License Activation

Workbench

After purchasing a license to Posit Workbench, you’ll receive a license key or license file that can be used to activate the license on a given system.

License file

A license file is an encrypted text file with a name having the shape <expiration-date>_<product-code>_<organization>_<license-key>.lic that fully describes the purchased product license. Use of license files does not communicate with an external licensing provider, making it suitable for containerized, offline, and air-gapped environments.

If you are having issues with alternate licensing methods, please speak to Posit Support () about using license files.

When a license file exists in the /var/lib/rstudio-server/ directory, other licensing methods are bypassed.

Important

You must ensure that the license file is secured, used only in your environment, and within the bounds of your license agreement.

Activation

Activate your license file with the following commands:

$ sudo chown rstudio-server <license-file>.lic
$ sudo chmod 600 <license-file>.lic
$ sudo cp -a <license-file>.lic /var/lib/rstudio-server/.
$ sudo rstudio-server restart

Deactivation

You must deactivate your license before moving it to another system. If you use a license file in a container, no action is required when the container is terminated; the license is deactivated.

Deactivate your license file by removing it from the /var/lib/rstudio-server/ directory:

$ sudo rm /var/lib/rstudio-server/<license-file>.lic
$ sudo rstudio-server restart

License key

You can activate a license key locally or through a persistent server. This section describes local activation. Suppose you are stopping and starting Workbench instances frequently, for instance, because you are running them inside virtual machines or containers. In that case, you may use a persistent server and reference Floating Licensing.

Online activation

Connectivity requirements

Activating and deactivating a Posit Workbench license key via the licensing server requires internet connectivity.

Additionally, your server should have a synchronized system clock, using ntp or some other clock syncing service. If the server’s clock is sufficiently incorrect, licensing verification fails.

If you have internet access and are not using an internet proxy, activate your license key with the commands below:

$ sudo rstudio-server license-manager activate <product-key>
$ sudo rstudio-server restart
Note

Posit uses wyDay’s LimeLM TurboActivate and TurboFloat for license management as an approved part of our software delivery infrastructure. As such, for online license activation, you need to allow outbound access to wyday.com.

If needed, add the port number from where the activation key is being downloaded so it can be added to a safe sites list by your networking team:

Address | https://www.wyday.com
Port | 443

Proxy servers

If your server is behind an internet proxy, you may need to add an additional command line flag indicating the address and credentials required to communicate through the proxy. This may not be necessary if either the http_proxy or all_proxy environment variable is defined (these are read and used by the license manager when available).

If you do need to specify a proxy server explicitly, use the --proxy command line parameter. For example:

$ sudo rstudio-server license-manager --proxy=http://127.0.0.1/ activate <product-key>
$ sudo rstudio-server restart

Proxy settings can include a host-name, port, and username/password if necessary. The following are all valid proxy configurations:

http://127.0.0.1/
http://127.0.0.1:8080/
http://user:pass@127.0.0.1:8080/

If the port is not specified, the license manager defaults to port 1080.

Online deactivation

If you want to move your license of Posit Workbench to another system, first deactivate it on the old system with the command:

$ sudo rstudio-server license-manager deactivate

Then run the activation command on the new system.

Offline activation

If your system isn’t connected to the internet, then perform an offline activation.

To activate your license offline, first generate an offline activation request:

$ sudo rstudio-server license-manager activate-offline-request <product-key>

Executing this command will print an offline activation request to the terminal which you should copy and paste and enter into our offline activation application or send to Posit Support (). You will receive a reply with a file attachment that can be used to activate offline as follows:

$ sudo rstudio-server license-manager activate-offline <activation-file>

Offline deactivation

If you are renewing your license or want to move your license of Posit Workbench to another system, you can perform license deactivation offline by executing the following:

$ sudo rstudio-server license-manager deactivate-offline

Executing this command prints an offline deactivation request to the terminal, which you should copy and paste into the offline activation application. Then, send to Posit Support ().