License Activation
How to activate your license for CaptureGRID
When CaptureGRID is first installed on a computer, it will operate in a trial mode lasting one month. During the trial period, all functionality is unlocked, so this time can be used to evaluate the app before making a purchase.
After purchasing a license for CaptureGRID, you will receive an email containing the activation code, which can be used to activate and unlock the app from trial mode. This email is sent to the same email address that you specified when making the purchase.
Activation Code
In a multi-computer camera rig, the activation code only needs to be used on one of the computers. Once all the computers are connected and communicating over the network, the license information will be synchronised across the computers and unlock them all from trial mode.
Therefore it’s expected that you consider one of the computers to be the master computer, and only enter the activation code manually on this computer.
So infact there are two different ways in which the app will unlock from trial mode:
User enters activation code into app’s UI
App automatically receives license information from other networked computer
The activation code itself can be used on up to 2 computers at the same time, so unlocking the app this way can only be done 2 times. The intention is to use this method for the master computer, and then also a secondary backup computer as required.
Note
The format of the activation code is 36 hexidecimal digits, for example:
ABC012-DEF345-FED678-CBA901-ABC234-DEF567
Deactivating
If you ever need to deactivate the license, open Help -> Manage License and click the Deactivate button in the dialog that appears. You may need to do this if you want to install the software on another computer and use the same license there.
Note
You can view the license information and manage the activations/deactivations yourself at the customer portal website:
Offline Use
An internet connection is only needed for the initial activation. When the activation code is entered, the app saves the license information on the computer, so after that the computer can be disconnected from the network, or used in a fully air-gapped environment, and the app will remain activated and fully functional.
Each time the app is launched, it will try to contact the licensing server if a network connection is available. If the server can’t be reached, the app simply carries on using the saved license information, so there is no loss of functionality when working offline.
This only applies to the internet connection. In a multi-computer camera rig, the computers still need to be connected to each other over the local network, as described in Networking.
Firewall Settings
The app contacts the licensing server over the internet when you enter the activation code, when you deactivate the license, and each time it is launched to check that the license is still valid. If the licensing server can’t be reached at launch, the app carries on working as normal, as described in Offline Use above. It also contacts the Kuvacode website to check whether a software update is available.
On a corporate or otherwise restricted network these connections can be blocked by a firewall, which will cause the activation to fail. If this happens, ask your network administrator to allow outgoing connections to the servers listed below. All of them are contacted over HTTPS on port 443.
Server |
Purpose |
|---|---|
|
Activating and deactivating the license, and checking that it is still valid. |
|
Registering your license details when the activation code is first entered. |
|
Checking whether a software update is available. |
|
Checking whether a software update is available (the check above is redirected to here). |
|
Downloading the software update itself. |
Only outgoing connections to these servers are needed. This is separate from the local network connections used between the computers in a multi-computer camera rig, which are described in Networking.
Note
If your firewall is configured with IP addresses rather than server names, the current addresses used by the licensing server are published by Cryptlex, the licensing provider, at:
https://cryptlex.com/docs/sdks-and-apis/proxies-and-firewall