Citrix XenApp Cannot Contact the License Server (Crashes on Startup)

Citrix License Error

Citrix XenApp cannot contact the license server <IP address>

It appears that the Citrix Licensing service is stopped. But when attempting to start the Citrix Licensing service on Citrix license server, the service is starting up for a short while, and then crashes and fails immediately on startup.

In Windows Application Event Viewer, the following error is logged:

Log Name: Application
Source: Application Error
Date: 12/6/2011 10:10:10 AM
Event ID: 1000
Task Category: (100)
Level: Error
Keywords: Classic
User: N/A
Computer: <Server_Name>
Description:
Faulting application name: lmadmin.exe, version: 11.9.0.0, time stamp: 0x4d6bbff6
Faulting module name: lmadmin.exe, version: 11.9.0.0, time stamp: 0x4d6bbff6
Exception code: 0xc0000005
Fault address: 0x0005d8c2
Fault offset: 0x0005e222
Faulting process id: 0xf48
Faulting application start time: 0x01d0a4b08b72ed9d
Faulting application path: C:\Program Files (x86)\Citrix\Licensing\LS\lmadmin.exe
Faulting module path: C:\Program Files (x86)\Citrix\Licensing\LS\lmadmin.exe
Report Id: cb4d8b63-10a3-11e5-98e2-00155d183f2b

The error is caused by the concurrent_state.xml and/or the activation_state.xml files become unusable and the Citrix Licensing Service, lmadmin.exe, does not properly handle the unusable file and crashes.

To workaround the issue so that you can quickly restart the Citrix Licensing service to ensure that Citrix XenApp services are working fine, follow these steps:

1. Delete the concurrent_state.xml and the activation_state.xml files located at the following folder:
   • C:\Program Files\Citrix\Licensing\ls\conf\ on a 32-bit server
   • C:\Program Files(x86)\Citrix\Licensing\ls\conf\ on a 64-bit server
   • /opt/citrix/licensing/LS/conf/ on Citrix License Server VPX
2. Restart the license server. The concurrent_state.xml and the activation_state.xml files are recreated after restarting the license server allowing the Citrix Licensing Service to successfully start and the Citrix License Server to function normally.

The issue affects Citrix License Server versions 11.6.1 build 10007 through 11.9 installed on Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2008 or Windows Server 2008 R2. To permanently fix the error, download and upgrade Citrix License Server to version 11.10 or higher.