Licensing Instructions

Standard (Royalty-Free) Licensing

The .NET components may be licensed for distribution using either Microsoft's .NET Licensing scheme or by assigning a Runtime License value to the component instances.

Using Microsoft's .NET Licensing Scheme

This scheme is applicable to projects targetting .NET Framework (Windows Forms, Console Applications, etc). In Microsoft's .NET Licensing scheme, Visual Studio automatically creates a file named "licenses.licx" whenever you drop a licensed component on the form. The "licenses.licx" file is automatically added to your project as an embedded resource. When you build the project, this licenses.licx file will be used to embed license information into the compiled assembly (in ASP.NET 2.0, the license information will be embedded into a separate App_Licenses.dll by default).

If you are not using a form or you are creating the components dynamically, the easiest way to generate the licx file is to use a separate project, drop a component on a form, and copy the licenses.licx file over to your formless project.

Important Notes:

  • The licx file must be named "licenses.licx" and be included in the project as an embedded resource.
  • If you are developing a class library, the referencing project must also include the .licx file as an embedded resource and be compiled on a machine with a valid license installed.
  • Activation checks are made on the developer machine only, not at runtime.

Using a Runtime License

A Runtime License can be assigned to a component instance in order to license the component. This is applicable to all project types for .NET Framework, .NET Core, or .NET 5 (and up). Visit the URL below to generate a Runtime License value.

https://www.nsoftware.com/full/SBNHA

After obtaining the Runtime License value assign this to the RuntimeLicense property to license the application for deployment. For instance:

component.RuntimeLicense ="<value from above>";

This provides a license to the component and your application will run without a license prompt on any machine to which it is distributed.

Note that each component instance in your code must be assigned a Runtime License value.

SecureBlackbox 16 Style API Licensing

To license the components when using the SecureBlackbox 16 Style API the RuntimeLicense property must be set before deploying your application. To obtain this value on a properly licensed development machine, output the current value of the property. For instance:

Console.WriteLine(component.RuntimeLicense);

This will output a long string. Save this value and use it in your real application like so:

component.RuntimeLicense = "value_from_above";

Note: The same RuntimeLicense property value works for all components included in the toolkit.

Trial Licensing

When installing by running the setup executable, no other actions are required.

When installing from NuGet, or to deploy to another system during the trial period visit the URL below to generate a 30-day Trial Runtime License value.

https://www.nsoftware.com/trial/SBNHA

After obtaining the Runtime License value assign this to the RuntimeLicense property to license the application for deployment. For instance:

component.RuntimeLicense = "<value from above>";

This provides a 30-day trial license to the component and your application will run without a license prompt on any machine to which it is distributed during that time.

Note that each component instance in your code must be assigned a Runtime License value.

Single Server Licensing for ASP.NET - Instructions for Installing a Single Server License on a Shared Host

If you have purchased a single server license for the .NET Edition, a valid license must be installed on the deployment machine. To install a license visit https://www.nsoftware.com/lic/?prod=SBNHA to download a keys.reg file.

You can run the keys.reg file on the server machine, thus installing the license into the registry of the system. Or, you can rename the keys.reg file to "nsoftware.SecureBlackbox.lic" and copy it to the /bin directory of your Web Application.

Troubleshooting

If you have purchased a license, but are still getting a license exception, check the following:

  • Is there a problem with the licenses.licx file? Does it exist, is it included in the project, and does it contain the correct information (correct components, correct versions)?
  • If you are building an ASP.NET 2.0 application, right click the licenses.licx file and select "Build Runtime Licenses". Then, rebuild the project.
  • If this problem started after you installed a new build of the components, check to make sure that your licenses.licx file contains the correct version information. If the licenses.licx file contains no version information, that is fine too.
  • If you are building a class library, the same licensing rules apply to the referencing application. Does the referencing application include the .licx file as an embedded resource and is it compiled on a licensed machine?

License Transfer

If you would like to transfer your license to another system, please complete our license transfer form. This will ensure your installations are not mistaken for license violations.

For additional information about our product activation process, please refer to our product activation FAQ.