Infralution Support

[Javier]

Trying to upgrade from ILS 4.7 to ILS 5.11, during the installation process I got an error message about the database schema upgrade. I emailed the screen shot to you. Please help. Thank you.

[Infralution]

I think that this has happened because you tried to upgrade while still having the database open. If you have made a backup of the database (as recommended by the wizard) then I recommend that your restore the backup and then run the Configure License Tracker Database wizard again to upgrade it. If you are still having problems please email a zipped copy of your database to support@infralution.com and we will take a look.
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Infralution Support

[Javier]

I followed the instructions in the FAQ to do the upgrade. Windows forms, Access stand-alone database. I uploaded the new Authentication Server files (but not the database under App_Data) to my web site. When I run the Install.aspx from my browser I get the following error message:

[Infralution]

I assume this means that fixed the issue with upgrading the License Tracker database?

If you are upgrading from Version 4 then you need to rebuild the Authentication database from the License Tracker database anyway. So you can delete the Authentication.mdb and overwrite it with the new Authentication.mdb file from version 5. Then once you have run Install.aspx you should use the Authentication > Configure menu in License Tracker and select the "Upload authentication data" option to upload the authentication data to the Authentication Server.
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Infralution Support

[Javier]

OK, I was able to complete the installation of the authentication server. Then when I open License Tracker to try to configure the authentication server I selected "Remote Database" and "Upload authentication data" and entered the URL of the server. I get the following error message:

[Infralution]

The error message you emailed to us occurs if the web service does not have permission to write to the Authentication.mdb folder. You need to set the permissions for the App_Data folder and Authentication.mdb file to allow the web service to write to the file (as described in the help).

If the permissions for the App_Data directory were not set correctly this may explain some of the earlier issues.
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Infralution Support

[Javier]

I have successfully installed ILS 5.11.2. Thank you. I have a question. One client has a staff of eight engineers and all of them need to have access to my software, but only once a while and not simultaneously.
This sounds to me like a floating network license. But I believe that ILS has now the option to deactivate/activate the license so that it can be transferred to another computer. If so, this seems to me like another solution. Could you please let me know the difference between these two systems?
Is deactivate and deauthenticate the same? Since I'm just upgrading from 4.7 I'm not familiar with all the new features. Where can I learn more? Thank you.

[Infralution]

We don't currently have a floating license option for ILS. The deauthenticate mechanism allows you to move a license between computers - but it is not really a good solution for allowing multiple users to use the system. In this case you really need to purchase an additional license for each user - or install the software on a singale computer which all the users have access to.
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Infralution Support

[Javier]

[Infralution]

The sample Floating License project is provided for customers who wish to implement a floating license scheme for their own software - it isn't however an option that we offer for licensing of ILS. This is partly historical and partly because floating licenses do introduce additional support and sales issues. When used floating licenses are typically priced at around twice (or more) the price of a fixed license. We prefer not to have the extra complexity of a different license type and believe that our low per license cost and large discounts for purchases of 5 and 10 license packs mean that it is unnecessary for us.
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Infralution Support

[Javier]

[Infralution]

Sorry my misunderstanding. The deactivate mechanism allows users to shift the license around between computers - but they probably don't want to have to do this each time they want to use the software if they are sharing a license. If you want to provide the ability to share a license between users then the floating license is the way to do this. As I noted however floating licenses do add support and sales complexity. You have to distribute and install the license service and ensure that the user knows how to configure their firewalls to allow traffic from the clients through to the computer hosting the license service. You will also probably want to create a product variant for the floating license and sell these at different (higher) price. You want to consider whether floating licenses are worth the extra hassle or whether just providing packs of licenses at a reduced price is easier. It does depend on your market.
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Infralution Support

[Javier]

Thank you again. I my case I need to have the floating license option, because many of my clients are big companies with dozens of employees. In those cases I have been able to sell some individual licenses, but obviously that's not the best solution for them, even if it is more convenient for me.

In addition, my competitors do offer this type of license, so I have lost some sales for this reason. I agree that the price would be around 2x the individual license, but what I don't understand is your comment about the variant. What is that and why do I need it?

For example, this particular client has eight engineers, and all of them need to use my software. I offered four regular licenses (2 seats each) for the price of three (pay 3 get 4). This offer was rejected because they know that the floating license would be cheaper.

[Infralution]

You don't have to use a product variant - you could simply include the number of floating licenses (if any) in the License Key ProductInfo when you generate keys. The product variant is useful if you are using IPN.NET to enable you to sell floating licenses at a different price.
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Infralution Support