Licence Activation & Deactivation

Single Site and Multi Site installations of Academy & Exam OS are activated online with your software licence key. The Reseller / White-Label edition has no licence key and no online activation.

Which editions need activation #

Single Site and Multi Site use the same web package. Your licence key decides which tier applies.

The installation contacts the OsDot licence server only when it is activated, when its licence status is confirmed (the periodic renewal check or Check now) and when you deactivate it. Student and public pages never contact the licence server. Only the licence key, the installation identity, the installation host and the product version are transmitted.

Activate during installation #

Prerequisites: your software licence key from your OsDot order (see Where to find license keys), and outbound HTTPS from your server.

1. Run the installer as described in Installing Academy & Exam OS.
2. In the Install step, the Software license activation phase asks for your Software license key.
3. Paste the key — only the key; never an order number or account password — and click Continue.
4. The installer validates the key, activates this installation for the licensed product and confirms the activation before it continues with the database phases.

Expected result: the installation continues and, after it finishes, the Software license page shows the state active, your tier and the activation counters.

If activation fails (wrong key, product mismatch, activation limit reached or licence server unreachable), the phase shows a safe message and can be retried. The database is not touched until activation succeeds, and a retried activation never uses a second slot.

Important: The key is stored only in encrypted form on your server. It is never shown again on a page, never written to a log and never sent anywhere except to the licence server.

The Software license page #

Owners and administrators open Software license in the staff menu (under System / Integrations, address /staff/license). The page shows:

• the state: active, renewal due, grace, invalid or exhausted;
• the tier (Single Site or Multi-Site) and the counters, for example “used 1 of 1” or “used 2 of 5, 3 remaining”;
• the installation identity and the last confirmation time;
• a Diagnostics section that explains the last problem in plain words.

Depending on the current state, the page offers these actions:

Deactivate an installation #

Deactivating releases the installation’s activation so that the key can be used for another installation (for example on a new server). New licensed work on this installation pauses until a key is activated again.

1. Sign in as the owner or an administrator.
2. Open Software license.
3. In the Deactivate section, tick I understand this releases the activation of this installation.
4. Click Deactivate this installation.

Expected result: the message “This installation was deactivated and its activation released.” appears, and the slot is free for another installation.

Owners with shell access can use the console instead, from the Web/ folder:

php bin/cake.php license deactivate

Move an installation to a new server or domain #

1. On the old installation, deactivate it so that its slot is released.
2. Install or restore the site on the new host (see Backups & Restore).
3. Activate it on the new host with the same key, using Activate on the Software license page or the installer’s licence phase.

A restored installation on the same host keeps its activation. A restored installation on a different host should be deactivated on the old host first.

Renewal check and offline grace #

After activation the installation confirms its licence status about once every 24 hours. The check runs from a scheduled command; add it next to the other cron jobs (hourly is enough — the command decides whether a check is due):

php bin/cake.php license renew

Write it exactly like this, with bin/cake.php: bin/cake without .php is a shell script, and php bin/cake license renew only prints that script and never runs the check. If you scheduled that form earlier, change it. See Cron Jobs & Background Worker for the exact cron entry.

• Temporary problems (network failure, licence server unavailable): the installation keeps working and simply tries again later.
• No successful confirmation for seven days: the installation enters grace exhausted. Staff cannot create new licensed work (new exams, new content, new enrolments) until a confirmation succeeds. Tests already started, grading and result release are never interrupted, and the public website stays online.
• Explicit rejection by the licence server (key revoked, product mismatch, activation limit): automatic renewal pauses until an owner or administrator acts on the licence page.

Console commands for diagnosis, run from Web/:

php bin/cake.php license status
php bin/cake.php license diagnose

Support expiry does not end your licence #

The software licence is perpetual. The optional Priority Support plan is separate: when it expires, or if you never buy it, the installed software keeps its licence and keeps running, and the normal product downloads and updates made available to licensed customers stay available. Nothing in the licence check reads your support status. See Support Options.

Back up the licence files #

Back up these files together with the rest of Web/storage/:

• Web/storage/license/instance.id — the installation identity;
• Web/storage/license/receipt.json — the activation receipt;
• Web/storage/keys/license.key — the receipt’s integrity key.

Licence terms #

Your tier’s terms are in LICENSE.html in your download (and RESELLER-LICENSE.html in the Reseller / White-Label edition). The general OsDot License Agreement also applies. Where the documents in your download state specific terms for Academy & Exam OS, read those first.

Related documents #

• Installing Academy & Exam OS
• Reseller / White-Label Edition Guide
• Troubleshooting & FAQ
• Support Options

Watch the Video Tutorial #

Academy & Exam OS Video Tutorial 02: First-Time Setup & Licence Activation shows this topic step by step (5:46).

Watch on YouTube · All Academy & Exam OS video tutorials