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Offline installs

Some customers run our products on networks with no internet connection. Their installs can't reach Chandler, so you send them a license file instead.

The product checks the license file by itself. It can tell if the file is genuine, which product it is for, and whether its dates are still good. Nobody can edit the file without the product noticing.

Sending a license file

  1. Open the license page.
  2. Click Download license file.
  3. Read the confirmation, then click Download license file.
  4. Your browser saves a file named like acme-fiber-trawler-rev1.lic.
  5. Send the file to the customer.
  6. The customer copies it onto the computer that runs the product, and loads it into the product.

Chandler records the download in the audit log.

About the file:

  • It holds the customer's license dates, the product and the revision number. It holds no names, email addresses, passwords or credentials.
  • It isn't a secret, so ordinary email is fine. It only works for the customer and product it was made for.
  • The rev1 part is the revision number. Always send the newest one.

Send a new file every time you renew the license. Until the customer loads it, their install keeps using the old dates.

Internet-connected installs don't need a file. They fetch the newest one by themselves, using their credential.

What suspension means for offline installs

An offline install never talks to Chandler. So Chandler has no way to tell it about a suspension or a revocation.

This is what that means in practice:

  • A suspended or revoked license stops online checks and downloads at once. That's all Chandler can stop.
  • Installed copies, online or offline, keep working until the license's end date.
  • A license that never expires keeps working for good, even after you revoke it.
  • An install that already has a newer revision can't be sent back to an older one.

So think before you issue a license with no end date, or a long one, to a customer you aren't sure about. A shorter end date that you renew each year keeps you in control.

If a customer must stop using a product straight away, suspending or revoking isn't enough on its own. Talk to your manager: this needs a conversation with the customer, or a legal step.