Pre-Installation Checks

Machine Identification

Securing licenses against a Machine ID

Machine Identification in License Services

A Datamine Knowledge Base article is available for this topic.

Datamine’s License Services provides the software license management required to protect Datamine products from being used illegally.

Throughout its lifetime, License Services has been available as both a standalone installation file and a prerequisite component of the products it protects, including the Datamine Studio range.

Access to the software is controlled by validating a license key that is tied to a security method and a specific ID of a piece of hardware or environment.

a hardware dongle ID (supplied by Datamine) or
a hard drive serial ID.
a Machine ID.

For the dongle-based security method, for new customers, a physical dongle, its ID, and associated license key(s) are supplied by Datamine. For existing customers, license key(s) are provided that are tied to their existing dongle ID.

To meet requirements for virtual environments, Datamine License Services provides a third security method and ID: Machine ID. This is a unique and permanent identifier that represents a particular license-serving machine, either virtual or physical. More about operating environments...

Accessing your Machine ID

The Machine ID is displayed in the License Services License Manager on the Status bar along with other hardware IDs for Dongle (if available) and HD Serial Number.

To copy the Machine ID to the clipboard, use the Tools | Copy Machine ID menu option.

Machine ID Persistence – Virtual Environments

A Machine ID (also known in Azure as an “Azure VM Unique ID”) is unique to an Azure-based operating environment. A Machine ID will not change, even if you reboot, shutdown, stop and start, service or restore the virtual machine.

In virtual/Azure environments (Private or Public), a Machine ID will change if a virtual machine is cloned (for example, if a VM snapshot is copied to create a new instance), at which point, the cloned machine will have a different Machine ID to the original. Similarly, if the virtual machine is deleted and replaced, the new virtual environment will have a new Machine ID.

Licenses issued against a Machine ID will be rendered invalid if they are stored on a machine where the ID against which they are created is no longer detected. As such, if you need to change or move your virtual Azure environment serving Datamine licenses, new licenses will be required, and you should contact your local Datamine representative for guidance.

Your Machine ID is dependent on the selected Installation Type or Startup Type.

If you have selected the wrong Installation Type / Startup type during installation

If an unwanted mode is selected and installation is complete, what you do next depends on the version of License Services in use:

If running License Services version 5.7, it is necessary to uninstall and reinstall License Services to choose a different start up type.
If running License Services version 5.8 or later, you can alter the Startup type after installation by running License Manager in Administration mode:

Open Tools | Options | License Manager as an Administrator
Change the Startup Type to either LocalDesktop (=Physical), Private Cloud or Public Cloud.
Click OK or Apply.
The License Service will automatically restart and your new configuration will be applied.

If you change your Installation Type/Startup Type and already have licenses bound to Machine IDs, these licenses may be invalidated and will need to be reissued. If you already have Machine ID-bound licenses and need to alter your operation mode, please contact your local Datamine office for advice.

Invalid Machine ID Detected

Machine ID values can change in some situations. The nature of the change will depend on whether you are working in a physical or virtual/cloud environment.

Also, as each machine ID is unique to each machine, your license(s) will not be transferable to other physical or virtual hardware.

If your hardware configuration has changed and your license(s) are no longer valid, please contact your local Datamine representative in the first instance. Your original Machine ID will then be blocked for future use and a new license or licenses, based on the new ID, will be issued.

You can find out more about Machine ID Security in Datamine's Knowledge Base...