Environment
All products that include a .pem license file.
Situation
When does my license become valid?
Resolution
Validity Periods (Valid From, Valid To) License files have a "Valid From" and a "Valid To" date and time. This date and time is in the UTC time zone.
When comparing the date and time, the software will use your local computers time and time zone to find out what time it is in the UTC time zone and then make the comparison. By comparing in the UTC time zone we ensure that your local time zone does not affect the validity periods. When the license file is created (downloaded from licenses.gwava.com) the Valid From time is set to the current time.
GWAVA makes every best effort to ensure that the time on the license generation server is accurate at all times. If the time on your computer is not correct, it is possible that the license file will not be valid. This is the most common cause of problems with licenses.
Example 1: Time off on server (behind 16 minutes) Actual time of day: 12:15 (UTC-5) License file claimed and "Valid From": 12:15 (UTC-5) Time on server: 11:59 (UTC-5)
Result: The license file will not be valid until either a) 16 minutes have passed, or b) the server time is corrected.
Example 2: Time Zone incorrect on server (Off by one hour) Actual time of day: 12:15 (UTC-5) License file claimed and "Valid From": 12:15 (UTC-5) Time on server: 12:15 (UTC-4) (*Server is in CST instead of EST, time appears to be correct is actually off by one hour/zone.) When calculating UTC time for the license file 12:15 at UTC-5 the software gets 17:15 UTC. When calculating UTC time for the server 12:15 at UTC-4 the software gets 16:15 UTC. The license file is Valid From 17:15 UTC but the current time is only 16:15 UTC.
Result: The license is invalid until either a) one hour has passed or b) the server's time zone is corrected.
Common Errors
Problem: Server time is incorrect.
Problem: Server time zone is incorrect. Solution: Correct the time and time zone, or wait until the server enters into the validity period by allowing time to pass.
Best Practices
Because many servers are off by a few minutes, it is best to wait five to ten minutes before applying a license file after claiming it from the licenses.gwava.com website. If you are a reseller claiming a license on behalf of a client it is recommended to wait five to ten minutes before sending the license file to the client.
File Naming
Most license files are named <license.pem>, for some products they may be <product.pem> instead. The recommended way of installing a license file is to use the "Upload License" box within the product, if you follow this convention the file name does not matter. If you choose to manually install the license file to the products installation directory it must follow a specific naming convention that varies by product.
How to Validate a License File
https://licenses.gwava.com/ At the bottom of this page there is a file upload box to upload your license file.
https://licenses.gwava.com/date.php To validate the time on your computer in UTC.
When comparing the date and time, the software will use your local computers time and time zone to find out what time it is in the UTC time zone and then make the comparison. By comparing in the UTC time zone we ensure that your local time zone does not affect the validity periods. When the license file is created (downloaded from licenses.gwava.com) the Valid From time is set to the current time.
GWAVA makes every best effort to ensure that the time on the license generation server is accurate at all times. If the time on your computer is not correct, it is possible that the license file will not be valid. This is the most common cause of problems with licenses.
Example 1: Time off on server (behind 16 minutes) Actual time of day: 12:15 (UTC-5) License file claimed and "Valid From": 12:15 (UTC-5) Time on server: 11:59 (UTC-5)
Result: The license file will not be valid until either a) 16 minutes have passed, or b) the server time is corrected.
Example 2: Time Zone incorrect on server (Off by one hour) Actual time of day: 12:15 (UTC-5) License file claimed and "Valid From": 12:15 (UTC-5) Time on server: 12:15 (UTC-4) (*Server is in CST instead of EST, time appears to be correct is actually off by one hour/zone.) When calculating UTC time for the license file 12:15 at UTC-5 the software gets 17:15 UTC. When calculating UTC time for the server 12:15 at UTC-4 the software gets 16:15 UTC. The license file is Valid From 17:15 UTC but the current time is only 16:15 UTC.
Result: The license is invalid until either a) one hour has passed or b) the server's time zone is corrected.
Common Errors
Problem: Server time is incorrect.
Problem: Server time zone is incorrect. Solution: Correct the time and time zone, or wait until the server enters into the validity period by allowing time to pass.
Best Practices
Because many servers are off by a few minutes, it is best to wait five to ten minutes before applying a license file after claiming it from the licenses.gwava.com website. If you are a reseller claiming a license on behalf of a client it is recommended to wait five to ten minutes before sending the license file to the client.
File Naming
Most license files are named <license.pem>, for some products they may be <product.pem> instead. The recommended way of installing a license file is to use the "Upload License" box within the product, if you follow this convention the file name does not matter. If you choose to manually install the license file to the products installation directory it must follow a specific naming convention that varies by product.
How to Validate a License File
https://licenses.gwava.com/ At the bottom of this page there is a file upload box to upload your license file.
https://licenses.gwava.com/date.php To validate the time on your computer in UTC.
Additional Information
This article was originally published in the GWAVA knowledgebase as article ID 1100.