How do I Activate my Key?

When you enter your license key you will be prompted to activate it immediately.  In some cases, you can elect to defer activation for a brief period of time.  If so, you can start the activation process by double clicking the activation notice in the lower right hand corner of the Repository Viewer.

What Happens during Activation?

Your computer will connect to the Gibraltar Software license servers at www.GibraltarSoftware.com.  Some information that uniquely identifies your computer, the specific software product being activated, and the license key will be submitted via Secure Sockets Layer (SSL).  The license server generates a secure activation key that's unique to your computer which is then stored locally in common folder so that it can be read whenever the Loupe starts.  Only one activation is required on a server for all users of that server to be able to use the Loupe .  You can then view the activation data collected online.  The data consists of:

• Computer Key:  An autogenerated unique code for your computer.  No information can be extracted from this key, its purpose is just to uniquely identify a computer.
• Computer Name:  The windows name assigned to your computer.  This may not be unique, but usually is within a company.  Its purpose is to help you identify what computers are active under your license.
• Domain Name:  If your computer has a DNS domain name assigned this is recorded.  This is helpful in larger organizations to identify what part of their organization each computer belongs to.
• User Name:  For diagnostic purposes, we record the local user name (the account you used to sign into Windows with). 
• Version:  The version of the software you are activating.

This information is submitted securely and stored securely within the Loupe licensing system.

What if It can't contact the license server?

If you have a computer that isn't connected to the Internet, or your environment uses a proxy server that requires manual authentication, Loupe won't be able to automatically activate.  In this scenario, you need to perform offline activation.  Once the Loupe determines it can't contact the license server, you'll be given the option to try again or Perform Offline Activation:

1. Save an Activation Request File.  This encrypted file contains all of the information that would normally be submitted to the license server.
2. Take this file to a computer that can access my.OnLoupe.com.  This may be the same computer where Loupe is running (in the case where your environment has a proxy server or some other restriction that prevents Loupe from activating automatically but allows you to browse the web).
3. Go to the online activation page at my.OnLoupe.com/Support/Activate-Now.aspx.  Upload the activation request file you generated in step 1.
4. Save the License Activation File that the web site provides to disk so you can take it back to the computer where Loupe is being activated.
5. In Loupe Server Administrator, select Import a License Activation File and select the file you downloaded from the web site in step 4.  If you have exited Loupe Server Administrator, you can get back to this screen by starting the activation process again.

If you have any questions or concerns about activation, please contact us at support@OnLoupe.com.  We're committed to working with you to ensure our products are easy to work with.

Why is Activation Required?

Activation serves several purposes:

1. Key Validation:  We use relatively short license keys to make them easy to manage, and we allow an entire organization to have one key to use even if additional licenses are purchased, etc.  To support both of these goals it just isn't practical to perform all of the validation within the client.
2. Key Revocation:  If your key gets compromised we can issue you a new one and revoke the old key which will prevent any new computers from being activated with it.  Existing activations will continue to run if you choose.
3. Flexible Licensing:  We record several pieces of information about each computer that activates and make that information available to you online so you know where your license is being used.  This helps you manage how your license is being used in the real world, which often doesn't fit into the neat licensing scenarios envisioned by software companies.  We want to be able to offer you licensing options that fit your scenario and work with you to manage them.

When is Activation Required?

Activation is triggered by several scenarios:

1. Expiring Keys:  If you have an expiring key (such as a trial/evaluation key) it has to be immediately activated to record its expiration date.
2. Installing New Versions:  Each time a new version of Loupe is installed it will have to be activated to check that you're license entitles you to that version of the software.  This lets you keep the same serial number through multiple product upgrades.
3. Significant Computer Changes:  If the characteristics of your computer change significantly (such as upgrading the operating system) it will ask you to reactivate it to establish if it is a new computer or not.  This will not get triggered by routine maintenance activities like hard drive defragmenting.

With a full Loupe license you will have a few days grace period to activate before activation is required.  We encourage you to activate immediately (it's quick and painless) however we recognize that there are extraordinary circumstances that can prevent activation (like connectivity problems) and the last thing we want to do is get in the way of you using Loupe to solve problems.

Contact after Activation

After a license is activated the Loupe will refresh it every few days to check if there is a new version, update licensing information (such as the owner name and license expiration) and ensure that the license administrator hasn't deactivated the specific computer.  This is done silently in the background and does not interfere with running Loupe.  If the license server can't be contacted the application will continue to run normally.