KEYnote 35 English - Spring 2018 | Page 3

L I C E N S I N G

Expanded License Access Rights

Software licenses are a valuable asset – and usually a limited resource . Their buyers will want to verify who actually uses them . This might not be an issue for a three-person start-up . At a large company or institution , however , it can , become essential that the licenses bought for a certain department or group of users are only used by those users . CodeMeter offers a granular and fully configurable rule set to allow just that .
By using the “ Configuration – Server – License Access Permissions ” menu on the WebAdmin interface , you can select one of two basic options . The simple mode lets you grant access rights to specified clients , who are defined by IP address or distinct names assigned to these hosts . The expanded mode offers far more granular options .
Rules There are four specific rule options for defining users or user groups :
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Computer : IP address or an identifiable name of the computer
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Subnet : A defined part of the network with a specified suffix , e . g . 192.168.2.0 / 24
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User : A specified user name as delivered by the client . In Active Directory networks with preceding domain name , e . g . Company \ test _ user1
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Group : An Active Directory group , e . g . Company \ test _ group3
When using the Active Directory group option , all groups from the Active Directory are listed to simplify the selection .
Establishing the rules is intuitively easy : You can define whether access is allowed or prohibited for the specified users for each rule . If none of the defined rules apply for the given license , the final default setting ( allow or deny ) will go into effect .
Global Rules The global rules define which rules will apply , if no specific rules are set to manage the license access .
Specific Rules The rules can be configured for individual Firm Codes ( per developer ) or individual Product Codes ( per application ). The system always uses the rule set that matches the query best :
1 . Product Code 2 . Firm Code 3 . Global Rules
In some cases , different Product Items with the same Product Code are present , for instance when the same software was bought with different license options . In such instances , the Product Items can be identified using the associated Product Item Text , and rules can be defined for each Product Item .
User Limits On the application level ( Product Code ), the number of available licenses can be set for each rule , and licenses can be reserved . This can set specific limits e . g . for some departments , while keeping one license reserved for exclusive use .
Ease of Use Once defined , any set of rules can be cloned with the push of a button , saving manual effort . Since the release of CodeMeter Runtime version 6.50 , the rules for the expanded mode will apply immediately . CodeMeter does not have to be restarted . If a user already has access to a license , he or she will not be taken down , so there can be a temporary period of overlap . However , the most recent definitions will be applied the first time the relevant application is restarted .
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