License Management
Creating and activating licenses.
Last updated
Creating and activating licenses.
Last updated
Licensing an application means that you control the access to an app or certain parts of it with a license. Without a valid license, these apps can no longer be opened or actions executed. Access is then limited to a certain period of time and to so-called features. How a license is created and then used is explained below.
Only the app creator can create licenses. They are then used by the user of this app (app viewer) e.g. a customer.
Steps of the licensing process:
The first step is to create a certificate key pair. This certificate will later be used to encrypt the license. The Application Signing section is located under the General app configuration. If no key exists yet, the Create Application Signing Pair button will appear in the section below. By pressing the button a new key pair will be created.
To require a license for an application, this must be enabled in the app settings.Open the configuration of the licenses in the Config Mode of the application. Under General enable 'License required to use...'. But since no feature has been created yet, you can still run the app.
First we create a feature with a general license. This allows general access to the app. With a click on the '+' button under Features an overlay opens. There you can enter a name for the feature. The checkbox 'floating license' is not taken into account. First we want to create a general license.
Run 'Execute' and the feature will be created. The detail view of the feature opens.
Now you can add a description and change the name. We want to create a feature that only controls the access to the application in general. For this we just need to select the checkbox 'This feature allows to use...'. Save the setting and we are done.
The licensed app can now be published. How this works is described in chapter Publishing the Application.
If you call the application after published, an error message will appear. The app must now be licensed before it can be used.
More features can now be added. Next we would like to limit certain parts of this application for access. Let's assume we don't want to have a certain workflow executed without a license anymore.
For this purpose we create a new feature. In the details of the feature the setting for 'feature allows to use...' must not be enabled. Otherwise the whole application will be locked again and further settings in the permissions are unnecessary.
If you open the Tap Permissions, the permissions settings for overall will be shown first. After that follows a list of classes the application uses. As an example we want to restrict the access to the workflow Sub2 (see picture). For this you expand the class ToDo and it opens the parts which can be provided with rights. After expanding the Workflow entry the available workflows of this class are listed. Select Sub2 for the workflow from the Grant dropdown. This workflow is now activated for these licenses.
Available Permissions Settings
Not Set: this item is not considered (access always)
Grant: access is only granted with this license
Deny: access is denied for this item
If a license has been uploaded for the application, the workflow will appear in the menu. Otherwise the workflow will not be offered in the menu.
It should be ensured that the viewer of an app without a license does not have access to the feature (workflow, class etc.). See Roles & Permissions.
For a floating feature only the checkbox 'Feature is by floating...' has to be checked.
After setting up the license with the features for the application we can create a license. For this purpose there is a standard application called License. This can be found on the right side where all apps are listed. If you open the app, an overview of the already created licenses for this workspace appears.
There are four different groupings of licenses in each tab.
Drafts: The licenses already set up, but no license file has been generated yet.
Current: The listed licenses are active, i.e. start date is before and end date is after the current date.
Future: Licenses become active only in the future, i.e. start date is after the current date.
Expired: Licenses have expired, i.e. End Date is before the current date.
To create a new license we click on the '+' button or directly enter a name and press return. The detail view of a license will open.
In the License Mode panel (4) you can activate 'use global license type' first. That means this license can be used globally (for all features). With the selection list the type can be further limited. The following types are available:
Unlimited: no limitations (default)
Named User: (4) Only a limited number of users can use this license.
Floating: For explanation see next chapter about floating licenses.
With the type Named User the office administrator must select specific users who are allowed to use this license.
After we have selected the type and duration of the license, the features have to be added (5). Without feature the license is 'empty' and has no effect when you assign it.
Now two features we created before are added. One feature is ToDo Common which controls the general access to the app. The second feature is ToDo Workflow which controls the execution of a specific workflow.
Now we are done with the settings and could generate a license (as one file). To summarize this license is
Not limited to a fixed number of users / licenses (license type)
Full access to the application is possible with the license (common feature) and a certain workflow can be executed (workflow feature)
Before we generate a license we will further refine the access to an app.
We have the possibility to extend the license types to the features by unchecking the checkbox 'Use global license type'. If we do that, the license types disappear under the checkbox. For this purpose the types can now be selected in the features.
Now we have created a license in the example that has the following characteristics:
Time limitation: 11/18 - 12/182020
Feature Common: Full access to the app is not limited to the number of users or licenses.
Feature Workflow: the workflow can only be executed by 2 users (named user type) These users are defined by the administrator.
Since all settings are done we can save the license. Now a draft of the license is available. You can reopen and modify the draft at any time. However, once a license file has been generated from the draft of this license, this license can no longer be changed.
After the license has been generated, it can not be modified or deleted afterwards anymore!
The generated license can now be delivered to a customer. To activate the locked app, the license must be imported into the customer's workspace.
As a reminder, the app has been licensed. Described at the beginning of the chapter. If you now open the app, an error message appears. To activate the app, the previously created license must be imported. This is done with the Team App. After opening the app, select from the selection of licenses. An overview of the recorded licenses of this workspace opens.
After the license has been uploaded, it will appear in the Team Licenses overview.
After clicking on the entry, the details view of the license opens. All relevant settings of the license are displayed. But cannot be changed anymore.
For a named feature, the workspace administrator must now configure the users who can use this license. To do this, click on the gear icon in the feature section for the type NamedUser. A list of the users of this workspace opens. No more users can be selected than the number of named users entered in the license.
Now we are ready. The app can now be launched with the new license. There is no error message like when starting the app before.
With the ToDo Workflow feature from the example, the workflow Sub2 is now displayed for the added user. For the user who has not been added, the workflow is not visible and therefore cannot be executed.
If the rights of the workflow have not been restricted in advance, this license feature has no influence on the visibility.
The license is deleted again in the Team App. When the license to be deleted is opened there, the action Remove must be executed in the menu.
To limit the use of an application to a certain number of licenses, the floating license is suitable.
To create this license, the license app must be started again. Then, as described above, create a new license.The type Floating is selected for the license mode and the number of limited licenses is entered in Quantity.
When this is done a new feature can be added. This time, however, a floating feature is selected. None-floating features cannot be added to a floating license.
If everything is fine and no errors are displayed, the license can be saved. It now appears under the overview in Drafts.
Now the steps described above can be repeated:
After the app has been activated with this license, only one user can run the application in our example. We had previously limited the number of licenses to 1. As soon as a second user tries to start the app now, an error message appears.
When the first user logs out the license is no longer used.The second user can now start and use the app because the license is currently only used by him. For simplicity, we have limited the number to 1. In practice, for example, you would limit the number to 100. Thus, only 100 users could use the application at the same time. In contrast to the named user it is not relevant who the user is. This user is called floating user in this context.
After a name has been assigned to this new license, a description can be added. Both name and description can be translated by clicking on the (available languages are English and German). In the Status panel right basic settings can be made. At the top you can see the state of the license (1). In our case, because we created the license from scratch, the state is Draft. After that you have to enter a start (2) and end date (3). The dates determine how long the license is active or usable.
