CHARON-VAX and CHARON-PDP for Windows licensing

General description

The CHARON-VAX / CHARON-PDP products are protected by licenses issued on a customer basis by STROMASYS Inc. The CHARON-VAX / CHARON-PDP license defines all the specifics of a particular CHARON-VAX / CHARON-PDP 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-VAX / CHARON-PDP instances will not run or start until the license key is replaced. For extra protection, STROMASYS recommends the use of 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-VAX / CHARON-PDP configuration file to prevent CHARON-VAX / CHARON-PDP from stopping in case the main license dongle is no longer accessible.

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

The CHARON-VAX / CHARON-PDP 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-VAX / CHARON-PDP tries to find its replacement automatically and, if found, CHARON-VAX / CHARON-PDP proceeds using the replacement license.

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

The CHARON-VAX / CHARON-PDP software license is not distributed for Proof-of-Concept and evaluation installations. Only hardware dongles are used in this cases.

It is important to connect the HASP license keys to the computer, even if CHARON-VAX / CHARON-PDP is not running, because the keys contain a built-in accumulator that needs to be charged. If the accumulator is completely discharged, the license key can be irreparably damaged.

Update of the CHARON-VAX / CHARON-PDP license can be performed on the fly without stopping CHARON-VAX / CHARON-PDP. All the parameters including the expiration date and time can be updated w/o any restrictions.

At the next license check, CHARON-VAX / CHARON-PDP will use the updated license normally.

The following sections list all the main parameters of the CHARON-VAX / CHARON-PDP licensing mechanism.

Back to Table of Contents

Parameters defined by CHARON-VAX / CHARON-PDP license

The following table represents all the parameters defined by the CHARON-VAX / CHARON-PDP 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-VAX / CHARON-PDP 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-VAX / CHARON-PDP 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-VAX / CHARON-PDP 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-VAX / CHARON-PDP license checking during CHARON-VAX / CHARON-PDP execution	Possibility to attach hardware QBUS/UNIBUS hardware via adapter Parameter that reduces the maximum speed of the program 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 Parameter that enables the emulation of the IEQ11-A IEEE488 Controller (on top of the DCI-3100 IEEE488 Controller) Parameter that enables the emulation of the DRV11-WA I/O controller (on top of the DCI-1100 I/O controller)

Back to Table of Contents

CHARON-VAX / CHARON-PDP licensing models

CHARON-VAX / CHARON-PDP licensing models are divided into 3 groups:

Regular Sentinel HASP keys

This is the most common way of CHARON-VAX / CHARON-PDP licensing.

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

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

The number of CHARON-VAX / CHARON-PDP 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-VAX / CHARON-PDP (including the host on which the network license is installed).

If CHARON-VAX / CHARON-PDP 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-VAX / CHARON-PDP installation. If the host does not have CHARON-VAX / CHARON-PDP installed, the host can still distribute the connected network license to CHARON-VAX / CHARON-PDP 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-VAX / CHARON-PDP 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-VAX / CHARON-PDP 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-VAX / CHARON-PDP at the same time. Together with a parameter defining the number of CHARON-VAX / CHARON-PDP instances that may run at the same time, the network license sets the total number of running CHARON-VAX / CHARON-PDP instances on the allowed number of hosts.

Software licenses

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

The CHARON-VAX / CHARON-PDP 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.