Licenses and seats
What a license key is, what a seat is, how a computer is activated, and what happens when a license ends. One license covers Keyward Desktop and the command line, and one seat covers both on a computer.
The short version
- A license is issued to a person or a team. It has a key, a number of seats, the release channels it includes, and sometimes an end date. One license covers Keyward Desktop and the command line.
- A seat is a computer (more exactly, your Windows account on it). Activating it once covers both programs on it.
- An activated computer receives updates for both programs. Both work whether they are activated or not, and the vault on the computer is yours whatever the license says.
The license key
A key has the form KW-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX. Capitals and dashes do not matter when you type it, and the
letters O, I and L are read as the digits they are usually mistaken for. The last two characters are a checksum, so a
mistyped key is recognised as mistyped before it is sent anywhere.
Treat the key as you would a password. This site does not store it: it stores a keyed hash of it, which is enough to recognise the key and useless for recovering it. Nobody at Exprezoe can read your key back to you. If it is lost, the license is revoked and a new one is issued.
Activating a computer
In Keyward Desktop, choose Help › License, enter the key, and choose Activate. The command line on the same computer uses the same activation.
Keyward Desktop sends this site:
| What | Why |
|---|---|
| The license key | To find the license. Sent once, over HTTPS, and not kept by the program afterwards. |
| Which program asked, and its version | So that you can tell your computers and their versions apart on your account page. |
| The computer's name and the platform | The same. |
| A hash of an identifier | The first of the two programs to run makes a random identifier for this computer, which both use. Only its SHA-256 is sent. It is not derived from your hardware. |
The site answers with an entitlement: a small signed document that says which license the computer belongs to, which channels it may read, and until when. Keyward Desktop keeps it in Windows' protected storage for your account, where the command line reads it too; each program can check its signature by itself, without asking anybody.
Seats
When every seat is in use, activating another computer is refused, and the answer names the computers that hold the seats. To free one:
- on that computer, in Keyward Desktop, choose Help › License › Deactivate this computer; or
- on your account page, choose Deactivate beside the computer.
The seat is free at once. Activating the same computer again, from either program, does not take a second seat.
Entitlements renew themselves
An entitlement lasts thirty days. The program renews it quietly once two thirds of that time have passed: it looks when it starts, and every six hours while it runs, and asks this site only when the renewal is due. If the computer is offline for longer than thirty days, the program keeps working, and asks you to activate again when you next want an update.
Whatever an entitlement says, this site checks its own records each time: a license that was revoked, or an installation that was deactivated, stops receiving updates at once and not thirty days later.
When a license ends
Both programs go on working on the computers where they are installed, and the vault stays yours. Those computers no longer receive updates, and the downloads page closes, until the license is renewed.
Keyward Server
Keyward Server is not licensed through this site. It is operated by Exprezoe for its own staff and products today; an enterprise tier built on it is designed and not priced. See Enterprise.
Exprezoe staff
People at Exprezoe do not need a key: they sign in with Exprezoe Identity. In Help › License, choose Sign in with Exprezoe Identity. Your browser opens, you sign in with your second factor, and the installation is entitled for as long as your account is. No seat is counted. Each person may have ten installations signed in at once, across both programs; an eleventh replaces the one that was used longest ago. Whether staff sign-in is switched on for this site is on the status page.
Questions
Can I use one key on my desktop and my laptop? Yes, if the license has enough seats free: one per computer, for both programs.
I reinstalled Windows. Did I lose a seat? The old installation still holds it. Deactivate it on your account page, then activate the computer again. The vault on the old installation is gone with Windows, as it should be: it was encrypted under that computer's TPM key.
Does a program check the license while I work? No. It shows its entitlement to this site when it looks for an update, and renews it about once in twenty days. Keeping, answering and approving never depend on this site being reachable.