User-Based Licensing

20min

User-based licensing is a contemporary approach to software or service provisioning, wherein access and usage rights are granted on a per-user basis. 
Unlike traditional licensing models that focus on the number of devices or installations, user-based licensing centers around the actual individuals who will be utilizing the product or service. 
This model has gained popularity due to its flexibility and scalability, providing businesses and organizations with a more efficient and cost-effective way to manage their software resources.
By the end of this tutorial, you should understand how to create a login feature by activating a license, how to create a logout feature by deactivating a license, and how to routinely perform online checks on your user-based license from your program. 
Adding a User to a License on the Platform
Email and password of users, can be found on the licenses page. Utilizing a user-based license requires users to be created and assigned to the license. 
This is done by entering the user-based license, switching to the users tab, and clicking “assign license user”.


adding user to a license
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Configuration
Configuration is a set of parameters or settings that are specific to a SDK  and can include elements such as API keys,shared keys or product codes. More about Configuration here.
Local License
The local license is a copy of the license information that is saved on the end user's local computer. Users who have not activated the license on their end before will not have a local license. By default, the local license is stored: %USERPROFILE%\AppData\Local\LicenseSpring\”Product Code”\License.key.
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The process of activating a license refers to binding a device to a license. On the LicenseSpring platform, activating the license increments the total activations counter within the license.
If a device already has a license, and you try to activate another license on that device, for the same product, that newly activated license will override the existing license, deleting it from the device. This will be on the developer to make sure that they check if a license exists on the device before a new activation:
C++
C#
Java
Swift
|
if manager.currentLicense == nil {
    // activate new license.
}
if manager.currentLicense == nil {
    // activate new license.
}
﻿
Activation
Logging In
Creating a login system with the user-based license is straightforward. You can ask the user to input their email and password combination. Once we have the user's credentials, we can then take that email/password combination and use it to activate our user-based license. How the user inputs their credentials is up to you.
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|
let license = try manager.activateLicense(
    user: "user@example.com",
    password: "user_password"
)
let license = try manager.activateLicense(
    user: "user@example.com",
    password: "user_password"
)
﻿
Checking a License
It is recommended to perform a local license check at application open to confirm that the local license file belongs to the current device and has not been transferred. It is also useful to check whether the local license file has been tampered with and whether the local license is still valid.  For more information on performing local license checks, see the Getting Started Tutorial.
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C#
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try license.localCheck()
try license.fullCheck()
try license.localCheck()
try license.fullCheck()
﻿
Retrieving Details of License User
User data such as email address, first name, last name, license ID, order ID, and order store ID can all be retrieved through the SDK. Initial passwords are also available on your local license file, but once the password has been changed, you will no longer be able to access that data using the LicenseSpring SDK. All this user data is stored and encrypted on your local license file. The SDK allows you to retrieve the data and decrypt it. For more on license encryption/decryption see our tutorial on Safety/Security Considerations.
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Here is how to retrieve a "User Data" object that contains such information
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C#
Java
Swift
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let user = try license.user // User?.
let user = try license.user // User?.
﻿
Modifying User Password
We can allow users to change their password. This can be done by the License Manager through the platform, but we can also allow end-users to change their password using our SDK. To change the password, we will require the original/old password and a new, replacement password. If the old password is correct, and the new password is valid, then the user's password will be changed. Note: this method requires internet connection.
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C#
Java
Swift
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try license.changePassword(password: "old_pwd", newPassword: "new_pwd")
try license.changePassword(password: "old_pwd", newPassword: "new_pwd")
﻿
Initiating Password Reset for First-Time Login
New accounts are created with a temporary, initial password. We can check if a license user is still using an initial password and prompt them to change their password using the following code:
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C#
Java
Swift
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if license.user?.isInitialPassword == true {
    // Prompt user to change password.
    // Use the change password method from the previous example.
}
if license.user?.isInitialPassword == true {
    // Prompt user to change password.
    // Use the change password method from the previous example.
}
﻿
Retrieving All Customer-Associated License Users
To return the list of all the license users on every order by some customer use GetCustomerLicenseUsers method of the SDK. This method returns a list of LicenseUser objects that represents all license users associated with the customer.
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C#
Swift
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let users: manager.requestLicenseUsers(for: "customer@example.com") // [User].
let users: manager.requestLicenseUsers(for: "customer@example.com") // [User].
﻿
Common Errors
C++
Exception
Error code
Definition
ConfigurationException
eInitializationError
Throws in case of something wrong with Configuration. E.g. wrong API or Shared key
InvalidCredentialException
eInvalidCredential
This exception means that user or password is wrong
LicenseActivationException
eActivationFailed
Rare exception, can arise if activation is limited to some device count or license transfer is prohibited
LicenseNoAvailableActivationsException
eLicenseNoAvailableActivations
Throws when license has already been activated maximum number of times
PasswordChangeNotAllowedException
ePasswordChangeNotAllowed
This exception can arise if password change is restricted by company policy
.Net
Exception
Definition
InvalidCredentialException
This exception means that user or password is wrong
CustomerNotFoundException
In case customer does not exist
InvalidAuthMethodException
Thrown when GetCustomerLicenseUsers method is called for key-based product
PasswordChangeNotAllowedException
This exception can arise if password change is restricted by company policy
MissingParametersException
If empty string is passed to ChangePassword method
﻿

Updated 05 Sep 2023

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Adding a User to a License on the Platform

Retrieving Details of License User

Modifying User Password

Initiating Password Reset for First-Time Login

Retrieving All Customer-Associated License Users

Common Errors

C++

.Net

Exception	Error code	Definition
ConfigurationException	eInitializationError	Throws in case of something wrong with Configuration. E.g. wrong API or Shared key
InvalidCredentialException	eInvalidCredential	This exception means that user or password is wrong
LicenseActivationException	eActivationFailed	Rare exception, can arise if activation is limited to some device count or license transfer is prohibited
LicenseNoAvailableActivationsException	eLicenseNoAvailableActivations	Throws when license has already been activated maximum number of times
PasswordChangeNotAllowedException	ePasswordChangeNotAllowed	This exception can arise if password change is restricted by company policy