License Key Question

[Jim]

I have some quick questions around the new license key requirements for the UI for ASP.NET MVC, UI for ASP.NET Core and Reporting modules.

I understand from the FAQ that each licensed developer will have their own separate license key.  We build the project on a separate build server, and package it into an installer, and then customers who self host run our installer to deploy the application.  Is there a license key that needs to be part of the deployment package, and if so, what key is that, when does it expire, and what happens when it expires?  

What I want to ensure 100% is that we don't have a situation where a customer *has* to deploy or upgrade their version of our software, even if we ever discontinue our subscription.  I'm fine with developers needing to update license keys on development environments, and I'm fine with customer production environments needing a new license key *if* they are deploying a new version of our software that includes an updated version of Telerik.  But it is not OK for my use case if there's a situation where customer production environments that are on an old version of our software with no plans to upgrade will stop working or show watermarks and require an update to fix.

I appreciate any clarification around this topic, or a shove in the right direction to any documentation that makes this clear.

[Eyup]

Hello Jim,

 

Thank you for reaching out.

When developing a Telerik project, the installation steps of the license are explained here:
https://www.telerik.com/aspnet-core-ui/documentation/installation/activating-your-license/setting-up-your-license#manual-installation

Usually, your license file be located here:

However, it is also possible to activate it for a specific project:
" If you need to activate Telerik UI for ASP.NET Core only in a specific app, then save telerik-license.txt to the root folder of your project or solution."

For deploying the project please check the explanation here:
https://www.telerik.com/aspnet-core-ui/documentation/deployment/ci-cd-license-key

If you plan to share your project code with a customer or others, things are a bit different. Please allow me to clarify and explain the situation.

Generally, you can share your own code files and the project you authored. At the same time others cannot expect to build, run and use the project without acquiring a valid license first. This can be either a full Purchased license or a limited Trial license.

If you are not using NuGet:

    - You can still use GitHub, AzDo. GitLab, etc for source control

    - When NuGet is not used for restoring dependencies, you will have to do that yourself. Navigate to the Downloads section of your account, select UI for ASP.NET MVC https://www.telerik.com/account/downloads/product-download?product=KENDOUIMVC and download any of the archives:
   
   

    - Upon unarchiving under destination/licensing/binaries you will find the Telerik.Licensing.Runtime.dll  



    - Under wrappers\aspnetmvc\Binaries\Mvc5 you will find the Kendo.Mvc.dll



    - You will have to add those two dlls as dependencies to the application:





    - You will find any other Telerik related dlls in the downloaded distribution.

With this setup you can distribute your source code to the customer. As we have detailed in the documentation your license file is located on your machine https://www.telerik.com/aspnet-mvc/documentation/installation/activating-your-license/setting-up-your-license#manual-installation at the specified location. You should not share this file.  

Currently, without an active license if a person starts an application that uses Telerik UI components warnings will be logged on the console and a watermark and a banner will appear in the UI:




This behavior will change in future releases and the application will not compile without and active license.

The scenarios in this case:

    - You need to share your project with a fellow developer, that needs to work on the UI, but they do not have a license. In this case they will need to purchase an additional license.

    - You need to share your project with a fellow developer, that does not need to work on the UI. Assuming the application is structured as projects per different layer – Data Access Layer, Business Logic Layer, Presentation Layer ( the one containing the Telerik components) – the developer can work on the Data Access Layer and Business Logic Layer projects, build them, run their tests, but trying to build the Presentation Layer the above-explained behavior will occur.

    - You need to distribute the result of the application. In this case, while you have an active license you will be able to build,  publish and deploy the artifacts of the application. The deployed application will be functional even after your license expires. Once the license expires and you rebuild the application the above-mentioned behaviors will occur (console warnings or compile error in the future, watermark and banner on the UI). You can renew your license to continue development.

Finally, let’s take one of the sample applications we have on our demo site – the TripExpert App. It’s source code is available on GitHub https://github.com/telerik/mvc-tripxpert-pwa/tree/master. Once it is cloned and before being ran packages should be restored – either via NuGet or manually, referencing the required dlls. The Telerik.Licensing.Runtime.dll is a dependency of Kendo.Mvc.dll, so it should be referenced, if restoring is handled manually. Currently without a valid license (trial license, commercial perpetual or subscription license) the application will run, but warnings will be logged and watermark and banner shown on the UI. With a valid license (trial license, commercial perpetual or subscription license) activated as described in the documentation https://www.telerik.com/aspnet-mvc/documentation/installation/activating-your-license/setting-up-your-license#manual-installation the application will run. Once the trial license expires, the subscription ends or the perpetual license is not renewed warnings will be logged (in future releases the application won’t compile) and watermark and banner shown on the UI.

I hope this clarification was helpful.

 

Regards,
Eyup
Progress Telerik