CHARON-AXP for Windows licensing

General description

The CHARON-AXP product is protected by licenses issued on a customer basis by STROMASYS. The CHARON-AXP license defines all the specifics of a particular CHARON-AXP distribution and its usage.

The license is implemented in the form of a hardware dongle (a Sentinel HASP key) or a software license. Please be careful with your license key, in case of loss or damage, the CHARON-AXP instances will not run or start until the license key is replaced. For redundancy, STROMASYS recommends to use a backup license key (purchased separately) that can replace the main license key for a restricted period of time. It is possible to specify the backup license in the CHARON-AXP configuration file to prevent CHARON-AXP from stopping in case the main license dongle is no longer available.

The CHARON-AXP license being checked upon the start of each instance of CHARON-AXP and at a specified interval (defined by the license) during the emulated system execution (default is 1 hour). If CHARON-AXP detects the absence (or malfunction) of the license key or software license, CHARON-AXP will try to use a backup license (if specified in the configuration file). If the license is not available or not specified, CHARON-AXP displays a warning message in the log file requesting the license key reconnection or software license reactivation. If the license is not reconnected or reactivated within a given period of time (the check interval), CHARON-AXP exits.

The CHARON-AXP main license is time restricted or unlimited, the backup license is limited by the number of executions (1 execution = 1 interval check)

Note that if the time-restricted license is used and it expires, CHARON-AXP tries to find its replacement automatically and, if found, CHARON-AXP proceeds using the replacement license.

The present CHARON-AXP implementation requires that the expired license be removed to allow the running CHARON-AXP instance to switch to a valid one.

The CHARON-AXP software license is not distributed for Proof-of-Concept and evaluation installations. Only hardware dongles could be used.

It is important to keep the HASP license keys connected to a computer powered on, even if CHARON-AXP is not running, because the keys contain a built-in battery that needs to be charged. If the battery is completely discharged, the license key can be irreparably damaged.

Update of the CHARON-AXP license can be performed on the fly without stopping CHARON-AXP. The expiration date and execution counter can be updated, however the CHARON-AXP virtual hardware configuration should remain unchanged. At the next license check, CHARON-AXP will use the updated license.

The following sections list all the main parameters of the CHARON-AXP licensing mechanism.

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Parameters defined by CHARON-AXP license

The following table represents all the parameters defined by the CHARON-AXP license:

General	Products relevant	Optional
Physical key ID License Number End user name Master key ID License release date and time Update Number Purchasing Company name. In most cases the company to which the key was issued originally	Commercial product name Commercial product code Commercial product version and range of build numbers suitable for running Range of CHARON-AXP virtual models available for running Type of host CPU required Host operating system required Number of virtual CPUs enabled for virtual SMP systems Minimum number of host CPU cores required Minimum host memory required Maximum memory emulated. If not present the value defaults to the maximum memory possible for the particular virtual system. Note that the maximum memory may not be available to the virtual system if the host computer has insufficient physical memory. Maximum number of CHARON-AXP instances that can be run concurrently Whether or not CHAPI (CHARON API) can be used with this product Product and Field Test expiration dates (if any) Product and Field Test executions counter (if any) Maximum number of hosts that may run CHARON-AXP concurrently (in the case of a networking license) Level of support (if any), end date of any support contract, the "First Line" Service Provider Frequency of CHARON-AXP license checking during CHARON-AXP execution	Parameter that reduces the maximum speed of CHARON-AXP (might be required for synchronization with legacy hardware systems) Parameter that enables the product to support additional serial lines through an option board from a company such as DIGI Parameter that prohibits use of Advanced CPU Emulation. If not present the Advanced CPU Emulation is enabled

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CHARON-AXP technical licensing models

CHARON-AXP licensing models are divided into 3 groups:

Regular Sentinel HASP keys

This is the most common way of CHARON-AXP licensing.

The CHARON-AXP license is embedded in a Sentinel HASP dongle. This license is available only on the host where the dongle is physically installed.

The CHARON-AXP installation procedure takes care of the Sentinel HASP run-time (driver) installation. Once the CHARON-AXP product has been installed, it is possible to plug in the regular license key and proceed with using CHARON-AXP without additional configuration steps.

The number of CHARON-AXP instances allowed to run on a particular host may be restricted by the license content (see above).

Network Sentinel HASP keys

The Network Sentinel HASP key (red dongle) can be shared between several hosts running CHARON-AXP (including the host on which the network license is installed).

If CHARON-AXP is installed on the host where the network key is connected, no additional steps are required. The Sentinel driver is activated as part of the CHARON-AXP installation. If the host does not have CHARON-AXP installed, the host can still distribute the connected network license to CHARON-AXP instances running on other hosts. In this case the Sentinel driver must be installed on the host manually.

The Sentinel run-time driver is distributed as a part of the CHARON-AXP kit. Please see the "License installation" section of this chapter for details.

Once the Sentinel run-time driver is installed and the network license is connected, CHARON-AXP can be started on any appropriate host on the LAN network segment.

The Network license key contains a specific parameter to restrict the number of hosts allowed to run CHARON-AXP at the same time. Together with a parameter defining the number of CHARON-AXP instances that may run at the same time, the network license sets the total number of running CHARON-AXP instances on the allowed number of hosts.

Software licenses

The CHARON-AXP Software License is a "virtual" key with exactly the same functionality as the hardware dongle.

The CHARON-AXP Software License does not require any hardware but it requires installation of the Sentinel run-time environment.

Software licenses are always network-wide on Windows, so they behave the same way as Network HASP keys.

Software Licenses are highly dependent on hardware configuration of CHARON host. Do not change hardware configuration since it leads to disabling of installed Software License!

If CHARON host has to be upgraded use the following procedure:

Transfer Software License to some other host.
Upgrade CHARON host.
Transfer Software License back to CHARON host.

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