What are Activations & Deactivations?

An activation is when your customer uses a product key for your software and itʼs validated with our servers. This activations process “locks” the product key (and your software) to that one specific computer. Every product key you create can have 1 or more “allowed activations”. This lets you limit product keys so that they can only be used on a specific number of computers.

For floating licensing product keys there is a “lease pool size”. This is equivalent to the “allowed activations” for node-locked licensing product keys.

If youʼre curious about how this process works — how TurboActivate can actually tell computers apart — then read the “What is hardware-locked licensing and why choose LimeLM?” article. Specifically, the “How hardware-locked licensing works” section might be useful in understanding how this all works.

How to add activation to your software

You can add “online activation” (a.k.a. hardware-locked licensing) to your app by adding TurboActivate to your app. TurboActivate is the part of LimeLM that you include with your app. Or, if you want to use concurrent licensing (a.k.a. floating licensing) in your app, then use TurboFloat and TurboFloat Server.

Re-activating a computer

To re-activate a computer simply call the activate function again. Thereʼs no need to deactivate first. Just calling activate again is enough. TurboActivate and the TurboFloat Server are smart enough to know what youʼre trying to do.

Using TurboActivate: simply call the TA_Activate() function again.
Using the TurboFloat Server: stop the TurboFloat Server instance, then reactivate like this:
```
TurboFloatServer.exe -a
```

Deactivating: “moving” activations between computers

A customer can move your software from one computer to another if you want to allow it. The customer can do this by deactivating from the first computer and then activating on the other computer. The way you can deactivate is:

Using TurboActivate: simply call the TA_Deactivate() function. You might want to make a menu or button for the customer.
Using the TurboFloat Server: stop the TurboFloat Server instance, then deactivate like this:
```
TurboFloatServer.exe -deact
```

If a customer is using your app on separate computers frequently then they might be better off buying more activations from you (so they can be permanently activated on all of their computers) of you might want to offer floating licensing for your app.

You can limit how many deactivations a product key can have by setting it when you create the key or editing it later:

How “activations” relates to the payment plans

On the signup page youʼll see that each plan has a number of “activations” listed:

The easiest way to think about the activation limit is to think of it as a limit of the number of computers your software can be installed on at one time. Say, for example, youʼre on the “Plus plan” which has a 3,000 activation limit. Youʼll be able to sell your software so that it can be installed on 3,000 separate computers.

Frequently Asked Questions

“If a customer deactivates from 1 computer and then activates on another computer, does that use up another ‘activation’ in my plan?”
No, LimeLM doesnʼt count it against you if your customers move between computers. The customer will still be using that single activation.
“If I delete a product key does that ‘free up’ the activations that were used by that key?”
Yes.
“My plan has multiple products; how are the activations split between the products?”
You can split the activations between your products however youʼd like. For example, letʼs say youʼre on the Plus plan (4 product limit and 3,000 activation limit). You can create up to 4 separate products and you can divide that plan limit of 3,000 activations between your products however youʼd like.
“What happens when Iʼve used all of the activations in my plan?”
If youʼre using the LimeLM web API to generate new product keys, then LimeLM will upgrade you to the next highest plan automatically.
“Can I switch between plans?”
Yes, you can upgrade or downgrade your plan on your account page whenever you want.
“When are the activations allocated in my account?”
When you create a product key you set the number of allowed activations for that key. Meaning, you set how many computers your software can be activated on using that key. The activations are allocated immediately when you create the key.
“How many activations does a TurboFloat Server key use?”
A TurboFloat Server key is a little bit different than a TurboActivate key. With a TurboFloat Server key you set the number of “License lease pool-size per key”, which is the number of activations that will be used in your account when you generate the key. The key itself can only be activated with a single TurboFloat Server instance at a time.
“Can you change it so that activations are allocated when a customer activates the key instead of when the product key is created?”
Nope. If you want to “free up” unused activations then either delete the product key, or edit it to have less allowed activations.
“Where can I find the number of activations Iʼve used in my account?”
The number of allocated activations are listed at the top of your account page.

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