Introduction to Licensing

Licensing in SmartShield comes in two options:

• Smart Control (SCRM) Bulk Seats - Manage multiple device(s) using a single license key

• Ransomware Recovery Manager (RRM) - Manage single device as a stand-alone

• Latest version 2.5.0 requires new key, as we come to EOL with old centurion keys, new keys format:

  • RRM-xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

  • SCRM-xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

SmartControl Managed Licensing

SmartControl licensing means that your SmartControl managed by a single license key which leases “seats” out to client SmartShield machines. For instance, if you have 125 licenses available on your SmartControl, you will have one license key that you will use to install SmartControl. You can then connect up to 125 SmartShield clients to that SmartControl, all of which will lease a seat from your SmartControl.

SmartControl licensing is the easiest to manage because you only have one license.

Using the License Summary you can view license usage, change license keys and register your license.

License Summary View

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Stand-alone Licensing

Stand-alone licensing will allow you to run SmartShield without having to connect to a SmartControl. This type of licensing is popular for laptops that will frequently leave a network or when there are not enough machines to justify using a SmartControl to manage them. Each SmartShield client using stand-alone licensing will receive its own individual license key.

For high volumes of licenses, we recommend a SmartControl managed license. Support does not track license keys, it is up to the customer to retain records of which licenses go to which machines.

Managing Stand-alone Licenses with SmartControl

A stand-alone licensed client can still connect to a SmartControl for management. This allows you to remotely send commands while retaining the stand-alone licensing model. This is optimal in situations where you have laptops entering and leaving the network so that they may be managed when they are on-site but licensed and protected when they are away. When you assign a SmartControl to a stand-alone license it will not receive a license lease from the SmartControl.

For example, if you have a SmartControl with 125 licenses and you have 25 stand-alone licensed laptops, you can still have 125 leased seats given to computers on the network as well as 25 laptops that can connect as they come and go. The 25 laptops will not take any of the 125 licenses the SmartControl can offer to connecting computers since they have their own stand-alone license.

How to Choose a Client Licensing Model

During installation of a SmartShield client, you will be given an option to select which kind of licensing you would like to use. The picture below shows the three options you are allowed to select.

Select to Register with Smart Control Managed Licensing: This will use the SmartControl Managed Licensing option.

Select to Register with Internet Connection: This will use the stand-alone licensing option.

Select to Register Manually: This will allow you to use offline activation. Your stand-alone licenses will not check in with the licensing server.

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You can also change from a managed license to a stand-alone license after you have installed the product. To do this you need to be in an Unprotected state, then right click on the icon in the system tray. Go to “About” and press the “Licensing” button. You can then enter your stand-alone licensing key to convert to stand-alone licensing.

When to Use Manual Registration for Stand-alone Licensing

Manual registration is an option you can use if you foresee extended disconnection from the internet or the computer will be behind a proxy that blocks access to our licensing server. With internet connection registration your computer must connect to the internet at least once every 30 days or your product will suspend. When your license suspends you will not be able to change protection modes and most commands issued from a SmartControl will automatically fail. Manual registration is recommended in these situations to prevent this kind of behavior from SmartShield.

Setting up Manual Registration for Stand-alone Clients

You can start the manual registration process either by selecting the option during install or going to the “Licensing” area of SmartShield on your client machine. To open the “Licensing” menu, right click the icon in the system tray and go to “About”, then press “Licensing”. Click the “Manual Registration” tab. Instructions are included on the interface. Please note that once you receive your ctireg.out file from the machine you want to license with manual registration you can upload it to Centurion License Processor from any machine. This is useful if you are stuck behind a proxy on those machines.

Suspended Licenses

A suspended license is a state when the current lease becomes either expired or invalid for any reason. This is most often caused by either having the computer out of touch with the internet or SmartControl for 30 or more days or by changing hardware in the machine and causing a hardware hash mismatch. Clearing a suspended license depends largely on what kind of license the affected machine has. Please note that a suspended license on your SmartControl may cause suspended licenses on your SmartShield clients, but they do not have the same procedures to fix them. To fix a SmartControl license, please refer to the “SmartControl Licensing Explained” white paper.

There could be a number of issues with the license, but the most common is a communication issue between the SmartControl or internet. Due to the complex nature of our licensing, please follow these steps in order.

These instructions are for SmartControl managed licenses:

·         Restart the affected client machine.

·         In SmartControl, go to “Client Control” > “Verify Connections”, then “Client Control” > “Request Full Client Information”.

·         Close SmartControl and Restart the SmartControl service named “Smart Control” from the local services.

·         If the machine is Unprotected, restart the client’s service called “SmartShield” from the local services. If the machine is stuck protected, refer to the “Stuck Protected” part of this guide and then restart the service.

·         Stop the SmartControl service and restart the machine. Wait 5 minutes and start the SmartControl service again. Both services must be down at the same time.

·         Delete the client from SmartControl. The target machine must be offline for this to work. Then, restart the client machine.

These instructions are for stand-alone licensed computers:

·         Restart the affected client machine.

·         If the machine is a manually registered stand-alone client, please do the manual registration once again.

·         If the machine is a stand-alone client that is not manually registered, please perform a license update. You can do this by going to the Licensing area of SmartShield. To enter Licensing, right click the icon in the system tray and go to “About”, then press the “Licensing” button. Press the “Register or Upgrade” button to update your license. Your machine will need to be Unprotected. If it is stuck in a Protected state, please refer to the “Stuck Protected” part of this guide (page 5). If this still does not work, please manually register the client. Refer to “Setting up Manual Registration for Stand-alone Clients” (page 3) for more details.

If the license still does not return to an active state, you may need to contact technical support.