Continuity Engine Troubleshooting - Invalid License

Continuity Engine Troubleshooting - Invalid License

This adticle introduces you to license related problems that you may encounter durig routine operations.
Invalid License

Learning objectives 

At the completion of this session you should be able to:
  1. identify the symptoms of an invalid Neverfail Continuity Engine license.
  2. Identify the causes of an invalid Neverfail Continuity Engine license.
  3. Recall how to correct an invalid Neverfail Continuity Engine license.

Invalid License

Neverfail Continuity Engine uses the Heartbeat Signature (HBSIG) in its licensing scheme. The HBSIG consists of eight alphanumeric characters that represent information about your specific machine. Some of the HBSIG represents a Fully Qualified Domain Name (FQDN) and the remaining digits represent the machine SID. Continuity Engine uses the HBSIG to generate your license key. When HBSIG changes, your existing license key becomes invalid.

Symptoms

After changing the name of the server, reinstalling the operating system, moving the server to a different domain, or adding Neverfail Continuity Engine licensed options to a server, Continuity Engine will not start. This is by design and requires the creation of a new Continuity Engine license key. 

Causes

The Neverfail Continuity Engine license key is tied to both the FQDN, and the SID, and also to plug-in information on a specific server. If you make a change that affects the HBSIG or add a new plug-in, the Continuity Engine license key becomes invalid. 

Resolution

To correct the invalid license key, perform the following: 
  1. Navigate to the management drop-down and click on License > License the selected server. 
  2. If connected to the internet, select Apply license from your Neverfail account, enter your Neverfail credentials, press Next and continue with step 4. 
  3. If there is no internet connection, obtain a license key from Neverfail, select Manually enter a license key, enter the key and press Apply.
  4. If the key is successfully applied, click Finish. Otherwise review the error message. 
  5. In the select license step, from the table of licenses, select the license to apply based on the features required. Licenses already used for the selected cluster are shown as applied. Click Next.
  6. Review the summary information and click Next. On the apply license step click Finish.

Expired License

As stated previously, the Neverfail Continuity Engine license key is tied to the fully qualified domain name and to the SID of the server that was assigned during the installation of the operating system. What are the symptoms causes and resolutions for an expired license? 

Symptoms

During the course of routine operations, you may experience an occasion where an error message indicates that your license key has expired. This is normally the result of an expired temporary or time limited license. 

Causes

Neverfail sometimes provides temporary licenses during implementation if users experience a problem during the installation of Neverfail Continuity Engine software. This allows the implementation to proceed without interruption. If you do not take follow-up action to replace the temporary or time limited license, it will eventually expire. 

Resolution

To replace a temporary or time limited license, contact your Neverfail sales representative to obtain a new product license. Once you have a new product license perform the following: 
  1. Navigate to the management drop-down and click on License > License the selected server. 
  2. If connected to the internet, select Apply license from your Neverfail account, enter your Neverfail credentials, press Next and continue with step 4. 
  3. If there is no internet connection, obtain a license key from Neverfail, select Manually enter a license key, enter the key and press Apply.
  4. If the key is successfully applied, click Finish. Otherwise review the error message. 
  5. In the select license step, from the table of licenses, select the license to apply based on the features required. Licenses already used for the selected cluster are shown as applied. Click Next.
  6. Review the summary information and click Next. On the apply license step click Finish.

Windows Management Instrumentation

Another reason for which you may receive an invalid license key error is the Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI).

Symptoms

During installation, you may experience an invalid license key error if the WMI service is either not running or hung. 

Causes

If WMI service is not running or is hung, Continuity Engine installation cannot complete. 

Resolutions

To troubleshoot an invalid license key error during installation, check the Windows Services to see if the WMI service is running. If not, start the service. 
If WMI is running, restart WMI to ensure that it is not hung and continue your installation of Neverfail Continuity Engine. 

Wrap Up

This article discussed occurrences of an invalid Neverfail Continuity Engine license key. Remember the following key points:
  1. The symptoms of an invalid Neverfail Continuity Engine license key included failure of Neverfail Continuity Engine to install and failure of Neverfail Continuity Engine to start.
  2. The causes of an invalid license key consist of an expired license key, changes affecting the HBSIG, or problems with the WMI service. 
  3. Resolve an invalid license key by obtaining a new license key or checking the WMI service.


    • Related Articles

    • Resolve an Invalid Neverfail Continuity Engine License

      Summary This Knowledgebase article discusses the occurrence of an invalid Neverfail Continuty Engine license including the symptoms, causes, and resolutions. More Information The Neverfail Continuty Engine license is generated using either HBSIG of ...

    • How to License Neverfail Continuity Engine v8.0

      Summary This Knowledgebase article provides the process to obtain and install a license key onto Neverfail Continuity Engine v8.0.   More Information The Neverfail Continuity Engine Management Service user interface provides the ability to license ...

    • Continuity Engine - Software Subscription Licensing Model

      Software Subscription Licensing Model Starting with version 9.0 of Neverfail Continuity Engine, Neverfail has introduced a new license model for new and existing customers. With the new licensing model, Neverfail has introduced a new licensing server ...

    • Continuity Engine Troubleshooting - Synchronization Failures

      Neverfail Continuity Engine provides protection to your applications by replicating data to a passive server. Continuity Engine attempts to synchronize protected data on all servers and continually replicates changes to that data. This article ...

    • Continuity Engine Troubleshooting - MaxDiskUsage Errors

      This artucke introduces you to MaxDiskUsage errors when using Neverfail Continuity Engine. Continuity Engine generates MaxDiskUsage errors when either the send or receive queues are full.  MaxDIskUsage Errors Learning objectives  At the completion of ...