License

PowerChute v4.5+ is a licensed product. A license can be purchased through your Schneider Electric IT Partner and is required for PowerChute to function and to perform graceful system shutdown.

NOTE: A PowerChute license is required for all configurations except local OS shutdown, configured by selecting Do not enable Virtualization Support in the installer or selecting the Standalone VMware Host option in the VMware Configuration page in the PowerChute Setup wizard.

 

Cloned PowerChute VMs are considered unlicensed.

License screen in the PowerChute Setup wizard

Purchase a License

A PowerChute license can be purchased through your Schneider Electric IT Partner.

Activate License

You can activate your purchased license online or offline.  NOTE: The validation process requires an internet connection to connect to the Schneider Electric Cloud Licensing Server.

If you purchased more than one license, you can enter the same Activation ID for each PowerChute agent that you install. You can return a license before uninstalling PowerChute to reuse the license for a new agent. See Return License.

Activate a Trial License

PowerChute v5.2 allows customers to avail of a trial license which can be activated during the Setup Wizard. A trial license enables all PowerChute functionalities for 30 days from the date of license activation. The purpose of the trial is to test PowerChute in your virtualized or HCI environment before purchasing a license.

To activate a trial license during PowerChute setup:

  1. Select 30-day Trial
  2. Click Activate

The details of the trial license and the number of active remaining days are displayed.

The trial license can only be activated once. When the trial period has expired, PowerChute becomes unlicensed. Functionalities will be restricted, and your environment will no longer be protected. 

To enable full functionality, you must purchase a license which can be deployed at any time before, during, or after a trial license. To update the license at any time, go to License > Update License.


Online Activation

If the machine running PowerChute has an internet connection, you can activate your license online:

  1. Select the Activate Online radio button.

  2. Enter the license's Activation ID. This is in the format ACT-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX.

  3. Enter your Proxy IP Address and Port Number, Proxy Username and Proxy Password if required.

  4. Enter the Quantity of nodes in your cluster protected by the PowerChute instance. One license is required for each node protected by PowerChute.

  5. Click the Activate button.

  6. PowerChute will contact the Schneider Electric Cloud Licensing Server to validate the provided Activation ID. If the license is successfully validated, PowerChute will display the license details.

Offline Activation

If the machine running PowerChute does not have an internet connection, you can validate your license offline:

  1. Select the option to Activate Offline
  2. Enter the license Activation ID. This is in the format ACT-XXXX-XXXX-XXXXXXXX.
  3. Enter the Quantity of licenses you want to activate - quantity equals number of virtualization nodes protected by PowerChute.
  4. Select Generate Request to generate and download a request file called “request_[GUID].bin” in your downloads folder.
  5. Log in to mySchneider Software Management:
    1. Navigate to Devices Management > Offline Activation and upload the request_[GUID].bin file generated in step 4.
    2. Download the generated license (capabilityResponse.bin file).
    3. Select the Activate Offline radio button.
  6. Return to PowerChute and click Upload Response. Select the downloaded “capabilityResponse.bin” file using the file selector.
  7. If the license is successfully validated, PowerChute will display the license details.

Note: If the capabilityResponse.bin file is modified or the download was corrupt, the file will be invalid, and the license cannot be activated. If an error message is displayed in the UI related to the capability response, follow the above steps again to generate and download a new capabilityResponse.bin file.

 

Renew License

The displayed Renewal Date is when your PowerChute license will expire. You can renew your license before the Renewal Date is reached. You will be notified 60 days in advance of your license expiring. If you do not renew your license before it expires, you must purchase and activate a new license.

Expired License

PowerChute provides a 60-day grace period after your license expires to allow you to purchase a new license. See Purchase a License. Once you have purchased a license, update your license details in the Renew License screen for continued PowerChute functionality.
NOTE: PowerChute remains functional during the grace period.

If you do not update your license details during the grace period, you will no longer have access to configuration options in the PowerChute UI and the PowerChute Setup wizard – except the License screen – and shutdowns and startups will be canceled.

PowerChute cannot perform graceful system shutdown if the software is unlicensed. It is highly recommended that you renew your license to prevent potential data loss.

Return License

You can return a license before uninstalling a PowerChute agent to be reused for a new agent. Returning a license will increase the Quantity associated with your Activation ID by the quantity that was returned. For example, if you returned 5 PowerChute licenses, your Quantity will increase by 5.

You can view how many licenses you have remaining in the mySchneider Software Management:

  1. Log in to mySchneider Software Management.

  2. You can view the total quantity, available quantity, and expiration date of the licenses associated with your Activation ID.

NOTE: When you return a license, the PowerChute agent will be unlicensed and no longer function.

If you want to deploy a new instance of the PowerChute virtual appliance, you must return the license on the old appliance before activating the same license on the new appliance instance. This also applies to Windows installations, if you want to uninstall PowerChute, you must return the license before uninstalling PowerChute so the same license can be activated when you re-install PowerChute.

This does not affect the license term or upgrades.

If you activated your license via the online method, click the Return License button in the License screen.

It is not supported to return a license if you activated your license via the offline method. To reuse licenses on offline PowerChute machines, contact Customer Support.

When you have successfully returned a license, you can uninstall the PowerChute agent.

For more information on PowerChute license updates, see PowerChute Network Shutdown Frequently Asked Questions.