Click Studios receives requests, related to explaining Passwordstate licensing, on a regular basis.
While we have the majority of the details covered here https://www.clickstudios.com.au/pricing-faq.aspx we still have other associated questions posed to us regularly.
This blog post is aimed at offering an end to end view of licensing and applying the keys.
What are Core License Types?
There are 3 different categories of Licensing used for Passwordstate. These are Core Licensing, Annual Support and Module based licenses.
Core Licensing includes Client Access Licenses, Enterprise Licensing and Global Licensing. All 3 of these are a once off purchase, have exactly the same Passwordstate functionality, with the only differentiator being the number of users that can access Passwordstate and the number of instances of Passwordstate you can install.
Client Access Licenses limit the number of users accessing a Passwordstate instance to the number of licenses you have purchased. The example being you have purchased 52 Client Access Licenses so only 52 named users can access the instance. Please Note: the first time you purchase Client Access Licenses, with Annual Support and Upgrade Protection, we’ll add an extra 5 Client Access Licenses to the quantity you purchase in lieu of the “Free for 5 Users” license.
Enterprise Licensing is price capped at the cost of 200 Client Access Licenses. It allows for an unlimited number of users to access the one Passwordstate instance. The example being you need 500 users to access your Passwordstate instance so you purchase an Enterprise License. If you request a quote to purchase more than 200 Client Access Licenses, we’ll convert your quote to an Enterprise License.
Global Licensing enables you to have an unlimited number of Enterprise License instances, each allowing for an unlimited number of users accessing each instance. The example being you need Passwordstate instances deployed, in multiple countries or locations, and each need to potentially cater for up to 200 or more named users.
“Free for 5 Users” Licensing is a version of Client Access Licenses. We provided it at no cost for small businesses because we believe that password management should be Affordable for Everyone. Because it’s Important! While this version allows the customer to upgrade Passwordstate to later versions the provision of technical support does require active Annual Support and Upgrade Protection.
What are Annual and Module Based Types?
The Annual and Module Based Licensing covers Annual Support and Upgrade Protection, the High Availability, Password Reset Portal and Remote Sites Locations Modules.
Annual Support and Upgrade Protection, is the maintenance for your Passwordstate Core Licensing and the High Availability Module. The cost is calculated at 20% of the current value of your Licenses, allows you to upgrade to the latest version of Passwordstate, as well as receive Technical Support. Greater detail around what is included with Annual Support and Upgrade Protection can be found here https://www.clickstudios.com.au/support-agreement.aspx.
The High Availability Module is a Once Off purchase and allows you to replicate your instance of Passwordstate, for the purpose of Load Balancing, Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity. Each HA instance requires a license, and you must purchase the High Availability license if you wish to use Virtual Server Replication technologies for disaster recovery or business continuity purposes. You can implement High Availability in either an Active / Passive or Active / Active configuration. You can purchase multiple HA instances for Load Balancing or implementing DR and Business Continuity across multiple sites.
Our Password Reset Portal Module is Subscription based, with the subscription option chosen for the required number of users to be covered. The subscription is sold in blocks starting at 100 Users, and then covering 500, 1,000, 2,000 5,000, 10,000 and Unlimited Users. The subscription is tied to your Annual Support and Upgrade Protection Expires Date. You do not need to match the Subscription size for Password Reset Portal to your core license quantity, just the number of users you want to have the Password Reset Portal available to.
The Remote Site Locations Module is also a Subscription based module, with the subscription option chosen for the required number of sites to be covered. The subscription is sold in single sites starting at 1 through to 30 Sites with an option for Unlimited Sites also available. Again, this subscription is tied to your Annual Support and Upgrade Protection Expires Date.
What Modules are Applicable to Each Core License Type?
In terms of “Mixing and Matching” what License types and Modules go together? The table below summarizes what Core License Types can be used with each of the Module Based Licenses,
As can be seen in the above table, Client Access, Enterprise and Global Licensing can be purchased without Annual Support and Upgrade Protection. When there is no Annual Support and Upgrade Protection the only Module that can be purchased is the High Availability Module.
Purchasing Annual Support and Upgrade Protection, and keeping this active, is strongly recommended. It entitles you to all bug fixes, performance improvements, new features and Update/Upgrade releases as well as allowing you to receive Technical Support.
As the “Free for 5 Users” licensing does not include Technical Support and there is no Annual Support and Upgrade Protection Expires Date. This prevents adding both the Password Reset Portal and Remote Site Locations Modules. Click Studios policy also prevents “Free for 5 Users” from purchasing the High Availability Module.
I’ve Placed My Order – What Happens Now?
To place and order, you’ll either have,
- Placed the order online via the https://www.clickstudios.com.au/buy-now.aspx. This is only for customers placing their first order. If you are an existing customer, you must first email sales@clickstudios.com.au and request a quote. Without doing this you run the risk of incorrectly ordering your licenses. Once license keys have been generated we are unable to change them.
- Placed the order based on a custom Buy-Now link, sent us a Purchase Order based on a self-generated quote, or one we have sent you, or,
- Placed the order via an Authorized Reseller.
All orders are ultimately processed by Click Studios. When we complete processing your order, we’ll send your License Keys via email to your Nominated Contacts. We’ll also send a courtesy copy of the License Keys to the Authorized Reseller if you’ve ordered via them.
Every order, whether it’s renewing your Annual Support and Upgrade Protection, or purchasing additional Licenses or Subscriptions, will require you to apply the License Key details you receive to the fields in your Passwordstate License Information screen.
Our email, with a subject line of Passwordstate License Keys, contains details that are color coded. This makes it easier for you to identify what needs to be updated. If the email contains any red bolded text, then these are the only details that need to be updated. Simply login to your Passwordstate instance, navigate to Administration->License Information screen, select each License Type that corresponds to the block in the email containing the red bolded text, and Cut & Paste the red text into the corresponding field, an example being,
The example above (with redacted details) shows updating the Expires and Registration Key details from an email into the License Type of Annual Support. If the Passwordstate License Keys email contains no red bolded text then all details in the License Type block will need to be input. Modern Builds of Passwordstate will automatically remove leading and or trailing spaces on the input fields when you click save.
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The most common issues we see when customers place an order for Annual Support and Upgrade Protection are,
- You’ve placed your order, but are still receiving notifications from us advising to organise your renewal with Click Studios,
This notification isn’t sent by Click Studios, it’s being sent by your Passwordstate instance. This means that you haven’t applied the updated license keys that you received via email. These are sent to your Nominated Contacts (up to a maximum of 4 contacts). The new License Keys need to be applied by navigating to Administration->License Information screen.
- Applying the updated Annual Support Registration Key, but not applying the new Expires Date. Both need to be applied for the updated license key to be successfully applied.
- You’ve attempted to update the license keys but are receiving the following error,
This is because you have either mistyped the Registration Name, License Count, Expires date or Registration Key. Cut & Paste the License Details directly from the email provided whenever possible or export. Modern Builds of Passwordstate will automatically remove leading and or trailing spaces on the input fields when you click save.
- When you have installed Passwordstate you have chosen FIPS Encryption, or you have chosen to re-encrypt using FIPS 140-2 Encryption during the Encryption Key Rotation Process. To resolve this please contact Click Studios and request that your license keys be generated as FIPS Compliant. By default, all Passwordstate License Keys are generated for 256 Bit AES Encryption.
Ordering, receiving and applying your Passwordstate licensing is easy-peasy. Just take your time and follow the instructions.
If you’d like to share your feedback please send it through to support@clickstudios.com.au.