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Licensing Overview

Author: Sami Mohamad Updated

Overview

This article provides information regarding GFI LanGuard licensing.

 

Information

GFI LanGuard is subscription-based. It does not require client device licensing such as CALs (Client Access License) but is licensed by the total number of nodes that it scans in each location. Having a valid license and not exceeding its limits is essential for the normal functionality of the LanGuard:

  • If the License has expired, all GFI LanGuard functionality will be disabled, and the product will stop running completely. Users will be automatically prompted to enter a new key or close the product.
  • When the license maximum number of computers has been reached, GFI Languard will not perform scans on any additional machines.
  • The trial license has certain additional limitations

 

Understanding subscription by nodes

Since GFI LanGuard is licensed by the number of nodes, we have to understand what the node is. A node is defined as a device with an active/assigned IP address. The IP address, MAC address, and hostname are used to identify each node. A computer is counted towards the license when either:

  1. A machine is scanned.
  2. An agent is deployed to a machine.
  3. A scan for a machine is imported from XML.

If two out of the three identification methods match, it is considered the same device and will not consume any additional licenses.

The first action above is performing an actual GFI LanGuard scanning towards a target computer. This means that a simple network discovery will not affect the license count. It is a Windows setting that affects whether your computer can see (find) other computers and devices on the network and whether other computers on the network can see your computer, and does not imply that each new machine that is discovered is using the license. It only adds the new computers to the dashboard.

 

Understanding versioning

GFI Licenses are allocated for a specific version of the product and are would not work with previous versions. For example, a LanGuard version 12 license will work in builds 12.0 and onwards but not in 11.4 or earlier. 

 

Entering license key

During the installation of LanGuard, there are two methods for entering a license key:

Unicorn Authentication

Unicorn authentication is the automated licensing for GFI Aurea SMB products.

Review Obtaining a GFI LanGuard subscription for more information.
Manual Authentication

Manual authentication is when the license key is added during the installation manually via the wizard.

 

Note: For further information, refer to GFI LanGuard Licensing Details.

 <supportagent>

Checking a customer's License

Make sure you have access to the GFI Accounts Portal.

  1. Log in to the GFI Accounts Portal using your credentials.
  2. Select the Manage button from the taskbar on the left.
  3. Paste the license key in the Search field, top right.  
  4. If it is found a line item will appear and the license key will be on the left on that line.
  5. Select the license key.
  6. In the box that pops up select properties, top right, and you will see the Languard License information and such things as the product edition, Report center, etc.

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Handling Expired Licenses and Other Issues

Issues with licenses should be handled according to the nature of the request. Agents can help with technical questions or refer the customer to the correct team based on the request details.

The Handling Licensing Issues for GFI LanGaurd article explains how to handle license-related issues and requests for GFI LanGuard

Agents should remember that GFI only provides technical support to customers who have an up-to-date Software Maintenance Agreement. A Software Maintenance Agreement includes free software version updates, as well as email and telephone support during office hours.

Note: If a customer has an expired license, meaning the expiry date is before the current date of the ticket being opened with support, no support is to be given, and the customer will need to renew to receive support.

</supportagent>

Removing Scanned Computers to Free Up Licensing

Any machine that GFI LanGuard has listed as a scanned machine or has an associated scan result is listed in the dashboard tree in the left-hand pane of the console. When the maximum number of computers allowed by the license has been reached, GFI LanGuard will not perform scans on any additional machines.  Existing already licensed machines will continue to scan, but new nodes added will not be scanned. 

For example, if a manual or scheduled scan is performed and it contains more targets than the license allows:

  • GFI LanGuard will scan the machines until the limit is reached.
  • Additional machines will not be scanned and a message reflecting this will be displayed in the console.

Once the limit is reached or the number is near the limit, it is possible to remove scanned computers to free up licenses. This process is described in Removing Scanned Computers to Free up Licensing in GFI LanGuard.

When a computer is deleted:

  • Scan results associated with it will be removed.
  • Action cannot be undone.
  • Removal cannot be reversed once it is performed.

Alternatively, a sync up with Microsoft Active Directory is the quick way to remove computers from GFI LanGuard.

 

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