Defining Entitlements
Preparation for Creating an Entitlement
Before you start to define an entitlement in Sentinel LDK-EMS, ensure that you have the following information available:
>(Optional) Details of the customer who placed the order
>The Products to be included in the entitlement, including any details that must be finalized, such as the number of activations allowed, license model details, and memory file data
>The production requirements, according to the type of entitlement:
•Entitlement for Sentinel HL keys
•Entitlement for Product Keys
•Entitlement for Protection Key Update
>Additional entitlement information (optional)
Sentinel LDK-EMS generates a unique entitlement ID (EID) for each entitlement that is created.
Defining the Customer for the Entitlement
When you define an entitlement in Sentinel LDK-EMS, you can specify the customer who placed the order. You can search for an existing customer using the customer name or other identifying details, or you can define a new customer. (You can also define a new customer using the Customers page.)
Including Products in the Entitlement
An entitlement can contain one or more Sentinel LDK Products. All Products are associated with a Batch Code. You select the Batch Code before you start to create a new entitlement.
NOTE Unlocked Products are not available for inclusion in entitlements. The process of generating files containing Unlocked Products is a Development task. For additional information, see Creating Bundles of Unlocked Products.
Each Product is defined with a Locking Type. The locking type determines the level of Sentinel LDK protection and the type of Sentinel protection key that can be supplied with the Product. The locking type assigned to a Product may determine the type of entitlement that can be produced:
>Products defined only with the HL locking type can be included in entitlements for Sentinel HL keys, Product Keys, or for Protection Key Updates.
>Products defined only with the SL AdminMode or SL UserMode locking type can be included only in entitlements for Product Keys or for Protection Key Updates.
>Products defined with the HL or SL AdminMode or HL or SL AdminMode or SL UserMode locking type can be included in entitlements for Sentinel HL keys, Product Keys, or for Protection Key Updates
You cannot add a Product defined only with the HL locking type and another Product defined only with the SL locking type (whether AdminMode or UserMode) to the same entitlement.
For additional information on locking types, see Choosing the Protection Level for Your Products.
Specifying License Term Values
When a Product is initially defined in Sentinel LDK-EMS, the exact license term values for each Feature can be left unspecified. This enables you to include the same Product in different entitlements with different license term values.
In this case, the license values must be specified when each entitlement for the Product is processed.
You may be required to specify one or more of the following license term values for Features when processing an entitlement:
>The date on which the license expires
>The maximum number of times that the Feature can be used
>The number of days until the license expires
You may also be required to specify the number of concurrent instances for one or more Features. This value specifies the number of instances of simultaneous usage that the license allows on the customer’s network. Concurrent instances may relate to the network, processes, or machines.
An entitlement can be produced only after the license term values have been specified for all the Features in every Product included in the entitlement.
Specifying Protection Key Memory Data
When a Product is initially defined in Sentinel LDK-EMS, memory data can be left unspecified. This enables you to customize memory data for each Product when defining the entitlement. For example, customer-specific memory data can be added to the Product when an entitlement is being processed.
Specifying an Entitlement for Sentinel HL Keys
When an entitlement for Sentinel HL keys is produced, the ordered Products are programmed (burned) on one or more Sentinel HL keys to be shipped to the customer. For additional information on Sentinel HL keys, see Sentinel HL Keys.
When you define the entitlement, you must specify the total number of Sentinel HL keys to be produced for the entitlement.
Specifying an Entitlement for Product Keys
An entitlement for Product Keys enables you to produce activation strings for Sentinel protection keys.
The Products in the entitlement are associated with one or more Sentinel LDK Product Keys. A Product Key is a string of characters generated by Sentinel LDK-EMS and stored in a file for delivery to the customer.
After the end user receives the Product Key and returns it as proof of purchase, Sentinel LDK-EMS validates the Product Key and produces a Sentinel protection key. The Sentinel protection key is then sent back with the license terms and installed on the end user’s computer, enabling the Product to be activated.
When you define an entitlement for Product Keys, you must specify the following information:
>The number of Product Keys to be produced for the entitlement
>The number of activations allowed for each Product Key. This is the number of machines on which each Product Key can be used.
While it is mandatory to use Product Keys for activation of software locked to Sentinel SL keys, Product Keys can also optionally be used for activating software that is locked to Sentinel HL keys.
NOTE
>Before a Sentinel SL key can be used on an end user’s computer, an unlocked trialware Product is typically installed on the computer. When the unlocked trialware Product is installed, it initializes the Sentinel LDK Run-time Environment, which is required for communication between the Sentinel SL key and the software.
>The process of generating files containing unlocked trialware Products is a Development task. For additional information, see Creating Bundles of Unlocked Products.
Specifying a Protection Key Update Entitlement
A Protection Key Update entitlement specifies changes to be made to the license terms, Products, and/or data stored in Sentinel protection keys that have already been deployed to end users. A Protection Key Update can be applied remotely to Sentinel HL keys or Sentinel SL keys as follows:
>By accessing the Sentinel LDK-EMS Customer Portal. Any outstanding updates are automatically applied for all protection keys installed on or connected to the customer's machine.
>Using the Sentinel Licensing API by calling the Update function
>By using the Sentinel Remote Update System utility
>(For SL AdminMode keys) By placing the file that contains the update information in the appropriate directory on the end user's computer.
When the Protection Key Update entitlement is produced, a file containing the details of the changes is generated for each Sentinel protection key to be updated.
This file can be one of the following:
>An executable file (EXE) that can be delivered to end users for use as instructed by your company
>A Vendor-to-Customer (V2C) file that end users can process using the Sentinel Remote Update System utility (RUS utility)
When you define a Protection Key Update entitlement:
> You must specify the total number of Sentinel protection keys to be updated as a result of this entitlement.
>You may also need to select the specific Sentinel protection keys to be updated. For example, the entitlement may be for an organization with 100 Sentinel protection keys, and this entitlement is required to update the keys for only 10 specific users.
In Sentinel LDK-EMS, you can:
•Display a list of the customer’s Sentinel protection keys
•View the contents of each key
•Select the keys to be updated
NOTE You cannot select more Sentinel protection keys than the total number of product keys specified in the Product Details area in the New Entitlement screen.
Optional Entitlement Information
You can add the following optional information to the entitlement:
>Order reference information that can identify the order in a different system, for example, an order number in your company's ERP system.
>A comment that provides additional information about the order.
Adding the Entitlement to the Production Queue
After you have specified all the necessary information for an entitlement, you can produce it immediately or "queue" it to add it to the production queue. The queue is a list of all entitlements that are awaiting production.
Entitlements in the production queue can be selected for production according to the criteria determined by your organization.
Sentinel LDK-EMS enables you to save as "draft" any entitlement that have not been completely defined, without losing the information that you may have already specified. You can open the entitlement and continue to define the entitlement details when convenient.