Certificate Licensing Behaviour
When one of the MHI Products is launched (e.g. PSCAD), the user will log in using their MyCentre user account login credentials, and try to activate a license certificate. PSCAD will contact the MHI license server over the Internet, and if authorized, a license certificate to run PSCAD will be granted. The corresponding license file will be saved to the licensed machine, and MyCentre records will show the license as checked out and unavailable to other users.
When a license is checked out, a 28-day checkout period starting from the day of activation will be applied to the license. This information is displayed in PSCAD Licensing menu and in the licensed MyCentre WorkGroup. Further information on this checkout period is listed below.
When PSCAD is closed, the license can either be returned to the server, or it can be retained on the computer.
If the license is returned to the server, the license file is deleted from the computer, MyCentre records will show the license as available, and the 28-day checkout period is removed.
If the license is retained, the license will remain checked out on that machine, the license will be unavailable to other users, and the 28-day checkout period will remain. When the customer next launches PSCAD, if it’s launched within the 28-day period:
- If there is no Internet connection, PSCAD will use the retained license, but the checkout period will count down. This 28-day checkout period allows customer to use MHI Products offline.
And, if PSCAD is never launched with Internet connection within that same 28-day checkout period, the license will eventually expire and be returned back to the server, and the license file will be deleted from the user’s machine. To use PSCAD again, the user will need to connect to the Internet and activate another license. - Or if there is Internet connection, AND if PSCAD is configured to allow renewals, PSCAD will contact the MHI server to renew the license. The license would remain checked out on that machine, and the checkout period would be extended to a new 28-day period.
- Or if there is Internet connection, AND if PSCAD is configured to not allow renewals, PSCAD will use the retained license, but the checkout period will count down. The license will expire after the 28-day period and be returned back to the server, and the license file will be deleted from the user’s machine. To use PSCAD again, the user will need to activate another license.