Hardware Key Usage

3min
LicenseSpring allows users to bind licenses to a YubiKey hardware key dongle. 
Prerequisites
Make sure to set up a YubiKey on the LicenseSpring platform and the LicenseSpring Provisioning Application for Desktop. See Hardware Key Licensing﻿ for instructions.
C++ Platform-specific Library Placement
Since C++ SDK v7.37.0, we provide both LicenseSpring SDK libs that do link, and that don't link to libykpiv. All samples also have multiple configurations, with and without linking to libykpiv.
Linux & macOS
Shared libraries are located in bin/shared_HardwareKey
Static libraries are located in bin/static_HardwareKey
Note: The existing bin/shared and bin/static folders remain unchanged and do not link to libykpiv.
Linux ARM (i.e. ARM without hf support), ppc64le
SDK builds targeting arm and ppc64le architectures do not link tl libykpiv (no hardware key support).
MSVC (Windows)
Dynamic libraries are located in bin/dynamic_HardwareKey
Static linking to libykpiv is not supported.
The existing bin/dynamic folder remains unchanged and does not link to libykpiv.
MinGW
We currently don't support hardware 
The libykpiv library has an external dependency which should be installed on user machines:
	•	Linux uses the pcsc backend (via pcsclite) to manage the YubiKey,
	•	macOS uses the macscard backend (Apple’s built‑in PC/SC layer, pcsclite daemon),
	•	Windows (MSVC targets) uses the winscard backend (Microsoft’s WinSCard API).
Usage samples
C++
#include <LicenseSpring/Configuration.h>
#include <LicenseSpring/ExtendedOptions.h>

// ...

// the following function returns an std::vector of all plugged YubiKeys' serials.
auto serials = LicenseSpring::HardwareKeyOptions::ListAvailableKeys();
if (!serials.empty()) {
    HardwareKeyOptions hwKeyOptions;
    hwKeyOptions.setTargetSerial(serials[0]); // query the user for the correct serial
    hwKeyOptions.setPin("123456"); // query the user for the pin

    ExtendedOptions options;
    options.setHardwareKeyOptions(hwKeyOptions);
}
#include <LicenseSpring/Configuration.h>
#include <LicenseSpring/ExtendedOptions.h>

// ...

// the following function returns an std::vector of all plugged YubiKeys' serials.
auto serials = LicenseSpring::HardwareKeyOptions::ListAvailableKeys();
if (!serials.empty()) {
    HardwareKeyOptions hwKeyOptions;
    hwKeyOptions.setTargetSerial(serials[0]); // query the user for the correct serial
    hwKeyOptions.setPin("123456"); // query the user for the pin

    ExtendedOptions options;
    options.setHardwareKeyOptions(hwKeyOptions);
}
﻿
Calling ExtendedOptions::setHardwareKeyOptions automatically sets the machine hardware ID to the serial of the Yubikey.
Afterwards, all calls to the License API require that YubiKey to be plugged in, and License::localCheck will throw an appropriate LicenseSpring::HardwareKeyException exception in case the YubiKey is not plugged in.
Single Sign-On
Licensing Scenarios