Managing licenses
You must obtain a license key before you can install and use BigFix.
Your license is composed of two files:
- Your public key file:
license.crt
- Your private key file:
license.pvk
protected by a password
The following table lists the tasks that are required to purchase, generate, and manage your license keys.
Task | Description |
Check the product license requirements | It is important to understand the license requirements of the system you want to protect. A license lets you install the BigFix client on a specified number of computers. |
Purchase a license | You must purchase a license in the following situations:
|
Get the license authorization file | To get your product license you must have an authorization file from the BigFix License Key Center site. See Creating the License Authorization File. |
Generate your license files during installation:
|
During the installation of the Server, after you specify the license
authorization file, you generate the license.pvk file, which is your private
key file. You also request and get the license.crt file, which is your
public key file. These two files together complete your license. See Requesting the license files on Windows. |
Back up your license files | Store your license.crt (public key) file with your existing
license.pvk (private key) file. Keep these two keys together and create a backup
copy in a secure location. Create also a backup copy of the site admin password that you used to
encrypt the private key file, and store it in a secure location. Only in this way are you in
complete control of your license keys. Backing up your license files preserves the license files in
case the database or the computer hard disk is damaged. In particular the
|
Check license status and distribute the new license and masthead files | You can see the notifications about expired license and other license issues for the license that you imported into the console. |
This is a summary of the steps to perform to get your license key files:
- Purchase a license.
- Get an authorization file from the BigFix License Key Center site.
- Start the BigFix installation and
enter the authorization file when requested to get the
license.crt
file. At the end of the process both the public key and private key license files are generated together with the masthead file. This file contains configuration, license, and security information, including URLs that point to where trusted Fixlet content is available. It is used for installing DSA servers and is distributed to all the clients using that server.
For detailed steps, you can read the Knowledge Base article Managing BigFix licenses in the HCL License & Download Portal.