System Licensing

Introduction

The Witness™ software is licensed based on the features being used and the number of radar trackers being used. We don’t explicitly licence each radar that is purchased because certain customers will order spare radar and these extra radar do not require licences when they are not in use. Only active radar require licences that is why we licence the trackers, because each active radar has to be connected to a tracker.

The licensing is controlled through a central licence file which is accessed through the Management Server. The file is automatically loaded and read when the Management Server starts and all the relevant components will be licensed on activation. No further licensing configuration is required and no other licensing data is required on any other system.

When using a fully redundant setup with two Management Servers, both servers must have access to the licence file. Typically this is just a case of coping the same file onto both servers. Details on where the licence file is installed are covered in the Manual Installation section.

Once a customer has purchased the Witness™ system, it is typically licensed for perpetual use. However there are other licence types available:

Standard: The standard perpetual licence issued to customers when they purchase a licence.

Demo: A trial licence is a temporary, time limited licence that can be used for demonstrations, proof of concept and other short-term activities.

Modular: A modular licence is a perpetual licence but is combined with a temporary licence for a specific plugin or module. This gives customers and partners the opportunity to experiment with additional software features before paying for them.

When used without any licence the software can only be used for an hour at a time before the system shuts down. The count down for the hour will be displayed in the title bar of the user interface. There will also be a warning notification displayed around 10 minutes before the system shuts down.

When ClearWay™ or AdvanceGuard® are installed on a Virtual Machine, if there is a significant change to the virtual hardware or MAC address then this might cause the licence to fail because the hardware fingerprint no longer looks the same. In this situation a new licence using the new fingerprint will need to be issued by Navtech Radar.

Contents



Requesting a Licence

Licence files can only be generated by Navtech Radar. For obvious reasons the generation and issuing of licences has to be tightly controlled, however the process of creating and issuing a licence is simple and fast.

In most cases the licence will be installed by a Navtech engineer when the software is being commissioned and therefore no action is required from the partner or customer.

Where partners or customers are undertaking the installation themselves then they should contact Navtech Customer Support to request a licence: https://navtechradar.com/contact-us/ .

When requesting a licence, you will need to provide the following information:

  1. The MAC address of at least one of the active network cards on the server running the Management Server service.

  2. Confirmation of the number of the radar being deployed on the site.

  3. Confirmation of the plugins purchased for the site

  4. The System Fingerprint of the server running the Management Server service.

Finding the System Fingerprint

To find the System Fingerprint on the system running the Management Server service do the following:

  1. Run the Management Server in console mode. To do this, find the Management Server shortcut in the Witness™ Program Files folder and launch the application:

     

  2. Once the console has loaded the System Fingerprint will be automatically displayed, no further action is required. You may need to scroll back to the top of the console to see the fingerprint, it is one of the first lines of information to be displayed:

     

  3. You can copy this text from the console in order to send it to Navtech Radar so it can be incorporated into the software licence.

Licence Components

There are two types of licence components:

Core: These are mandatory components required by all systems and are included by default.

Optional: These are optional components and will vary depending on the modules ordered by the customer.

Some components are licensed based on a count. For example client application licences are restricted to the number that the customer purchases, These are based on concurrent use, so if a customer purchases 3 client application licences, they can install the app on as many systems as required, but only 3 users will be able to login concurrently.

Tracker Licensing

Each radar requires a software tracker and each tracker must be licensed.

Per Tracker Licensing is a legacy method for licensing Track Engines. There are two options; Dongle Based and File Based. Each ties the licence to the hardware by authorizing each tracker.

A more detailed explanation of Per Tracker Licensing can be found here: Per Tracker Licensing.

The new licensing system available in Witness™ V4.8 and newer allows for a central tracker licence to be included as part of the overall Witness™ licence. The tracker licence is based on the number of radar that require trackers. Unlike the older licensing mechanism, each radar no longer has a dedicated licence, instead all the radar share a unique site licence which will only the allow the authorised number of trackers to be active concurrently.

A more detailed explanation of this licencing mechanism can be found here: Centralised Tracker Licensing.

Installing a Licence File

There are two ways to install a licence, via the client user interface or manually. We recommend using the assisted option through the client application because this is easier and less error-prone.

Using the Client Application

To install the licence through the client application you must have the licence file accessible through local storage:

  1. Open the licence dialog through the System Menu → Licence

     

  2. From the licence dialog select Import Licence and browse to the licence file and select Open.

     

  3. When prompted to import the file select OK.

Manual Installation

To install the licence manually you need to copy the file to the correct location on disk and ensure it is named correctly.

  1. Copy the licence file to the following location: C:\ProgramData\Navtech (%ProgramData%\Navtech)

  2. Ensure the file is named as: > licence.lic

     

  3. Restart the Management Server(s) using the Services control app:

Checking your Licence

To check you have a valid licence and to see what components are licenced open the licence dialog:

  1. Open the licence dialog through the System Menu → Licence

     

  2. There is also a timer countdown displayed at the top of the screen for a Temporary / Demo Licence:

     

  3. A warning will also be displayed 10 minutes before the licence expires:


Related Information

 

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