# License Activation

This section explains how products are activated and how to change the active license with the [License Information Tool](<license_information>) .

## Activate License

After a license has been registered in the License Information tool it tries to fetch the license data from the license server and displays it.\
The license details might be inaccurate when there is no internet connection available.\
To activate a product on a machine with no internet connection an offline activation is possible, more information on that can be found in the [Offline Activation](<#offline-activation>) section of this page.

```{image} /img/license_trial.png
:width: 450px
```

An activation of a license is always bound to a specific user and machine (which we also refer to in general as a seat).\
When a license is registered on a machine and multiple users launch the product, it will activate for each user.

### Using Serial Numbers

In order to activate / register a license you first have to open the *License Information* tool. You can find more information where the *License Information* tool is located [here](<license_information>).\
To activate the license using a serial number follow these steps:

1. Click the *Change license* button
2. Enter the Serial Number
3. Click the *Register License* button

```{image} /img/register_standalone_serial.png
:width: 450px
```

After that you can close the License Dialog and launch the product.\
When a serial number is used to activate the license, the product will automatically create a local copy of the license file on first startup.\
This is done for performance reasons and to avoid outages in case of a temporary internet connection problem.\
The location of the license file is usually *%localAppData%\\coolOrange\\\<ProductName>*.

:::{note}
Activations via serial number require an internet connection.\
The following domain needs to be accessible on TCP port 443 *'app.cryptolens.io'*.
:::

### Using Activation Files

Some of the [licensing models](<licensingmodels>) support an offline activation process using an activation file and a machine code.\
The license activation file can be generated using the serial number and the machine code. Further information on how to generate the activation files can be found on the [manage your licenses](<manage_your_licenses:activation files>) page.\
To activate the license using the activation file follow these steps:

1. Click the *Change license* button in the [License Information Tool](<license_information>)
2. Select the *Activation File* option
3. Click the folder icon on the right
   ```{image} /img/license_activationfile_button.png
   :width: 450px
   ```

4. Navigate to the activation file using the file selection dialog and click *Open*
   ```{image} /img/license_activationfile_open.png
   :width: 400px
   ```

5. Click the *Register License* button

It is recommended to place the activation file in the local app data directory of the product (*%localappdata%/coolOrange/\<productName>/*) as it is connected to a specific machine and user.\
The users that will use an activation file need to have permission to read the file.

### Activating via Command-line

To simplify automated activations/deployments the [License Information tool](<license_information>) can be used without a graphical interface and command line arguments.\
The available arguments for the License Information tool are:

```
License.exe [--StandAlone [--SerialNumber=<License Serial> | --ActivationFile="<PathToActivationFile>"]]
```

**Example:** Activating a [Stand-Alone license](<licensingmodels:standalone>) using a serial number:

```console
start /Wait License.exe --StandAlone --Serialnumber="XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX"
```

**Example:** Activating a [Stand-Alone license](<licensingmodels:standalone>) using a downloaded activation file:

```console
start /Wait License.exe --StandAlone --ActivationFile="C:\Users\coolOrange\AppData\Local\coolOrange\powerJobs\licensekey.skm"
```

```{image} /img/license_activation_powershell.png
:width: 1000px
```

After a successful activation the License.exe returns with exit code 0.\
In case of a problem during the activation the License.exe returns with exit code -1 and an error message is displayed in the Command-line.\
When the *--ActivationFile* path contains white spaces e.g. *C:\\Program Files\\* it has to be quoted. Absolute or relative paths can be specified, but at the end the path will always be saved as an absolute path.\
When passing an invalid activation file but the license connected to the file is valid, the tool will automatically try to get the license over the internet and activate the product.

### Offline Activation

Some licensing models support a full offline activation process using an activation file. More information which licensing models support this can be found on the [Licensing Models](<licensingmodels>) page.\
Instructions on how to create and download an activation file can be found on the [manage your licenses](<manage_your_licenses:activation files>) page.\
After generating and downloading an activation file for a specific license, a normal [activation using the activation file](<#using-activation-files>) can be carried out.\
If the registered license is not supporting a full offline activation or is not valid, the product will try to connect to the license server to automatically refresh license information.\
Additional steps are required to update an offline activation when the license is renewed. See the [Renewal section](<#license-renewal>)

## Change License

In some cases it might be desired to change the current license or the licensing model.

### Changing License with Serial Number

If the current license was activated using a serial number, open the License Information Dialog and click the *Change License* button.\
Enter the details of the new license that should be activated and confirm the changes by clicking the *Register License* button.

```{image} /img/license_change.png
:width: 500px
```

### Changing License with Activation File

To change the License click the *Change License* button to enter new license details, click the *Register License* button to confirm the change.\
Alternatively, the existing [Activation File](<manage_your_licenses:activation files>) can be replaced with the new Activation File but the location and filename need to stay exactly the same.

## License Renewal

To extend or renew an existing license please contact [order@coolorange.com](<mailto:order@coolorange.com>). After receiving the invoice also containing the license details, the license is renewed.\
In most cases the serial number stays the same when the license is renewed or extended. Depending on how the license was activated, different actions are required to renew the product activation.

### License renewal with Serial Number

When a Serial Number was used to activate the product and the serial number did not change after renewing the license, the product will automatically fetch the renewed license and update the local activation.

### License renewal with Activation File

Products that are activated using an [Activation File](<manage_your_licenses:activation files>) require an updated Activation File after renewal as it contains the license details.\
A new [Activation File needs to be generated](<manage_your_licenses:generating an activation file>) for the renewed license, the old file should be replaced by the new one. If the new Activation File is placed in the same directory and has the same filename no other changes are required.\
Placing the Activation File in a different directory or using a new filename requires [updating the location in the License Information dialog](<#using-activation-files>).