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Online license authentication

With online licensing, the server is authenticated by signing in with an Asprova ID. The server contacts Asprova's licensing service over the internet to confirm that the account holds a valid license and to reserve it for this server.

Requirements​

  • The server must be able to reach the internet — specifically Asprova's servers at www.asprova.com. If the server reaches the internet through a proxy, see Using a proxy.
  • A valid Asprova ID with a license assigned to it.

Signing in​

Sign in with your Asprova ID from the browser. The licenses available to the account are listed, and you choose the one to activate by its serial number. Sign-in failures are covered in Online license problems.

One server at a time​

A license can be active on only one server at a time. Authenticating a license reserves it for that server. Logging out releases the license so that it can be activated on another server. The license list marks any serial that is already in use, so you can tell which licenses are free before activating one.

Staying licensed​

While it runs, the server re-checks the license with Asprova's license authentication server periodically (about once an hour), as well as at start-up. A successful check keeps the server licensed. What happens when a check does not succeed depends on whether the service could be reached — see below.

Offline operation​

So that a brief connectivity problem does not stop the server, it keeps a cached copy of its confirmed license state and can keep running from it while Asprova's service is temporarily unreachable.

Offline operation is limited as follows:

  • It applies only when the service cannot be reached — for example a network outage on your side or a temporary outage of Asprova's license authentication server. If the service is reachable but reports that the license cannot be used, offline operation does not apply (see the next section).
  • It is time-limited. The cached license state carries its own validity, granted at authentication (14 days from the last successful authentication). The server can keep running offline only until that validity runs out; once it does, the server becomes unlicensed even if the service is still unreachable.
  • It recovers automatically. As soon as connectivity is restored, the next re-check returns the server to normal online operation. No manual step is needed.

When offline operation does not apply​

Independently of connectivity, the server moves to an unlicensed state immediately, with no offline grace, when the service is reachable but the license cannot be used — for example because:

  • the license has expired or been revoked,
  • the Asprova ID credentials are rejected, or
  • the license is already in use on another server.

In that state the licensed features are blocked until a valid license is authenticated again. Sign-in failures are covered in Online license problems.