How to activate your license offline (manual activation)

After installing Dashboard Server you will be prompted to login and enter a license activation key. You will have been emailed an activation key (often called a license key), which is then activated against a Dashboard Server installation.

Activation needs access to the internet. If your SquaredUp server is behind a web proxy, it may be unable to activate automatically, so you can do a manual or offline activation by following this process using another computer with an internet connection.

The offline activation process described below involves creating a manual request from the SquaredUp server, using a computer with an internet connection to submit the request and download a .bin activation file, and finally copying the .bin file to the SquaredUp server and using it to install the license.

Where do I find my v5 activation key?

Free trial

When you apply for a free trial you receive an unrestricted 30 day evaluation to try out all features in your own SCOM environment: Request a free trial activation key. If you've previously had a trial, or your trial has expired please contact SquaredUp Support.

Purchased Dashboard Server

When you buy Dashboard Server you will be emailed your license keys. If you do not have a license activation key please contact SquaredUp Support.

Types of license keys

Dashboard Server v3 customers

If you are upgrading from v3 to v4 you should request a v4 evaluation license before starting your v4 installation. This will allow you to perform any upgrade testing and user acceptance testing, prior to going live and switching your production use to v4. Without this license you will be able to install v4 and perform an upgrade assessment, but unable to then activate the product and start testing.

Take a moment to read How to migrate from Dashboard Server SCOM Edition v3 to v4 for important considerations regarding how to upgrade from v3 to v4.

Once you are ready to move to v4 in production, enter your Primary license key into the Switchover portal to convert all your existing v3 licenses to v4 licenses which can be used to activate v4. From that point you will have 3 months to run v3 and v4 side-by-side in production, before the v3 instance is no longer supported and you will be in violation of the SquaredUp EULA.

Activating Dashboard Server when the server does not have internet access

1. Browse to http://SquaredUpServer/SquaredUpv[Version Number]/activation to get to your server's activation screen, for example
   http://SquaredUpServer/SquaredUpv5/activation

   (where SquaredUpServer is the name of the server where Dashboard Server is installed).

2. Log in as a SCOM Admin.(see Types of users in Dashboard Server).

3. Click on offline activation. If Dashboard Server is already activated the link will show as offline reactivation.

   

4. On the Manual Request screen, paste in your activation key and click the Request button, as shown in the screenshot below:

   

5. Click the Copy button to copy the manual activation request to the clipboard.

   

6. Go to a computer with an internet connection and browse to https://activate.squaredup.com

7. Paste the manual activation request into the box on the activation website, and click Activate as shown in the screenshot below.

   

   If you see a message that the maximum number of activations has been exceeded see "License already activated" or "Maximum activations reached" or contact SquaredUp Support. You may receive this error if using your v3 activation key on v4, please see How to migrate from Dashboard Server SCOM Edition v3 to v4.

8. Click Download license file to download the license activation .bin file.

   

9. Copy the .bin file onto the SquaredUp server.

10. Drag the .bin file into the box that says Drop license file or click to install.

    

    To return to the screen above browse to http://SquaredUpServer/SquaredUpv5/InstallLicense, and log in as a SCOM Admin user.

11. Once the file has uploaded click Next and then complete the setup wizard.

    (See How to install Dashboard Server SCOM Edition).

If you uninstall and reinstall on the same server you can reuse the same .bin file by browsing to http://SquaredUpServer/SquaredUpv5/InstallLicense. The .bin file cannot be used on a different server. A Dashboard Server v2 .bin file will not work with Dashboard Server v4 or v5.

If you have problems activating please see How to activate your license. If you need any help please contact SquaredUp Support with your activation key and the problem you are experiencing.