HOWTO – Installing and register a NSS license
In a demo mode, NSS doesn’t need a license server.
For technical details, please read the appendix at the end of the present document.
In short, a license server is a server in the network (not necessarily the NSS server itself) which hosts the license as a registry key, reached by the NSS services using the remote registry services.
In a demo mode, we don’t need to run the registration procedure to ask for the final license.
Activating the product for the first time – 14 days demo mode
The very first time NSS runs, the software is licensed for 14 days, unlimited capacity and unlimited remote devices.
After that time, a License Server must be defined, and a real license must be purchased.
To activate the first trial period
The only necessary thing is to declare the NSS server in the licensing module.
Run the Northern Licensing module.
An empty list should be displayed, because no license has been activated yet.
To add a host in a demo mode, click on the ‘Add’ button.
Next
Choose the right platform.
- In case of a cluster virtual server, the virtual server name defined in the cluster group must be used.
- In case of a NAS device, the managing host must be selected and not the NAS device.
You can add the host either using the browse button or simply typing the NETBIOS name in the host name field.
Click on Finish to complete the addition.
In this case, the host is running with an active demo license, not expired.
In case the license is already expired, the interface shows a different status, but the result is anyway correct and we can move to the next step.
Clicking on the details button, the window displays the information
Registration of new server
Now select all hosts in demo mode within the license list and click the "Register" button.
The Registration Wizard appears. Click Next.
On the Host selection, all previously selected Hosts are checked. Click Next.
Complete the Customer Information dialogue of the Registration Wizard with all relevant details. Click Next.
Complete the Contact Person information. Click Next
Complete the Serial Number dialogue of the Registration Wizard with the name of your reseller and your Serial Number [see “Serial Number” on page 8]. When you provide the Serial Number, make sure to enter the number exactly as you have received it [e.g. copy
and then paste the Serial Number into the text field]. Click Next.
In the Specify License Server dialogue of the Registration Wizard indicate which server you wish to use as your License Server. Northern recommends using the Microsoft SQL server that will be responsible for maintaining the NSS database as the License Server. Ensure that your desired License Server is available via
the network. Click Next.
In the Registration Method dialogue of the Registration Wizard select "Register via email" and click Next.
In the Finish dialogue of the Registration Wizard, verify your settings and click Finish.
An email will now be prepared. Review the content of this email, do not edit the content, and send it to registry@northern.net.
Your registration details will be received and processed by Northern. These details will be used to create your License File, which you will receive shortly [within hours].
Fast activation (extending the demo mode trial period)
In some cases, Northern can extend the basic trial period providing an extension to the previous license.
To extend the trial period, a .LIC file must be given directly by Northern.
This file represents a special license with:
- Unlimited capacity
- Unlimited connection to NAS devices
- End of license based on calendar. It means that the time period in which the license is valid starts exactly at the creation date of the file, and not when the license is applied.
- Unlimited registrations. The same file can be used on different NSS servers.
To activate the new demo license
An email from Northern is sent containing a DEMO.lic file as attachment.
Click on ‘Activate’ to start the wizard.
Next
Choose the license server you want to use
Select the .LIC file received
Click on ‘Agree’ to continue
Finish. The license is now installed
Appendix - The NSS license server
The License Server is the server that will hold your licensing information. All other servers that are to be included in your implementation of Northern Storage Suite will query the License Server to ensure that they are properly licensed and activated.
You can use any hosts in your network as a license server, such as the Microsoft SQL server that will maintain the NSS database.
The License Server does not need to run Northern Storage Suite. The only requirements for the
License Server it must have the remote registry service running. (1)
The amount of network traffic between the Northern Storage Suite servers and the License Server is extremely small. The Quota Server component of Northern Storage Suite will query the License Server every hour. The remaining components of the suite will query the license server before performing any of their functions (Northern Storage Reporter, for example, queries the license server before running a report).
Registry permissions
The License Server must grant Full Control permissions on the registry keys HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Northern\License to all Northern Storage Suite services.
Grace Period
If the connection with the License Server is lost, the Northern Storage Suite will continue to function as normal for a grace period of 72 hours. After such time operations will cease - Northern Storage Suite will not impose quotas, run reports, etc.
All settings will be retained and NSS will continue to try to re-establish connection with the License Server - automatically returning to normal operations as soon as this connection is re-established.
The grace period is counted in absolute execution time. Restarting the NSS Core service will not reset the grace period. Reconnecting to the license server or re-licensing the software are the only ways to reset the grace period.
