After installing the software you will need to register it by supplying your personal details along with information about the PC on which the software will run. This will enable VSN International Ltd to generate a license key for you, which will be sent out by email as soon as the information has been processed.
Licenses for Individual software installations are provided in plain text files named appname.lic, where appname is replaced by the actual application name. For example, Genstat.lic, ASReml.lic, CycDesigN.lic. You can read the license file to find out what restrictions apply and so on. Your software may also display this information for you.
In some cases you may already have a license key, in which case you can skip the registration step. The key must be in the format described below.
Registering software
Before registering, you should have your Site Reference number handy. This is not essential, but speeds up processing of your license request and other communications with VSN International Ltd. Also note that registration will require some important details of the host system, so you should register the software on the computer you intend to use it on.
After installing the software you should run it for the first time. If it is not yet licensed you will be offered the choice of registering or installing a trial key. You should choose to register and you will then be presented with the following options:
If you choose to register online your browser will launch and display a form on the VSN website. Fill in the requested details then click Submit Request. Your license key will be dispatched by email in due course. If you are not connected to the internet, or do not wish to register online, you can instead register by saving the required information and your personal details to a text file which can be emailed or posted to VSN International Ltd.
When you receive your license key you should proceed as follows: Individual License Installation.
Pre-issued keys
In some cases you may already have a valid license key for the software. For example:
- Your company or institution has an unlimited or site-wide license
- You have upgraded from an older version of the software
- You have been given a time-locked key for demonstration or course
- You have renewed support and been sent a new key automatically
If you have already installed the key (for example, because it was issued for an earlier version of the software) the new version of the software may work immediately. If it does not, or if the key has not yet been installed please proceed to Individual License Installation
License key formats
Licenses for Individual software installations are provided in plain text files named appname.lic. Apart from comments (prefixed by #) the file should contain only a FEATURE line. In practice this may be split over several lines, using the back-slash () to terminate the intermediate lines. For example:
FEATURE Genstat VSN 0903 permanent uncounted VENDOR_STRING="Department of Mathematics and Statistics" HOSTID=00210971af91 PLATFORMS=i86_n SN=40108120 SIGN="0562 E837 D104 7370 89BB 8027 F176 F9E1 7A5F B3A2 AC03 6385 F321 D4B7 5F85 826E 4DA5 1E3A 06BF 383A 154B"
The most important elements of this key are as follows:
| Application name | Genstat | The software application |
| Vendor name | VSN | The software vendor (VSN International Ltd) |
| Support code | 0903 | Key is valid for software versions released up until the end of March 2009 |
| Expiry date | permanent | Key does not expire |
| VENDOR_STRING | company name | Appears in output files |
In particular, note that this key encodes the end date (0903) of the support period in which it was issued. Although it is a permanent key, it is only valid for software versions (including patches and service packs) that are issued prior to the end of this period. In this case the user has permanent access to Genstat Release 11.1, but if they tried to run Genstat Release 12.1 (say) they would get an error message. When the user renews support they will be issued with a new key recognizing the extended support period.
Important: the key includes a digital signature encrypting various items of information. If the text of the key is altered the signature will no longer be valid and the software will not run.