L I C E N S I N G
30 / 90 / 365 Subscriptions
In our last issue of KEYnote magazine , we looked at a selection of options for subscription models with CodeMeter License Central and the Internet extensions . How subscriptions are implemented in practice depends on the requirements of each case and the available third-party systems .
Most cases would use one of the following approaches :
■ The subscription is managed by the established ERP , CRM , or e-commerce system . The necessary licenses are created to be valid to the next subscription payment ( with a certain grace period ), at which point they would be renewed automatically .
■ The subscription relies on checkpoint licenses in CodeMeter License Central . These special licenses are created with a freely definable validity period and will renew automatically unless the subscription is cancelled .
■ The subscription is activated with a ticket for a period of 365 days from the day of its activation . A new ticket is then needed to renew the subscription for another 365 days .
This final 365-day model is becoming increasingly popular and deserves another look at its strengths and advantages as well as its possible limitations . We will also see in detail how it is implemented .
Requirements Like checkpoint licenses , the 365-day model is available in the CodeMeter License Central Internet Extension ( from Version 21.11 ). The feature can be accessed via the License Portal , WebDepot , or the Gateways .
We recommend CodeMeter License Central Version 4.01b or newer for this feature .
Why 365 days ? Despite its name , the subscription period is not set in stone at 365 days . As a matter of fact , you can configure it for any number of days .
Configuring the Item To use this model , you first need to create an Item in CodeMeter License Central and choose the CmContainer types for your purpose . Usually , no license transfer scheme is chosen for subscription licenses of this type . You can then set the Product Code and other properties of the license to match your needs , remembering to use only one license entry or Product Code . Two settings are particularly important :
1 . The action for the Product Code should be set to “ Add “.
2 . You define the expiry date with the following settings :
■ Operation : “ Set “
■ Value : This defines the length of the period in days
■ Allow value changes : “ Upon activation “
■ Display name : The entry should start with “ subscription “
30 days : 2000Jan30,00:00:00 90 days : 2000Mar30,00:00:00 365 days : 2000Dec31,00:00:00
The validity period is defined as the difference from the CodeMeter “ base time “. Typical values would be :
Multiple Items for one subscription
One common scenario is that subscriptions are offered with a choice of validity periods , such as 30 days , 90 days , or 365 days . If the customer already has a subscription running ,
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