License
A staxmax cluster of up to 3 nodes is free, with every feature and every update. A larger cluster needs a license with a seat for each node.
| Price | |
|---|---|
| Nodes 1 to 3 | Free |
| Each node beyond 3, paid monthly | $12 a node a month |
| Each node beyond 3, paid yearly | $10 a node a month ($120 a node a year) |
A 5-node cluster, for example, pays for 2 nodes: $24 a month, or $240 a year. Its license has 5 seats, one for every node.
The License section is on the License tab of the Settings page.
What a license changes
A license only decides how many nodes the cluster may have. It never stops anything that is running:
- Without a license, or once one ends, the cluster keeps every node and VM it has, keeps failing over, and keeps getting updates.
- It only can't add a node past what it is licensed for. Adding one is refused with the reason, on the Nodes page or when the new machine joins.
Enter a license key
- Open Settings, then the License tab.
- Type the key under License key:
STX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX. Case, spaces and dashes don't matter, and a mistyped key is caught at once. - Click Activate.
The node serving the page activates the key first, so a wrong key or a full license is said straight away. The other nodes then activate it within a minute, and so does any node that joins later. Each node takes one seat.
The section then shows the key, the customer it was issued to, its seats, and the date it ends, if it does. The node list shows each node's license:
| Badge | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Licensed | The node holds a seat. |
| Free | No license key; the node is one of the free ones. |
| Not checked in yet | A new node that has not reached the license server yet. |
| Cannot renew | The node has not reached the license server for 30 days. It keeps its license for 14 more days. |
| Expired | The license ended. The cluster keeps its nodes and can grow to 3. |
| Not licensed | The key is entered, but this node has no seat. The reason shows beside it, such as every seat being taken. |
| Suspended, Revoked | The license was suspended or revoked. Contact your supplier. |
Each node renews its license with every update check, about every 6 hours. Refresh asks every node to renew now, for example after the license was changed.
Add a seat
To grow the cluster past its license, ask your supplier for more seats on the same key. Then click Activate with the same key again: every node tries again.
Replace or retire a node
A node retired from the cluster gives its seat back when it can still reach the license server. If it can't (it died), a node that joins later takes over its seat on its own. A license can be moved this way twice in 90 days; after that, ask your supplier to free the seat.
Remove the license
Remove gives every node's seat back, so the key can be used on another cluster. The cluster keeps all its nodes but can't add one while it has more than 3.
A site without internet
Nodes that can't reach updates.harnessautomation.com are licensed with files, one per node:
- Under License without internet, click Download request for each node. Each request names that node and is signed by it, so nothing in it can change on the way.
- Send the requests and the license key to your supplier.
- For each node, click Import license file and choose the file issued for that node.
A license file lasts until the license ends, or a year for a license that doesn't end. Then repeat the steps. A file only works on the node it was issued for.
Releases installed from a file (see Updates) are checked against the license the same way: a suspended or revoked license accepts none.