K N O W H O W
Switching to CodeMeter
When you are a newcomer to software licensing, you have the great opportunity to design the perfect solution for your needs
from the ground up. However, many developers have been using some form of software protection for many years already,
be it our own legacy product WibuKey, a solution from a competitor, or even a custom technology made by themselves. When
thinking about switching to CodeMeter, one question will be on their minds: “What about the old licenses?”
Knowing Your Requirements
Migration
One important criterion before making the
switch is knowing your requirements.
Security is a key pillar in this respect: How
important is it for you to protect your software
against reverse engineering? How important
is copy protection?
Another key principle to consider is the
integration of licensing in your established
processes: Does it matter whether the
processes are the same for all products? Do
you have to be able to create new licenses for
older versions of your products?
The third and equally important criterion is the
budget you have available.
Picking the Right Migration
Scenario
Once you know your requirements and
priorities, you need to find the right migration
scenario for your needs. A popular strategy
for moving forward from this point is to allow
a transition period in which parts of the old
4
Maintain
Old Device
CodeMeter
Extension
CodeMeter
CodeMeter
Binding Extension Runtime Extension
Use New Device
in Parallel
Two APIs
in Prarallel
Without
Protection Suite
CodeMeter
as Secure-ID
Replace
Old Device
No Support of
Older Versions
Patch of
OlderVersions
With Protection
Only License
system continue to be used, while the installed
CodeMeter base is slowly expanded until
it is ready for a complete switch-over in the
second phase. Another strategy is to migrate
individual products to CodeMeter, while the
bulk follows later.
keep their old devices, but new clients receive
a CmDongle or CmActLicense.
CodeMeter Binding Extension
You can also start to use CodeMeter License
Central immediately and optimize your license
creation and management processes. You can
use Protection Suite, but without the added
benefit of being able – at least not without
major limitations – to lock down licenses with
traps in your code.
With CodeMeter Binding Extension, you
can bind a software-based CmActLicense
to an old dongle or other device. This puts
the entire CodeMeter functionality at your
disposal without having to replace dongles
or retrofit older machines. Existing users can
In this scenario, the strength of your copy
protection depends on your old protection
hardware’s ability to provide a securely
readable and unique ID. CodeMeter
6.30 introduced the option of linking a
We will take a look at typical scenarios: