3.4.11.2 Service Mode

The service mode is designed for normal M-HSM server operation and can be used under a non-admin account. The server configuration must be performed by the user with admin privileges.

While a non-admin user has restricted access to the system resources and services, the M-HSM Control Panel application allows a non-admin user to perform certain administration tasks of the M-HSM server.

For more details about service mode of execution and setup instructions, see section Running M-HSM Server as a Service.

Using M-HSM Server in Command Line Mode

The following steps require a user account with administrative privileges.

The M-HSM server executable M-HSMServer.exe is located in the Server directory:

For example, C:\Microsemi\Server\M-HSMServer.exe

  1. Start the console window: type cmd in the Windows Start Menu window and right-click Command Prompt desktop app. Then, choose Run as administrator.
  2. In the open console window, navigate to the "server" directory and type m-hsmserver.exe.

Upon startup, the server initializes a session with the HSM module. The following figure shows the output:

Figure 3-17. M-HSM Server is Initializing Session With HSM Module

If the SEE machine firmware load is still in progress, the session initialization waits for the load to finish. The SEE machine firmware load takes place in the following cases:

  • Turning on or restarting the PC hosting the M-HSM server.
  • Restarting the nCipher nFast Server service that handles HSM modules.
  • HSM module reinitialization via issuing Security World commands, such as nopclearfail.
  • Setting up or changing settings for the SEE firmware load (for example, loadsee-setup).
Note: When a session is waiting for the SEE firmware to load, session initialization time depends on the module type, and may vary from one minute for a Solo module to four minutes for an Edge module, respectively.

Sample output after session initialization is finished after waiting for SEE firmware load, as shown in Figure 3-18.

Figure 3-18. M-HSM Server is Initialized

The session can be terminated by pressing the Enter key:

Figure 3-19. M-HSM Server is Stopped
Note: During the session, the server produces log output of the HSM invocations into:

C:\ProgramData\G4KMSServer\G4KMSHSMAPI.log

Any error information outputs into:

C:\Microsemi\Server\M-HSMServer.log

Both the log files are important during failure analysis and can be sent to Microchip technical support for analysis.