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Desaware Licensing System Support

Frequently Asked Questions

1. I'm having trouble communicating with the licensing server (or having other server configuration issues).
2. I'm seeing an error "The MachineLicense component must itself have a valid license to Install software when running under a debugger. Be sure to copy a valid .DLSC file to the same directory as the Desaware.MachineLicense.Dll. License error".
3. Which Web hosting services can host the licensing activation server?
4. I am confused about the separate Server and Client licenses. What is each one used for and what is the minimum number of licenses I would need?
5. Are different versions of the licensing system compatible with each other?
6. I'm seeing an invalid certificate error or "The License Certificate for this Application is Invalid" error during installation/activation.
7. Server Error in '/LicenseServer' Application - Parser Error - Parser Error Message: Could not create type 'Management' after upgrade to v 1.2 (typically Win2003 server).
8. Server Error "Failed to Access IIS Metabase" or "The process account used to run ASP.NET must have read access to the IIS metabase (e.g. IIS://servername/W3SVC)".
9. The Licensing Server Installation Aborts On Vista with IIS 7
10. The first attempt to activate a license fails but subsequent attempts succeed.
11. My ProvideServerData function is not working.
12. What versions of the .NET Framework are supported?

1. I'm having trouble communicating with the licensing server (or having other server configuration issues).

Between the different operating systems, databases, IIS configurations, and other services that can be installed on a server, the possible permutations are nearly endless. It's no surprise that virtually every support question we get on this product relates to server configuration. To help, we invite you to download our new server configuration guide. Also, check out our VPS Installation instructions - these instructions will work on most clean Windows 2003 servers.

2. I'm seeing an error "The MachineLicense component must itself have a valid license to Install software when running under a debugger. Be sure to copy a valid .DLSC file to the same directory as the Desaware.MachineLicense.Dll. License error".

In order to run your licensed application under the Visual Studio .NET debugger, you must copy your dls10client.dlsc file to the same folder as your compiled assembly file. The dls10client.dlsc file is installed to the LicenseManager sub folder (on Vista, look on your Vista drive in the ProgramData directory - you'll find a folder whose name ends with LicenseManager... This folder will contain the dls10client.dlsc file. You may need to configure your folder view options to display hidden files and directories in order to see the ProgramData directory).

In other words - the machine license component is itself licensed. So you need to place the dls10client.dlsc file that was created during installation into the bin directory of your application in order to debug it. This is, of course, only required to debug your licensed application (during development).

This is also discussed in the licensing system readme file.

3. Which web hosting services can host the licensing activation server?

See our Hosting Information page.

4. I am confused about the separate Server and Client licenses. What is each one for and what is the minimum I would need?

You would need a minimum of 1 server license and 1 client license. The Server License is for the Licensing System's web service that validates your applications and install codes, manages the database, and allows you to create new applications and install codes. The Client License is for the developer and those who are managing licenses. 

Your initial client and server license allows you to use the Desaware.MachineLicense.dll component to add to your application project, test and run it in debug mode. It also includes the Desaware License Manager which allows you to communicate with the License Server to create new Applications and their corresponding RESX file, generate install codes, sign DLSC files, etc.

The License Server allows you to create as many unique Applications as you wish for one particular machine that hosts the licensing web service to validate the Applications install codes. You would only need additional Server licenses if you want to run the licensing web service on multiple machines - for example, if you wanted to divide the licensing of different applications onto different machines.

The License Client allows you to develop .NET projects that use the Licensing System or run the License Manager application. This is licensed per machine. You would need additional client licenses if you have more than one developer working on the licensing or installation code for a particular project (you do not need a license for each developer who is working on the project - only those who need to debug the licensing code).

You will also need additional client licenses for each system that runs the License Manager application - that allows creation and management of installation keys and applications.

Once you create your application, you can freely redistribute the Licensing System's required files without any additional fees.

5. Are different versions of the licensing system compatible with each other?

We've worked hard to ensure that different versions of the licensing system remain compatible with each other, but changes in the .NET framework have not always made this possible. The following compatibility matrix will help you ensure that your existing applications continue to license correctly as you update both your applications and servers.

Our highest priority has been to ensure that older versions of the client component (MachineLicense) will work correctly with newer versions of the licensing server.

This table assumes all versions of the software are running under their target version of the framework. The 1.0 framework machinelicense component should not be run under .NET 2.0. The latest version of the 1.1 framework machinelicense component will run under .NET 2.0 but will only work with the latest server (1.1 or 2.0 framework). You can use your application configuration file to prevent applications from running under incorrect framework versions.

License version numbers are NOT synced to the .NET framework.
Version 1.0 of the Licensing System includes components for .NET 1.0
Version 1.1 of the Licensing System includes components for .NET 1.1 and 1.0
Version 1.2 of the Licensing System includes components for .NET 1.1 and 2.0
Version 1.3 of the Licensing System includes client components with Vista support. These components, by default, store license files in the ApplicationData directory under Vista, allowing license files to be correctly found by multiple users under Vista. There is no need to update server components from 1.2 to 1.3.
Version 2.1 of the Licensing System... well, that would be telling (coming mid 2007)

You can download the latest .NET 1.1 client and server components here.

You can download the version 1.3 Vista compatible client components here.

6. I'm seeing an invalid certificate error or "The License Certificate for this Application is Invalid" error during installation/activation.

Aside from corrupted/missing certificates or attempts to hack/modify the certificate, this error may indicate one of the following:

• Attempting to use the .NET 2.0 MachineLicense component on a non-upgraded 1.1 server or 1.0 server.
• Your .NET 1.0 or 1.1 application (and MachineLicense component) is running under the 2.0 framework. The 1.0 component is not compatible with .NET 2.0. The latest 1.1 component can be run under .NET 2.0 as long as you are using the latest server components.

To avoid versioning problems we recommend you specify a required runtime version in your application configuration file. There are a number of breaking changes between .NET 1.1 and 2.0, and you should never allow an application to run under a later version of .NET until you have thoroughly tested it in that environment.

7. I'm seeing the following error:

Server Error in '/LicenseServer' Application.
Parser Error
Description: An error occurred during the parsing of a resource required to service this request. Please review the following specific parse error details and modify your source file appropriately.
Parser Error Message: Could not create type 'Management'.
Source Error:
Line 1: <%@ WebService Language="VB" CodeBehind="~/App_Code/Management.vb" Class="Management" %>

First, make sure you have configured IIS to use the correct .NET runtime for the version of the licensing system you installed (this is selected on the ASP .NET tab under the IIS Management properties for your web site).

You may also need to change the application pool for your web site. .NET 1.1 and .NET 2.0 applications cannot run in the same application pool. Be sure all your .NET 1.1. and .NET 2.0 web sites are in an application pool configured for the version of the runtime they need.

You may also need to add the following code to the <system.web> section in your web.config file:

<compilation>
   <assemblies>
      <add assembly="*" />
   </assemblies>
</compilation>

By default, .NET assemblies are supposed to preload all assemblies in their bin directory, however on some systems we've found that they do not. This change to the web.config file should solve the problem.

8. I'm seeing the following error:

"Failed to Access IIS Metabase" or "The process account used to run ASP.NET must have read access to the IIS metabase (e.g. IIS://servername/W3SVC)"
This typically occurs when IIS is installed after the .NET framework, often on XP development systems.

To solve this problem (in most cases), you can do the following:

• Using Add/Remove Programs, select the Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0, click on "Change/Remove" then select "Repair"
• Using the aspnet_regiis application (under \Windows\Microsoft .NET\Framework\v2.0.50727 directory), try to uninstall then reinstall the framework extensions (first using the -u, then the -i options).
• Restart your system, then verify your IIS configuration for ASP .NET.

9. The Licensing Server Installation Aborts On Vista with IIS 7

This applies to cases where the server installation aborts before you see any forms prompting for user information.

There is a recently discovered incompatibility between the VS2005 MSI installer and Vista with IIS 7 installed if IIS6 Management Compatibility is missing. To succesfully install the license server on Vista, do the following:

1. Be sure you are running under an administrator account (you do not need to turn off UAC).
2. Run the setup.exe program. Do NOT run or install the MSI file directly.
3. Be sure ASP .NET 2.0 is installed and configured correctly.
4. Be sure the ISS 6 Management Compatibility option is installed. Refer to the following article by Scott Guthrie for more specific details.
   

10. Which web hosting services can host the licensing activation server?

See our instructions for turning off idle timeouts on the server .

11. My ProvideServerData function is not working.

There are two steps to diagnosing server data problems. First, you must make sure your ProvideServerData function is being called. Turn on server diagnostics (see the documentation and server configuration guide). Cycle the server application (easily done by just modifying the web.config file or through IIS Manager), and examine the log generated when an activation is attempted. The log will show whether or not your server data function has been found and any errors that occur. In many cases, an error in your desaware.licenseserverxx.dll.config file will be the issue. The most cases you'll find an unhandled exception occurred in your ProvideServerData code.

You can debug your ProvideServerData function by attaching a debugger. This is done using the System.Diagnostics.Debugger.Launch method to attach a debugger to your server, then call the System.Diagnostics.Debugger.Break method to actually break into the debugger.

12. What versions of the .NET Framework are supported?

The Desaware Licensing System components ship in two versions, one for .NET 1.1, and one for .NET 2.0 and greater. The .NET 2.0 and Visual Studio 2005 components are 100% compatible with .NET 3.0 and .NET 3.5 (As you may know, .NET 3.0 and .NET 3.5 are actually the .NET 2.0 framework plus some additional classes and features).