Week 7
Busiest week at work so far. Customer issues with licenses and with software updates always take first priority. But still, I managed to get another machine done. As I have posted pictures of hardware already, I thought I would get some images of the base level software installation screens.
The first shot is of the first licensing screen. The box on the right, License Registration application, is where I assign a blank hardware lock a number and give it the bits it will need to run the software. The bits on the hardware lock must be programmed with a code that will match a code that resides in the computer's registry. The registry entries are built during the software installation. The code in the installation will "check" the hardware locks' bit settings and see that the registry codes match. If they do, the installation will complete and the software will work properly. If anything does not match, codes or bit settings, the software will not work.
The second picture: the screen shows the database (Left) where the licenses are recorded. Note that every license bit has a hexadecimal code that is associated with it. That code contains the licensing bits, the expiration dates, as well as the proper location of the bit in relation to the computers' registry. The window on the right is the code generation software. The software is protected by a hardware lock called a dongle. Every license has a "password" that coincides with the hardware lock. It is my job to assign every hardware lock and generate the passwords (hexadecimal codes) for the software based on what each customer has purchased. In this case, I am generating codes for a new install. this is the same process I use for the in-house systems I am building.
The screen on the last picture shows an additional window, Software Registration. The Software Registration application is what is used to generate the text file on the right. The text file is a .tmp format file that contains all of the licenses for the hardware lock on the system. This is the file customers send, or I generate, that shows me the dongle (hardware lock) number, the date the file was executed, the licensed bits, and the date the license(s) expire. I use this file to generate replacement files for licenses that have timed out, and to check my work to make sure that I have generated all of the bits needed and that they all time out together.
All five of the Sim Factory licenses are up to date with bit codes for the latest versions of software. They are also set with a time code for one calendar year. The one year setting is in case licenses "disappear" for any reason. Anyone can install the software, but there are only 3 people in the company that have access to the licensing software. If a license is lost or stolen, it will time out soon and the software will cease working.
By the way, the entire process of setting up and programming a new dongle takes about 90 minutes. It is a tedious and very technical process that requires some knowledge of what software packages need in order to work properly. The codes are generated by the Generate Passwords application (second picture). The codes must be copied into the database, and assigned the correct name - which may differ from the name in the Generate Passwords application. Once all of the codes are copied into the database, the database will write the license file needed for the software to install with the dongle.
So, the next time you install software that requires you to enter a code, you have some idea of how that code was generated. Each one is unique to the machine where it is installed. Some are soft locks where the software only needs a specific set of digits to operate; there is no extra hardware involved. Our software is hard lock protected. Meaning that a USB dongle and its matching license file must be installed for the software application to work.
Checked in with the Myles Ford at Shaw Corporate to make sure that we are still on track for our Professional development training. We have a meeting scheduled for next week. The meeting will likely become a google hangout or gotomeeting. I will see when it is closer to time.
Confirmed shadowing with the Instructional Technologist at Dalton State College. We are on for next week. She took this week as a vacation week, so I could not get started this week.
The first shot is of the first licensing screen. The box on the right, License Registration application, is where I assign a blank hardware lock a number and give it the bits it will need to run the software. The bits on the hardware lock must be programmed with a code that will match a code that resides in the computer's registry. The registry entries are built during the software installation. The code in the installation will "check" the hardware locks' bit settings and see that the registry codes match. If they do, the installation will complete and the software will work properly. If anything does not match, codes or bit settings, the software will not work.
The screen on the last picture shows an additional window, Software Registration. The Software Registration application is what is used to generate the text file on the right. The text file is a .tmp format file that contains all of the licenses for the hardware lock on the system. This is the file customers send, or I generate, that shows me the dongle (hardware lock) number, the date the file was executed, the licensed bits, and the date the license(s) expire. I use this file to generate replacement files for licenses that have timed out, and to check my work to make sure that I have generated all of the bits needed and that they all time out together.
All five of the Sim Factory licenses are up to date with bit codes for the latest versions of software. They are also set with a time code for one calendar year. The one year setting is in case licenses "disappear" for any reason. Anyone can install the software, but there are only 3 people in the company that have access to the licensing software. If a license is lost or stolen, it will time out soon and the software will cease working.
By the way, the entire process of setting up and programming a new dongle takes about 90 minutes. It is a tedious and very technical process that requires some knowledge of what software packages need in order to work properly. The codes are generated by the Generate Passwords application (second picture). The codes must be copied into the database, and assigned the correct name - which may differ from the name in the Generate Passwords application. Once all of the codes are copied into the database, the database will write the license file needed for the software to install with the dongle.
So, the next time you install software that requires you to enter a code, you have some idea of how that code was generated. Each one is unique to the machine where it is installed. Some are soft locks where the software only needs a specific set of digits to operate; there is no extra hardware involved. Our software is hard lock protected. Meaning that a USB dongle and its matching license file must be installed for the software application to work.
Checked in with the Myles Ford at Shaw Corporate to make sure that we are still on track for our Professional development training. We have a meeting scheduled for next week. The meeting will likely become a google hangout or gotomeeting. I will see when it is closer to time.
Confirmed shadowing with the Instructional Technologist at Dalton State College. We are on for next week. She took this week as a vacation week, so I could not get started this week.
Comments
Post a Comment