Questions people often ask
Short answers to the questions staff ask most. Each answer links to the page with the full steps.
Licenses
What's the difference between a license and a credential?
The license is our permission for the customer to use a product. The product checks it by itself, even offline. A credential is a secret code one install uses to reach Chandler online, to check the license and download updates. Revoking a credential never cancels the license. See Licenses and credentials.
What's the difference between the end date and update coverage?
They answer two different questions:
- The end date says until when the customer may use the product.
- Update coverage says until when the customer may get new versions.
A customer can keep using a product after their updates stop. For example, someone who bought Trawler outright has no end date, but only one year of updates. See Update coverage.
Does renewing change anything for the customer?
Yes, but they don't have to do much:
- Installs that are online pick up the new dates by themselves.
- Offline installs need the new license file. You send it to them. See Sending a license file.
- Their secret codes keep working. Nobody needs a new one.
See Renewing.
Can a customer have two licenses for the same product?
No. Each customer has at most one license for each product. To change the dates, renew the license they have. For a fresh start, revoke it and click Issue replacement.
How do I give a customer another product?
Open the customer's page. Next to the product, click Issue license. Each product has its own license. See Issuing a license.
Can I stop a customer using a product straight away?
Not completely. Suspending or revoking stops online checks and new downloads at once. But copies that are already installed keep working until the license's end date. A license with no end date keeps working for good.
If a customer must stop straight away, talk to your manager. See What suspension means for offline installs.
What happens after the end date?
The customer can use the product until the end of the end date. The next day, the product stops working and the customer can't download anything. The license shows Expired. To give them more time, renew the license before then.
I made a mistake. Can I undo it?
It depends on what you did:
| What you did | How to fix it |
|---|---|
| Typed a wrong customer detail | Click Edit on the customer page and correct it. |
| Picked a wrong end date or update coverage | Renew the license with the right dates. |
| Picked a wrong start date | The start date can't change. Revoke the license, then click Issue replacement. |
| Suspended a license | Click Resume. |
| Revoked a license | You can't undo it. Click Issue replacement. |
| Revoked a credential | You can't undo it. Create a new credential. |
Every change, and every fix, is kept in the audit log.
Can I delete a customer or a license?
No. Chandler keeps everything, so the history stays complete. To stop a license, revoke it. You can add a note to the customer to explain.
Secret codes
A customer lost their secret code. What do I do?
Nobody can show it again, not even engineering. Instead:
- Rotate the credential. The lost code stops working.
- Send the customer the new code, safely.
See If a customer lost their credential.
Who can see the secret codes?
Only the person who creates one, and only once, on the page that shows it. Chandler keeps just a scrambled version that can't be turned back into the code. That's why a lost code has to be replaced, not looked up.
Is the license file a secret?
No. It holds only the product, the dates and a number. It holds no names or passwords. You can send it by ordinary email. See Sending a license file.
Updates
Why can't a customer download the newest version?
Check these, in order:
- Is the release Published?
- Is the customer's license Active?
- Does their update coverage run until the day the release was published, or later?
- Is their installed version recent enough to take it?
See A customer isn't offered a new release.
Why is there no Publish button?
You need the Release publisher permission. The release must also be Verified, which means Chandler has checked its files. See I can't publish a release.
How do I send an update to a customer without internet?
Make an offline package from the release page. See Offline packages.
Signing in and access
Why am I asked to sign in again?
Some actions change something important. Examples are creating a secret code or publishing a release. Chandler asks you to sign in again first, if your last sign-in was more than 5 minutes ago. You use your password and your second factor. This is normal. Chandler also asks after 8 hours, and after 2 hours without use. See Asked to sign in again.
Why does Chandler ask for a second factor?
Your second factor is the extra step after your password. For example, you approve the sign-in in the Microsoft Authenticator app on your phone. Before an important action, Chandler checks that you used it. A password alone could have been guessed or stolen, but your phone is still in your hand. If you signed in with only your password, Chandler shows A second sign-in step is needed and changes nothing. See Your sign-in needs a second factor.
Why was I signed out after 8 hours?
Everyone signs in again after 8 hours, even if they were busy. Signing in again for an important action doesn't restart the 8 hours. This limits how long a computer someone left signed in stays useful to anyone else. You are also signed out after 2 hours without using Chandler. See Asked to sign in again.
Can a guest account use Chandler?
No. Chandler is only for people with their own ExactNet work account. A guest account belongs to someone invited from another company. Chandler turns it away with Only ExactNet work accounts can use Chandler, even if it was given a permission. See Guest accounts can't use Chandler.
What does Sign out of my work account too do?
Sign out ends your time in Chandler. Your Microsoft work account may still be signed in in that browser, so the next person could get back in without a password. The page you see after signing out has a Sign out of my work account too link. It signs you out of your work account in that browser as well. Use it on shared computers. See After you sign out.
What does Too many requests mean?
Chandler got a lot of requests from your computer in one minute, so it is pausing for a moment. Nothing was changed. Wait a minute and try again. See Too many requests.
How do I get another permission?
Ask your manager to request it from IT. Then sign out and sign in again. See Asking for access.
What does UTC mean?
UTC is the world's standard clock time. Chandler shows all dates and times in UTC, so everyone sees the same day, wherever they are. In winter it matches London time. In the mainland United States, UTC is 4 to 8 hours ahead of local time.
This matters near midnight. A license that ends on 31 December ends when that day ends in UTC. In the United States, that is the afternoon or evening of 31 December.
What happens to customers if Chandler stops working?
Installed copies keep working, because they check their license file by themselves. Only online license checks and new downloads stop until Chandler is back. The dashboard's System status card shows if something is wrong. See Reading the status card.