Licence¶
How to install and renew the licence file, what the dates on its banner mean, and what a lapse switches off and what it never does. It is written for the operator who runs the server. The upload itself is a Manager's action on Settings, so an operator who is not a Manager hands the file to one; Connect your identity provider says who is a Manager. One licence covers an installation and the one organisation on it.
What the licence is¶
A signed file Winner AI sends you, carrying a licence id, the licensee's name, an issue date, an expiry date and a number of seats. The server checks it from the file alone when it is uploaded: there is no licence server to reach and no tool to run by hand.
The expiry date is the last licensed day, in UTC. A first licence carries 40 seats; the seats and expiry in force are the ones Settings shows. There is no suspension: we cannot switch an installation off from afar, and the expiry date is the only limit. Where this page says to ask us, use the contact Getting started and help names.
Nothing of the licence's contents is sent to us. With usage counts on, an upload, the licence's state changes and the daily seat count are among the events Telemetry lists, and with error reports or timings on, the upload's request is reported like any other, by its route, never with the file.
Upload it¶
Upload the file exactly as it was sent: line endings, blank lines and spaces around a line do not matter, but a change to any of its content breaks the signature.
- Save the file exactly as it arrived.
- A Manager signs in, opens Settings and goes to the Licence row, picks the file in Licence file and presses Upload (Replace when one is stored).
- Settings answers "Licence stored." and the row shows
<licensee> · <licence id>andIssued <date>, expires <date> (UTC) · <n> seats · <m> in use. That line is the check: it is what the server read from the file.
With none stored, the row reads "No licence is stored." and the seats in use. An expired file is still accepted; what it means follows its dates, below.
If the upload is refused¶
The message appears on the Licence row, and the licence already in force stays in force.
| Message | What to do |
|---|---|
| This is not a Winner AI licence file, or it was damaged on the way: upload the file exactly as it was sent. | Upload the original attachment, unopened and unedited. If it is refused again, ask us to send it again. |
| The licence file's signature is not of a kind Winner AI accepts. | Ask us for a new file. |
| The licence file was not signed by Winner AI's licence key. | This file did not come from us. Upload the one we sent, or ask us for it. |
| The licence file's signature was not made for a licence. | The file is signed for something else. Upload the licence file. |
| The licence file was changed after it was signed. | Upload the original, unedited; if that is refused too, ask us to send it again. |
| The licence file is of a newer format than this release reads: upgrade Winner AI to use it. | Install a later release (Installing a later release), then upload it again. |
| The licence file is signed, but its fields are not valid. | Ask us for a new file. |
| This licence was issued before the one in force, so it cannot replace it. | The licence in force is newer; keep it. If you expected this file to replace it, ask us. |
| Another licence was stored while this one was checked: upload the file again. | Upload it again. |
Seats¶
A seat is a person with at least one enrolled Device. A second laptop is free; revoking a person's last Device frees the seat; a removed person whose laptop is still enrolled still holds one.
Over the licence's number, Settings and the roster say "<n> more people than the licence's
<seats> seats. Nobody is refused; this is settled at renewal.", with "person" for one person
and "seat" for one seat. The warning shows only while a
licence is stored, and enrolment never reads the count.
The dates¶
Days are UTC dates on the server's clock. The banner names the switch-off date, so it is the one to trust.
| State | Days | What the banner shows |
|---|---|---|
| Licensed | Up to and including the expiry date | No banner. |
| Grace | The 30 days after the expiry date | A banner: "The licence expired on <expiry>. Coaching, Skills and Benchmarks switch off on <date>: <n> days left.", then "1 day left", then "last day". |
| Switched off | From the 31st day after the expiry date | The banner says "The licence expired on <expiry>. The 30 days of grace are over.", and the three pages are off (below). |
With no licence stored, grace starts on the deployment's first start instead (that day the banner reads 30 days left), and the banner opens "No licence is installed."
For a licence that expires on 2027-10-31:
| Date (UTC) | State | Banner |
|---|---|---|
| 2027-10-31 | Licensed | None. |
| 2027-11-01 | Grace | "The licence expired on 2027-10-31. Coaching, Skills and Benchmarks switch off on 2027-12-01: 29 days left." |
| 2027-11-29 | Grace | The same, ending "1 day left." |
| 2027-11-30 | Grace | The same, ending "last day." |
| 2027-12-01 | Switched off | "The licence expired on 2027-10-31. The 30 days of grace are over." |
Managers see the banner at the top of Winner AI's pages; the Dashboard carries none. A Member's own pages carry none either, but the page where anyone approves a laptop's sign-in carries it, so a Member sees it there. Every banner links "Upload a licence on Settings.", which only a Manager can open. The 30 days are fixed by the release: Settings shows them as the fixed row Licence grace, and no setting changes them.
The dates follow the server's clock: keep it right.
What switches off, and what never does¶
When grace ends, Prompt Coaching, Skills and Benchmarks switch off: their pages, their actions, Skill downloads, and the background runs behind them. The sidebar drops all three, and opening one at its address shows "The licence has lapsed." and:
Coaching, Skills and Benchmarks are off. Nothing they recorded is deleted, and they come back as they were once a valid licence is uploaded.
A Manager gets the button "Upload a licence on Settings"; anyone else reads:
Ask a Manager to upload a licence on Settings.
Settings' Features on row reads "none", with its form hidden, and shows:
Unavailable: the licence has lapsed: upload a valid licence to switch these back on.
Settings will not switch them back on.
Nothing is deleted. The findings, Skills and results the three pages hold are not shown while they are off, and come back unchanged.
Never switched off, in any state: signing in, the Dashboard and the sessions in it, Home (without the three features' figures while they are off), the roster (adding people, revoking laptops), laptop sign-in and enrolment, pushes, client downloads and updates, roles following your identity provider, and Settings with the upload.
Renew¶
Renewing is uploading the new file the same way, with Replace; nothing else changes. A new file replaces the stored one unless it was issued earlier; one issued the same day is accepted.
After a lapse the same upload is the whole recovery: whichever of the three pages were on before it open again at once, and their background runs resume on their next scheduled run. A file that has itself expired more than 30 days ago is stored, and its own dates decide: after a lapse the three stay off, and uploaded during the first-start grace, with no licence stored before it, it ends that grace and switches the three off at once.
Seats over the number are settled at this renewal: tell us how many you need.