC_RESTRICTIONS rules formed by critical, language independent, design issue catchers that prevent further design analysis if violated. Plug-in sets: ALDEC_CDC - rule checkers that are language independent and focused on clock domain crossing analysis and handling of metastability in complex multi-clock designs; ALDEC_PREMIUM - dual-language (VHDL and Verilog/SystemVerilog) plug-in including rule checkers for simulation, synthesis, place-and-route, static timing analysis, and other downstream stages of standard ASIC and FPGA design flows; ALDEC_SV - rule checkers that target new synthesis challenges and varieties of harmful RTL coding mistakes, which are specific to SystemVerilog; DO254_VHDL, DO254_VLOG - rule checkers intended to improve design compliance with DO-254 standards, including good coding practices, design reviews, and safe synthesis guidelines for VHDL or Verilog/SystemVerilog; STARC_VHDL, STARC_VLOG - the most comprehensive set of STARC guideline rules (VHDL or Verilog/SystemVerilog respectively) useful for a wide range of design issues - from naming conventions and synthesizability to optimizations, clock domain crossings, and design for test. When all the installation packages are placed within the common directory, the main installer is capable of locating extra rule plug-ins automatically and installing them right away. It's also possible to add more rule plug-ins to the existing installation by independently launching the corresponding installers at a later time. Windows ALINT-PRO installation package consists of the main installation file (ALINT-PRO-<version_number>.exe) and installation file(s) for additional rule plug-in(s) (ALINT-PRO-<version_number>-<plugin_name>.exe). Files for 64-bit architecture contain -x64 in the name. Linux Structure of ALINT-PRO installation package for Linux is equivalent to: main installation file (ALINT-PRO-<version_number>.run); and installation file(s) for additional rule plug-in(s) (ALINT-PRO-<version_number>-<plugin_name>.run) - if any. Files for 64-bit architectures contain -x64 in the name. Main installer and Installation modes Windows To begin the installation, please go to the directory where the main and additional plug-in(s) (if any) installation files are located. Start ALINT-PRO-<version_number>.exe and follow the installation wizard tips. Read the License Agreement and accept it by clicking the Next button. If you are not going to use the default installation path (prompted), specify a new one. Decide what installation type you need and select one of the following modes: Minimal: ALINT-PRO application only without help files, sample projects, vendor libraries, rule plug-ins; Standard (default): ALINT-PRO application plus commonly used vendor libraries and optional components such as help files, sample projects and rule plug-ins (if any provided); Full: ALINT-PRO application completed with all optional components (help files, sample projects, vendor libraries, rule plug-ins); Custom: ALINT-PRO application and optional components manually selected by the user. This mode also allows associating file types with ALINT-PRO. Figure 1 Select Components page for Custom installation mode Start the installation process. Once it completes, click the Close button to quit the setup. Linux After starting the file ./ALINT-PRO-<version_number>.run the installation will be guided by installation wizard. In case a "permission denied" message is displayed, use the following command: chmod u+x ALINT-PRO-<version_number>.run or chmod u+x * if the optional rule plug-in(s) shall be installed as well. The default destination directory is Aldec/ALINT-PRO-<version_number> in the user home directory, or /usr/local/Aldec/ALINT-PRO-<version_number> (if the user has root privileges). Select one of the installation modes described above (minimal, standard, full, or custom) and start the installation process. Vendor libraries The list of libraries provided for selection in the Custom installation mode are separated into 'Basic Libraries' and 'Vendor Libsets' nodes. The 'Basic Libraries' node includes standard and typical utility libraries. Most of them are installed by default. The 'Vendor Libsets' node includes list of vendors. Selecting the vendor node installs the whole set of the vendor libraries (there is no need to select individual libraries). By default, Xilinx (Vivado), Altera, and Microsemi sets are installed. The older Xilinx (ISE) libraries set is included as an option and also can be installed. Note. Xilinx (Vivado) and Xilinx (ISE) libraries cannot be used in ALINT-PRO simultaneously. The Xilinx (Vivado) libraries set (attached by default) should be detached prior attaching the Xilinx (ISE) libraries (and vice versa). Except detaching/attaching, these library sets can be switched using a single library.select.xilinx command. Text mode installation To start installation in text mode (both under Window and Linux) use the --mode text argument: ./ALINT-PRO-<version_number>.run --mode text Important: the text mode is fully interactive and includes all options just like the GUI version of the installer. And can be a good choice when minimal, standard or full installation is required. If a custom installation is chosen, this setup option may be inappropriate since it involves user participation for every single step of the installation. It is possible to specify the required configuration of the product setup in the console via the set of command-line arguments passed to the installation program. A complete list of the arguments can be obtained using the --help argument. Installing rule plug-ins When the ALINT-PRO installation package includes additional rule plug-in(s), all the plug-in(s) will be installed by the main installation program automatically (custom installation allows you to specify what exactly to install). To be available during installation process, a rule plug-in installation program must be located in the same directory as the main installation file. To install the rule plug-in(s) separately from the main installation, make sure that ALINT-PRO has been installed already, then run the corresponding rule plug-in installation program one by one. Installation of additional components If some additional components (e. g. libraries) were skipped during the initial setup, it is possible to extend the existing ALINT-PRO installation later. Simply run the main installation program and specify the path to the existing installation directory. Select the missing components on the next page and confirm the installation by clicking Next. Figure 2 Additional installation of libraries for Xilinx ISE Silent mode installation Windows: ALINT-PRO can be installed in a silent mode. For this purpose --mode unattended shall be used: ALINT-PRO-<version_number>.exe --mode unattended Use --prefix to specify a non-default installation directory: ALINT-PRO-<version_number>.exe --mode unattended --prefix C:\Users\example_user\alint-pro Standard installation type is a default for silent mode, however, a set of optional components can be customized with the arguments: --enable-components (if it is required to install a component); or --disable-components (if it is required to exclude a component from installation). The following command line starts the installation process with additional set of vendor libraries. ./ALINT-PRO-<version_number>.run --mode unattended --enable-components xilinx_ise The --enable-components argument can also be used to extend an existing installation with additional components: ALINT-PRO-<version_number>.exe --mode unattended --enable-components xilinx_ise --prefix C:\Users\example_user\alint-pro The example below runs the standard installation without documentation and examples. ALINT-PRO-<version_number>.run --mode unattended --disable-components docs,examples Linux: Similarly, ALINT-PRO silent mode installation runs with --mode unattended: ALINT-PRO-<version_number>.run --mode unattended Licensing ALINT-PRO should be accompanied with an evaluation or commercial license. A license request can be submitted here. The evaluation license is fully functional but it is strictly limited in time and associated with a particular version of the ALINT-PRO. Floating licenses allow you to use ALINT-PRO from multiple locations when sharing the same license server. It does not depend on a workstation's operating system - Windows or Linux. Only single software copy may be run at a time per single license feature seat. Concurrent access for multiple users requires purchasing more seats. To install a floating license the following steps should be taken: Install network License Manager and configure License Server. Detailed information is given in Floating License Installation on Windows and Floating License Installation on Linux/Unix. Setup workstation(s) with the appropriate License Variables. The location of the license server (or a license file) can be stored in any of the two environment variables: ALDEC_LICENSE_FILE LM_LICENSE_FILE ALINT-PRO first checks the ALDEC_LICENSE_FILE variable. If, and only if, the ALDEC_LICENSE_FILE variable is not set or is empty, ALINT-PRO checks the LM_LICENSE_FILE variable. One of the variables should hold the following value: ALDEC_LICENSE_FILE=<port.no>@<server_name_or_ip_number> where <port.no> is the TCP/IP port of the license server manager (27009 is used by default), <server_name_or_ip_number> is the host name or the IP number of the server. The example below shows how to set environment variable ALDEC_LICENSE_FILE to use a floating license if the license server is running on port 27009 on a machine with the IP number 10.0.0.2. (The variable must be set on the workstation where you use ALINT-PRO, not on the license server.) You can use host names instead of IP numbers provided that the names are correctly resolved. ALDEC_LICENSE_FILE=27009@10.0.0.2 License diagnosis Network license-related issues can be controlled and diagnosed with the help of a special utility. The utility displays a complete information about the license, including: license features detailed list; license number; environment variables state; diagnostics log. To start the utility: use the License Diagnostics item in the Help menu; run the licensediagnose program located in the <install_dir/bin> directory; or try to run ALINT-PRO either in the GUI or command-line mode. If the license environment is configured incorrectly (and the product cannot start), the license diagnostics will be started automatically. Launching After successful installation you can launch ALINT-PRO either in the GUI (ALINT-PRO) or command-line mode (ALINT-PRO Console). Windows To launch the product with graphical user interface use one of the following methods: start the runalintpro.bat file from the directory specified during installation; double-click the ALINT-PRO icon on your desktop; select START | All Programs | Aldec | ALINT-PRO <version_number>. If you click Help | Rule Plug-ins option, you will see the list of the installed rule plug-ins in the drop-down menu. For detailed information select the name of a certain rule plug-in. The command-line operation mode can be interactive or non-interactive. To run the tool in interactive mode: use the runalintprocon.bat file in the ALINT-PRO installation directory; double-click the ALINT-PRO Console icon on your desktop; or execute runalintprocon from a command prompt. Running the ALINT-PRO Console in non-interactive command-line mode shall be supplemented with the -batch argument. For example: runalintprocon -batch -do runme.do Here the -do argument specifies macro (runme.do) Linux To launch ALINT-PRO in GUI mode, start the runalintpro file from the ALINT-PRO installation directory. Running runalintprocon in the same directory launches the product in console mode. Conclusion This Application Note has provided the information and details regarding the installation of ALINT-PRO. For more information regarding ALINT-PRO, please visit the ALINT-PRO product page. Previous article Next article
