Licenses

A license is our permission for one customer to use one product. It says when the customer may start using the product, when that right ends, and until when they get updates.

The license itself is what allows a customer to use a product. To let an install reach Chandler online, you also give it a credential. See Licenses and credentials: what's the difference.

A customer has at most one license for each product. A customer who buys Portolan, Trawler and Driftnet has three licenses.

Anyone who can use Chandler can look at licenses. You need the License admin permission to issue or change them.

Issuing a license

1. Open the customer's page. See Finding a customer.
2. Next to the product, click Issue license.
3. Fill in the form:
   • Product: Portolan, Trawler or Driftnet.
   • Start date: see Start date.
   • End date: see End date. Leave it empty for a license that never ends.
   • Update coverage: see Update coverage.
4. Check the dates, then click Issue license.

Chandler creates the license and its license file straight away. The license page opens and shows its status. The new license is also recorded in the audit log.

Next, do one or both of these:

• For an install that connects to the internet, create a credential.
• For an install without internet, send the license file.

If Chandler says Acme already has a Trawler license, that customer already has a license for this product. Open it and renew it instead. You can only issue a second one after the first is revoked.

If Chandler says Couldn't sign the license — nothing was changed, try again in a minute. If it keeps happening, tell engineering.

Clicking Issue license twice by accident is safe. Chandler notices and creates only one license.

Start date

The first day the customer may use the product. Usually this is today, or the day the contract starts.

If you pick a date in the future, the license is Scheduled until then. The customer can't use the product or download updates before that day.

The start date never changes, even when you renew the license.

End date

The last day the customer may use the product. The whole day counts, until midnight UTC. The next day, the product stops working and the customer can't download updates.

Leave the end date empty for a license that never ends. Chandler then shows Never expires. This is sometimes called a perpetual license.

Some limits keep a mistake from creating a license that lasts far too long:

• The end date and the update coverage can be at most 10 years from today.
• A license that never ends is allowed only for products that engineering has turned it on for. For any other product, Chandler says "Licenses that never end are turned off for this product" and nothing is changed. Choose an end date instead, or ask engineering.
• Chandler signs at most 10 licenses a minute and 500 a day. If it says it has signed as many as it may, wait and try again later.

Chandler shows the end date in words too. For example, "Can be used until 31 Dec 2027 (in 15 months)".

Update coverage

The date until which the customer gets new versions of the product. It is separate from the end date, because a customer can keep using the product after their updates stop.

Update coverage can't end before the start date. It can end before, on or after the end date.

When coverage runs out, the customer keeps every version that came out while they were covered. They can still download those versions, as long as the license is active and hasn't ended. They can't get versions that come out later.

To give them newer versions, renew the license with a later update coverage date.

Example: a one-year license with one year of updates

Acme Fiber buys Trawler for one year, with updates, on 1 October 2026.

• Start date: 1 Oct 2026
• End date: 30 Sep 2027
• Update coverage: 30 Sep 2027

Acme can use Trawler and download every new version until the end of 30 September 2027. On 1 October 2027 Trawler stops working, unless you renew the license first.

Example: a license that never ends, with one year of updates

Harbor Networks buys Trawler outright on 1 October 2026, with one year of updates.

• Start date: 1 Oct 2026
• End date: empty, so Chandler shows Never expires
• Update coverage: 30 Sep 2027

Harbor Networks can use Trawler for as long as they like. They get every new version that comes out up to the end of 30 September 2027.

Example: when update coverage runs out

Harbor Networks from the example above doesn't renew. Their update coverage ended on 30 September 2027.

• Trawler 3.2 came out on 15 August 2027. They were covered then, so they can still download it, even in 2028.
• Trawler 3.3 came out on 10 November 2027. That was after their coverage ended, so they can't download it.
• Their installed copies of Trawler keep working, because the license never ends.

If Harbor Networks renews later with coverage until 30 September 2028, they can download Trawler 3.3 straight away.

Statuses

Every license shows one status. Chandler works it out from the dates and from what staff have done.

• Active: the license has started, hasn't ended, and isn't suspended or revoked.
• Scheduled: the start date is in the future.
• Expired: the end date has passed. The day after the end date, the license shows as expired.
• Suspended: a license admin paused it. It can be resumed.
• Revoked: a license admin ended it for good. It can't be undone.

What the customer can do in each status

Renewing

Renew a license when a customer extends their contract or buys more updates.

1. Open the license page.
2. Click Renew.
3. Enter the new End date, the new Update coverage date, or both.
4. Read the confirmation, then click Renew.

What happens:

• The start date stays the same.
• Chandler makes a new license file with the new dates. It gets the next revision number.
• Installs that check online pick up the new file by themselves.
• Offline installs need the new file. Send it to them.

Renewing doesn't change the customer's credentials. They keep working.

If someone renews the license while you have the form open, Chandler stops your renewal. Open the license again, check its new dates, and renew again if you still need to.

The dashboard lists licenses that end in the next 30 days, so you can renew them in time. On the Licenses page, click Expiring in 30 days for the same list.

Renewing is recorded in the audit log, with the old and the new dates.

Suspending and resuming

Suspend a license to pause it. For example, when a customer hasn't paid, or while you check a problem with their account.

1. Open the license page.
2. Click Suspend.
3. Type a short reason, such as "Invoice 1042 unpaid".
4. Read the confirmation, then click Suspend.

What happens straight away:

• The customer can't download updates.
• Their install's online check answers "suspended".
• Installed copies keep working until the end date. Read what suspension means for offline installs.

To undo it, open the license page and click Resume. Everything works again at once. Suspending and resuming don't create a new license file, so you don't need to send the customer anything.

The reason you typed is shown on the license page and kept in the audit log.

Revoking and replacing

Revoke a license only when it must end for good. For example, when a contract is cancelled, or the license was issued by mistake.

1. Open the license page.
2. Click Revoke.
3. Type the reason.
4. Read the confirmation, then click Revoke.

What happens:

• The license shows Revoked. It can never be resumed or renewed.
• All of its credentials stop working at once.
• The customer can't check the license online or download updates.
• Installed copies keep working until the end date. A license that never ends keeps working for good. Nothing in Chandler can stop that.

If you revoke by mistake, or the customer needs a fresh start, use Issue replacement. It opens the Issue license form for the same customer and product. The new license shows which license it replaces. Then create new credentials and send the new license file. The old license stays in Chandler, marked Revoked, so its history is kept.

Each revoked license can be replaced once. If the replacement is revoked later, replace the replacement instead. Chandler tells you if you try twice.

License history

Each time Chandler makes a new license file, the revision number goes up by one. Issuing makes revision 1. Each renewal adds one: 2, 3 and so on.

The license page lists every revision, with its dates and when it was made. Chandler keeps every old revision. Nobody can change or delete them.

An install always uses the newest revision it has seen. Once an install has revision 3, it refuses revision 2. This stops anyone from going back to an older file with longer dates.

Related pages

• Customers
• Credentials
• Offline installs
• Questions people often ask
• Glossary
• Troubleshooting