License

About 15 min read

The 2WinScada license is a signed license file bound to a single server (machine). The license determines which base package is used, which add-ons are enabled, the capacity limits and the validity period.

License activation does not require an internet connection. Activation is done by exchanging files: a license request file is taken from the server and sent to the 2WinScada team, and the license file sent back by the team is installed on the same server. This method works the same way at sites without internet access.

This page is for site administrators and integrators. To move the license to another server and for the desktop License Manager tool, see the License Transfer and License Manager page.

License contents

A license carries the following information:

• Base package: Starter, Standard or Professional.
• Add-ons: Rights that are not in the base package and are added to the license separately.
• Capacity limits: The number of tags, devices, alarm definitions, recipes and user accounts.
• Validity: Issue date, expiry date (or no expiry) and the grace period given after expiry.
• Machine binding: The license works only on the server the request file was taken from.

The exact rights and limits of the license on your installation are always shown on the System Information page. The tables below summarize the general contents of the base packages.

Base packages

Feature	Starter	Standard	Professional
Standard protocols, expression engine, email notification	Yes	Yes	Yes
BACnet/IP and MTConnect (see BACnet/IP and MTConnect)	Yes	Yes	Yes
OPC UA	As an add-on	Yes	Yes
EtherNet/IP	No	Yes	Yes
MQTT, REST and database integration	No	Yes	Yes
Alarm and notification definition, recipe management	No	Yes	Yes
WhatsApp notification (in the current license model; see WhatsApp right)	As an add-on	Yes	Yes
Run/stop analytics	No	Yes	Yes
Page design, tag management, process and task center management, user management	No	No	Yes
Configuration backup	No	No	Yes

Capacity limits

The capacity table on the System Information page counts the resources below. In the Standard and Professional packages these resources are unlimited.

Resource	Starter limit
Tags	500
Devices	10
Alarm definitions	150
Recipe groups	2
Recipes	10
User accounts	5
Operator accounts	2
Monitor accounts	3

The log retention period is not limited by the license; it is set by the Data Retention [Months] field of each log definition (up to 60 months, see Log (Archive) Definitions).

The user account limit covers the registered customer accounts; Operator and Monitor accounts are also counted against their own limits. The current numbers are shown in the Installation capacity table on the System Information page. For role and group definitions, see the User and Group Management page.

Add-ons and custom packages

A license can contain add-ons on top of the base package. For example: OPC UA, Page Designer, Tag Management, Process Management, Work Center Management, User Management. For special needs, the package contents can be defined together with the 2WinScada team.

An add-on does not increase capacity and does not give users new roles. Existing user roles and process group permissions stay in effect.

WhatsApp right

WhatsApp alarm notification is a license right that comes with 2.10.0 and works with licenses of the current license model:

Installed license	WhatsApp
Standard or Professional (current license model)	Included in the package; it becomes available after upgrading to 2.10.0.
Starter (current license model)	Added as an add-on.
Old license models	Not available. Contact the 2WinScada team to have your license updated.

Without the WhatsApp right, an information bar appears at the top of the WhatsApp Settings page and no WhatsApp messages are sent; email and SMS are not affected. For the settings, see WhatsApp Settings.

License file compatibility

License files to which the WhatsApp right was added or from which it was removed can be installed only on 2WinScada 2.10.0 and later. Before installing such a license, update the software to 2.10.0 or later.

Run/stop analytics right

The summary, machine drill-down and trend views of the History > Runtime Analysis screen are separate license rights. The Standard and Professional packages have all three; the Starter package has none of them. In custom packages, the views can be added one by one.

• If the license includes none of these rights, the Runtime Analysis menu item is not shown to users.
• In place of a machine drill-down or trend view that is not in the license, a note says that the view is not available in the package. Details: Runtime Analysis.
• The machine drill-down right also covers the Downtime timeline widget and downtime reasons (entering reasons, the reason catalog and the Downtime reason Pareto widget). Details: Downtime Reasons.

Energy Performance right

Energy Performance is an add-on that comes with 2.11.0; it enables the monthly energy reports, month closing and official reports (see Energy Performance).

Installed license	Energy Performance
Standard or Professional	Added as an add-on. In new offers it is selected by default.
Starter	Not available.
Existing licenses without this right	Not enabled automatically by upgrading to 2.11.0. Contact the 2WinScada team for a new license file with the right added.

• The right is enabled only if the installed license file contains the add-on; there is no exception for the SystemAdmin account either.
• If the add-on is missing or removed from the license, the module switches to archive mode: closed reports can be opened and downloaded; new calculations, definitions and closings are not possible (see Archive mode).
• The add-on does not give users roles or process group permissions. For the roles of the module, see Roles and access.

BACnet/IP and MTConnect

The BACnet/IP and MTConnect protocols are included in every package as before. From 2.11.0, a license can exclude either or both of these protocols separately (for example in custom packages).

• An excluded protocol is closed; the other protocols keep running.
• Device definitions of this protocol are not deleted. The devices do not run, do not count toward the device and tag capacity, and no new device of this protocol can be made active.
• If the protocol has active devices, it appears on the System Information page in the Protocol not in package row.

License file compatibility

License files that exclude BACnet/IP or MTConnect can be installed only on 2WinScada 2.11.0 and later; older versions reject the whole license. Before installing such a license, update the software to 2.11.0 or later.

License installation

The flow is the same for a new installation, a renewal and a package change:

1. Get the license request file (license.instance) from the server.
2. Send the file to the 2WinScada team.
3. Install the license file sent by the team (with the .license extension) on the same server.
4. Restart the services.
5. Check the license status on the System Information page.

Installation can be done from the web interface or with the License Manager tool on the server. Both ways use the same machine identity and the same license file.

Installing from the web interface

For this, sign in with an account in the SystemAdmin or Administrators group.

1. Open the System Information page from the user menu in the upper right.
2. On the License and Service Management card, click Download License Request File. The license.instance file is downloaded.
3. Send the file to the 2WinScada team without opening or changing it. Also state the company name and the site or machine name that identifies the server.
4. When the license file arrives, click Upload License File and select the file.
5. The license is validated and installed. The success message shows the package name and the revision number.
6. Click Restart Services in the Service Status section and confirm. The new license is used only after the services restart.
7. When the restart is finished, check that the status on the License Activation card is Valid.

During installation, the current license is backed up automatically. A file that cannot be validated is not installed; in that case the installed license does not change and the error message shows the validation code.

Restarting the services

Restart Services restarts all 2WinScada services in order. During this, communication and user connections are briefly interrupted. The archive database (QuestDB) and the MCP server are not restarted. If the services cannot be restarted from the web interface on this installation, the page says so; in that case, restart the services on the server with operating system tools.

Installing with License Manager

On Windows servers, the same operation can also be done with the desktop 2WinScada License Manager tool. The tool validates the license before installing it, backs up the current license and, by default, restarts the services in order. For details, see the License Transfer and License Manager page.

License file rules

• The license works only on the server the request file was taken from. A license copied to another server is not accepted.
• Do not open or change the license and request files in a text editor.
• Send only the request file to the 2WinScada team. Do not send passwords, settings files or screenshots that show them.
• If major hardware or operating system changes are made on the server, a new request file and a new license may be needed.
• Old-type license files may not be accepted. In that case the validation code is LegacyLicenseDisabled; ask the 2WinScada team for a current license.

System Information page

The System Information page is opened from the user menu in the upper right. The cards on the page are shown according to the user's permissions.

Card	Who sees it	Content
Software	All signed-in users	Product, Version, Edition; on engineering machines, the active Project
License Activation	SystemAdmin and users with a role; users with only the Monitor role do not see it	License status, dates, add-ons, license rights and capacity
License and Service Management	SystemAdmin and the Administrators group	License file operations, service status and restart
SystemAdmin integrity warning	SystemAdmin and the Administrators group, only if there is a problem	Cases where SystemAdmin accounts cannot be verified

License Activation card

The license status is shown in the upper right of the card:

Status	Meaning
Valid	The license is valid and in use.
In grace period	The expiry date has passed; the license's grace period is running.
Demo	The system is running with a demo license.
Restart warning	The license is installed; the services must be restarted for it to take effect.
Released	The license was removed from this machine to be moved to another machine.
Invalid	The license could not be validated. The reason is shown in the Activation Details window.

The card has the following fields:

• License Source: License configured or No license configured.
• Issued and Expires. For licenses without expiry, the expiry date shows No expiry.
• Days Remaining: The days left until expiry or, if the expiry date has passed, until the end of the grace period.
• Add-ons: The modules added to the license.

The License rights section lists:

• Additional rights: The names of the add-ons; if there are no add-ons, Base package only.
• Not running due to license: Items that do not run because of a license restriction.
• Protocol not in package: Protocols that are not in the package. This is not a warning.
• The Installation capacity table: the Used, Stored in project and Limit values for each resource. Unlimited resources show Unlimited; a row that exceeds the limit is highlighted.

The Used column shows the running (active) usage; the Stored in project column shows all records stored in the project, including inactive definitions.

The Activation Details button shows the information needed for support: License Source, Validation Status, Validation Code and Validation Error. Include the validation code in your support request.

License and Service Management card

This card has the following buttons:

• Download License Request File: Downloads the license.instance file of this machine.
• Upload License File: Installs the license file sent by the 2WinScada team.
• Release License (Transfer): Shown only to SystemAdmin and only while the license is valid. Used to move the license to another machine; see License Transfer and License Manager.
• Download Release File Again: Shown after the license has been released.

The Service Status table shows the State, Health and License scope of each 2WinScada service. The License scope column shows whether the service is Included, Not included, Partial or Engineering tools only in the license. The health of a service that is not covered by the license is shown as Not covered by the license; this is not a fault. For the Notification Service, Partial means that some of the email, SMS and WhatsApp channels are not in the license.

If the archive database (QuestDB) has stopped, a Start button appears on its row. The other services are not started one by one from this table; they are all restarted together with Restart Services.

SystemAdmin integrity warning

This card appears when an integrity problem with the SystemAdmin accounts is detected. Until the problem is solved, the affected accounts may not be able to sign in. The card lists the affected accounts and the time of the last check.

In this case, contact your system integrator. Recovery is done on the server with a local administrator command; see If the password is forgotten or sign-in is rejected.

License badge in the footer

The footer of the pages shows the name of the installed package, for example Edition: Standard - 25 days left. With a demo license, Demo is shown next to the package name.

When the license needs attention, a colored badge appears next to the package name. The badge is shown to all signed-in users. When the license is in a normal state, the badge is not shown. A demo license or a protocol that is not in the package does not produce a badge on its own.

Badge	Color	Meaning
License invalid	Red	The license could not be validated. The reason is written in the badge details.
Restart required	Red	The license is installed, but the services have not been restarted.
License management locked	Red	The license period and the grace period have ended; management access is closed.
Grace period: 12 days or License grace period	Yellow	The expiry date has passed; the grace period is running.
Package exceeded (2)	Yellow	The number of items that exceed the license or do not run because of the license.

Clicking the badge opens the License status window. The window contains:

• An explanation of the critical state, for example that the license was not issued for this machine.
• A list of exceeded or blocked items, for example Tags: 620 / 500, Customer account capacity exceeded or OPC UA is licensed but does not run until the services are restarted.
• A System Information link.
• For findings about devices or tags, a Tag Management link, only for SystemAdmin.

The badge status is refreshed about every 30 seconds.

Validation codes

When the license is invalid, the Validation Code in the Activation Details window shows the reason.

Validation code	Meaning	What to do
NoActiveLicenseSource	No license is installed.	Install a license.
LicenseRestartRequired	The license is installed, but the services have not been restarted yet.	Use the Restart Services button.
LicenseBindingMismatch	The license was not issued for this machine.	Download the request file from this machine and ask for a new license.
LicenseProductMismatch	The license does not match this product installation.	Contact the 2WinScada team.
LicenseReleased	The license was released from this machine for a transfer; runtime has stopped.	Upload a new license file or send the release file to the 2WinScada team.
LegacyLicenseDisabled	The old-type license is not accepted.	Ask for a current license.
Demo-related codes	The demo license could not be started.	Contact the 2WinScada team.

For codes not in the list, the interface shows a general "The license could not be validated" message. Send the code and the text in the Validation Error field to the 2WinScada team.

Expiry and grace period

• The number of days left is shown next to the package name in the footer.
• When the expiry date passes, the license's grace period starts. During the grace period the system keeps working; a yellow grace period badge appears in the footer.
• When the grace period also ends, license management is locked. Management access is closed for customer users and the License management locked badge appears in the footer. Device communication stops and customer accounts may be blocked from signing in.
• The system integrator can reactivate the system by installing the new license.

To renew, ask for a new license file and follow the License installation steps. If the server has not changed, the same request file can be used. The 2WinScada team may still ask for an up-to-date request file.

When capacity is exceeded

• Records are not deleted. Definitions and accounts above the limit stay stored in the project.
• Growth is blocked. New records that would exceed the limit (tags, devices, alarm definitions, recipes, users) are not saved.
• Device activation: Active devices must fit into the capacity together with all their tags. Activating a device that does not fit is rejected; a device never runs with only part of its tags. Inactive device definitions are kept.
• Runtime: If the active devices and their tags do not fit into the limit, runtime does not start. Active devices on a protocol that is not in the license and definitions bound to inactive devices also do not run. These items are shown in the badge details and in the Not running due to license list.
• Accounts: If the number of registered customer accounts exceeds the limit, the accounts are not deleted. However, as long as the limit is exceeded, customer accounts cannot sign in.

To fix this, set the extra devices to inactive or remove the extra accounts, or ask the 2WinScada team for a new license with higher capacity. The active/inactive state of devices is managed in the device list on the Tag Management screen.