Wednesday, November 9, 2016 - 09:44

Activation center (ACEN) 03.50.00 has been released!

New service build for Activation center (ACEN) has been released. This update is highly recommended for all Activation center users.

What's new:

[+] New web licenses can now be added manually from administrator interface.

This option is useful in case protected application using web licensing has no access to Internet.

Step by step instructions on how to add new web license manually:

1. Go to web licenses page.
2. Click on Add button (located below Filter button).
3. New web license control will be displayed.
4. Select Program and set Serial number, Site code, MID code and Note.
5. Click on Add button to add new web license.

[*] ACEN web service: GetWebLicense method added.

Use this method to check for existing web license after activation.

If application is activated on remote computer and this method is reporting error (STATUS_LICENSE_MISSING) application should consider removing license from remote computer since license is no longer available in ACEN (because it was removed manually by acen admin).

[*] ACEN web service: WebLicenseAlive method added.

This method will report web license as "alive" (active) to ACEN.

Protected application could make this call once a day or as required. Each time this method is called ACEN will save current server date/time to web license details. Last saved time can be reviewed in web license details (Last alive call field).

In this way ACEN administrators can determine if web license is still in use on remote computer.

[+] Brute force protection for ACEN web servide added.

Brute force protection is currently implemented for web service SOAP authentication and all web licensing methods which do not require any authentication.

If enabled, ACEN will monitor all failures (invalid logins in case of SOAP authentication or errors in case of web licensing methods) within defined period (in minutes).

This means that remote host can generate max number of failures (M) within defined period (T). Once the number of failures is over the maximum number of failures (M) for specific remote host ip address web service will return STATUS_HOST_TEMPORARILY_BANNED error until defined period since last recorded failure is reached (by default, 15 minutes since the last recorded failure).

[*] Acenservice sample application has been updated to reflect latest changes in acen web service methods.

[>] Important: change in acen.config file settings. Be sure to update existing acen.config file with new options.

[>] Upgrade script (3.40.00-3.50.00.sql) is available for users upgrading from previous release.

Please refer to whatsnew.txt document for detailed information and upgrade instructions.

Wednesday, October 19, 2016 - 10:31

PC Guard Software Protection System 06.00.0220 is out!

New V6 service build has been released. This update is highly recommended for all PC Guard V6 users!

What's new:

[*] LNG_NETW_UNC_PATH_ERROR (default: "Server UNC path error.") error message will now include error code information.

Error codes:

00000005 - Access denied error (inadequate rights)
00000043 - UNC path is wrong (can not be found)

[*] Activation file handling improved.

[*] LNG_INVALID_ACTIVATION_FILE (default: "Activation file error!") error message will now include additional error code information:

Error codes:

00000001 - Activation file is missing
00000002 - Invalid major version
00000003 - Invalid header size
00000004 - Header checksum error
00000005 - Unable to read activation file
00000006 - Activation code offset error
00000007 - User info offset error
00000008 - Invalid activation code
00000009 - Invalid serial number
0000000A - Invalid user information size
0000000B - Wrong extra data size (old version of activation file)
0000000C - Extra data checksum error
0000000D - Activation code is already in use
0000000E - License extension is disabled
0000000F - Invalid activation code for license extension
00000010 - Evaluation period for this program can not be extended

[+] Demo extensions logging added.

Protected application will now log demo extension events if appropriate option (Demo extension) is enabled in logging settings.

[+] New custom buttons macro: %LOGFILE%

This macro will be replaced with full path to log file.

The following example action string will open log file in notepad:

notepad.exe %PARAMS:%LOGFILE%%

[*] Improved handling of 64bit DLL modules.

[!] Fixed problem with default date picker format on some systems.

[!] Load configuration management for 64bit applications fixed.

[!] Few other minor bug fixes.

[>] Interface dll has been updated. Please be sure to update existing version with this one.

Tuesday, September 20, 2016 - 17:17

Activation center (ACEN) 03.40.00 has been released!

New service build for Activation center (ACEN) has been released. This update is highly recommended for all Activation center users.

What's new:

[+] Database information control added to options page.

This control provides information about server, sql instance, sql server version and activation center database name.

[#] Backup option moved from administrator dashboard to database information control.

[+] Activation center version information control added.

This control displays information about acen version, type (full, demo) and code type (source-code, pre-compiled).

[*] ACEN web service updates:

1. AddWebLicense method updated:

Default program features are used for generation of activation code if no feature is set in provided serial number.

2. WebLicenseID value added to Result structure.

WebLicenseID holds value of new web license id after new web license is added or after replacing or transferring existing web license. This value is required by ReactivateWebLicense method.

3. OrderID value added to Result structure.

OrderID holds new order id value and is set by AddOrder method. This value is required if you are using auto-generation of OrderID when calling this method (OrderID is set to 0 when calling AddOrder).

[*] Acenservice sample application has been updated to reflect latest changes in acen web service methods.

[*] Web licensing model changes: 

1. Custom counters added to web license.

Default Program custom counters are now used for generation of web licenses. If custom counters are not empty (at least single custom counter is set) extended activation code will be generated. If empty, standard activation code will be generated.

2. Web license expiration date can be changed in administrator mode.

Updated expiration date will be used for generation of new license when same web license is updated via web service.

3. Web licensing now supports multiple licenses per single serial number.

Number of granted web licenses is set in Program settings (default: 1)

In order to implement this feature some changes were required in acen web service:

- UpdateWebLicense method is no longer available and is replaced with two new methods:

a) ReactivateWebLicense (this method will reactivate web license on original computer)
b) TransferWebLicense (this method will transfer web license to another computer)

Please refer to product manual for detailed information about new methods.
 
[#] Web licenses grid moved to separate control (GridWebLicenses)

[#] Program control redesigned. Activation, Limited license and Web licensing separated into sub-controls for easier editing.

[+] Program: New option: Number of granted web licenses per serial number.

Valid values: 1-100, default value: 1 

This option determines number of allowed web licenses per single serial number.

By default, only single license is granted per single serial number.

[*] Program data update policy changed:

Web licensing enabled option can not be disabled in case there are existing web licenses for the program.

Limited license option can not be changed in case there are existing orders for the program.

[>] acen.config file has been moved to \conf directory. Please be sure to move your existing acen.config file to this directory when upgrading.

[>] Some information has been moved from web.config file in order to make easier updating of ACEN in the future.

[>] Upgrade script is available for users upgrading from previous release.

Please refer to whatsnew.txt document for detailed information and upgrade instructions.

New service build for Activation center (ACEN) has been released. This update is highly recommended for all Activation center users.

What's new:

[+] License extension flag added to special flags in features panel.

It's now possible to select both "License extension" and "Disable limited license" special flags.

Selection of flags is additionally controlled accordingly to enabled program settings (demo mode and limited license).

"Extend evaluation period" special flag can not be selected together with "Disable limited license" or/and "License extension" flag.

Special flags are now handled in the same way as in PC Guard's activation panel.

[+] Licenses filter added to licenses grid.

Licenses can now be filtered by Site code and license Note. 

[+] Help page added to client interface.

This page includes basic help documentation for activation center client interface. Client can find step-by-step instructions about reviewing orders, adding new licenses and removing, reactivating and transferring existing licenses.

There is also a contact form on help page which client can use to send emails to support department.

[+] Client interface options section added to options page.

New options:

- Enable help page (default: ON)
If enabled help page will be available in client interface.

- Enable help contact form (default: ON)
If enabled contact form will be enabled on help page.

- Start page (Default: Orders)
Default start page for clients after login (Account, Orders or Help page).

[*] Options page redesigned. All options moved to controls. There are now three sections on this page:

- Email options
- Client interface options
- Flexible locking options

[*] Client interface, account page, registration name is now greyed out to mark it as read-only (client can not change registration name).

[*] ACEN Service: AddOrder method updated.

If provided OrderID is zero valid OrderID will be auto-generated.

If provided value for the following parameters is zero, appropriate values from Program data will be used:

- Features
- NetSales
- NetDiscount
- ServiceFee
- TotalSales

[*] Improved and optimized code.

[!] Few minor bugs fixed.

[>] No database structure changes were introduced in this build.

[>] Important: change in acen config file settings. Be sure to update existing acen config file with new options.

[>] web.config is updated with settings for new help page in client interface.

Friday, July 22, 2016 - 09:58

AC Generator 06.00.0210 has been released!

What's new:

[+] Added support for embedding updates policy data into activation file.

[+] Update checking added.

[+] Help menu extended with new options.

[*] Activation panel: Custom features: special flags.

It's now possible to select both "License extension" and "Disable limited license" special flags.

Selection of flags is additionally controlled accordingly to enabled project features (demo mode and limited license).

"Demo mode extension" special flag can not be selected together with "Disable limited license" or/and "License extension" flag.

[>] This version can handle ac generator project files with version 6.1 which were introduced with PC Guard 06.00.0210. Older 6.0 project files are still supported.


Activation suite (ACCS) updated with latest AC Generator.