KnowledgeBase 00001: Product Licensing

Expand the Sales and Downloads menu at the left of this screen. Download the appropriate version from the Current Downloads page and then get visit the Evaluation Licence page to get a 30 day authorisation code. Evaluation software can be supplied on CD but there is small charge for this.

Evaluation licences can be obtained by anyone. A permanent licence can be obtained from a distributor, dealer or directly from Ladybridge Systems. Whichever route you follow, you will receive a licence authorisation code to enable the software.

When you install QM from a downloaded self extracting archive or from a CD it will display a licensing screen. Normally, this is the time to enter your licence details but if you haven't got them to hand you can abort the licence entry by following the on screen instructions. The screen will be redisplayed when you next try to run QM.

The licence number is unique to the particular licence. It must only be installed on the system(s) for which it was supplied. Ladybridge Systems will take legal action against fraudulent use of the software.

When you purchase your licence, you will need to specify the number of simultaneous user sessions that you wish to run. These correspond to terminal users, QMClient connections and phantom (background) processes. All licences also include a number of additional 'free' phantom processes based on the number of licensed user sessions.

Like all software manufacturers, we are concerned by software piracy. Our policy is to take immediate legal action where we find users to be abusing the terms of their licence. To help protect our interests, we have two styles of licences. Evaluation licences are 'portable', that is, they can be installed on any system. Permanent licences are locked to a specific system based on a system id code generated from features of your system.

The system id code is shown at the top right of the licensing screen and in the output from the CONFIG command. The system id can also be displayed using

   qm -sysid 

from the operating system command prompt. This may need the full pathname of the QM executable if the bin subdirectory of the QMSYS account is not included in the PATH environment variable.

Because of the way we construct the system id, it is unlikely to change but it is possible that something you do to your system might affect it. If this occurs, we will ask for written confirmation that you are relicensing the same system and then send you a new authorisation code.

A seven day 'emergency licence' can be obtained if you need to reactivate your system at a time when you cannot contact your dealer. Full instructions are included on all permanent licences.

New versions of QM are released frequently. Users are free to download these from this web site. Although a commercial QM licence normally has no expiry date, upgrades to new versions can only be installed during the associated upgrade period. A standard licence allows upgrades to be installed without charge for one year from issue of the licence. This period can be extended to ten years for a small additional charge. In all cases, the upgrade period can be extended to maintain continued entitlement to install to releases.

To increase your user limit, simply let us or your dealer know the licence number you want to upgrade and the number of users. A new licence key will be supplied. You pay only the difference between the two licence values.

If you need to reapply your licence because of, for example, a change to the user limit, enter the QMSYS account and type UPDATE.LICENCE (or UPDATE.LICENSE). The same screen as used for initial licence entry will be displayed.

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