License handling [VC 21.3.1 GEN]

Vidispine requires a valid license in order to run. The license controls how many items and storages may exist in the system, and controls which encoders and decoders are available when transcoding.

License keys for on-premise systems can be obtained by contacting your local Sales Representative. When purchasing Vidispine through Vidinet, all license handling is fully automated.

How it works

The license is a physical file which must reside in the Vidispine root folder (by default /etc/vidispine/). Vidispine can read two different types of license files:

slaveAuth.lic - will cause Vidispine to connect to the global Vidispine Online Licensing System to obtain its license properties. Your server must be able to reach the internet on port 8080 in order to become properly licensed.
License.lic- (Deprecated since version 5.0) a fallback licensing method for use in airgapped solutions that locks the license to the systems MAC address. This method is used for the Deployment License.

Standalone Vidispine transcoder nodes are licensed through the API and do not need a local license file.

License types

Development/test/demo license: This type of license allows for unlimited numbers of everything, for a certain period of time. All transcoded content will be watermarked.
Production license: This type of license will allow for a certain number of users, assets, storages, transcoders and codecs according to what’s purchased. Transcoded content will not be watermarked.
Deployment license: When installing Vidispine using the installer, a non-MAC bound deployment license will be installed. This license will allow you to verify that your system was properly installed. The license will allow for 2 users, 100 assets, 1 transcoder, 1 storage area, and encoding/decoding of all codecs supported by Vidispine. All transcoded content will be watermarked.

License errors

If the license file is missing or if you have exceeded the license limits, a HTTP response 402 Payment Required will be returned. Details on what limit(s) have been exceeded can be found from GET /version.

The response will also display the version numbers for the various installed Vidispine components.

Connection to Vidispine Online Licensing System

The connection to the Vidispine Online Licensing System is done via HTTP and is tolerant to temporary error and outages.

If your infrastructure does not allow outbound HTTP connections, a proxy service can be used see slaveLicenseProxy.

Redundancy and timeouts

When a system is licensed using a slaveAuth.lic file, a heartbeat request will be sent every 60 seconds towards the Vidispine Online Licensing System, using the endpoints listed in the slaveAuth.lic file. The system will perform an automatic fail over to the second endpoint if the primary endpoint is offline or does not respond in a timely fashion. If the system does not receive a valid response from any endpoint, an error will be logged. If the system does not receive a valid response from any endpoint within 5 days, the system will enter read-only-mode, impairing normal usage. A request to GET /version on the system will report “License status invalid”. The system will go back to normal operation as soon as a valid response from any license server endpoint is received.