16 May 2018 Reading time: 5 minutes

How to activate ispmanager licenses and what to do if errors occur

Ispmanager

This article describes how to install panels and activate licenses, as well as the problems associated with activation and how to solve them.

Getting started:
Common errors:

How to install ispmanager

ISPsystem products are distributed under licenses. The license can be paid or trial. The trial license is for getting to know the features of the panel and is limited in time. The period of its use is 2 weeks. You can activate a trial license only if you have not installed ispmanager on the server before.
Regardless of the license type, you first need to install the panel. The trial version will be installed by default. It can be upgraded to a paid version. We strongly recommend that you install the product on a clean system and allocate a separate server for it. If you encounter any difficulties, please contact our Customer Support Department.

Important: We do not recommend installing ispmanager on the same server as BILLmanager. After installing ispmanager, Nginx occupies port 443 on the server to run websites. BILLmanager also uses port 443, which is necessary for the payment modules to work properly. If you set up an Nginx proxy, you will have problems with installing APS scripts and the built-in shell client in ispmanager.

How to activate a trial license

The trial version is installed by default. If you have already used ispmanager on this server, the panel will not be available. In this case, to continue using ispmanager, you will need to activate a paid license.

How to activate a paid license

If the paid version of ispmanager is not installed or the license has expired, the panel will display a message asking you to upgrade to the full version.

The user's trial period is expiring. ispmanager offers to upgrade to a paid version

After clicking on the Upgrade to full version the page will open::

Activating ispmanager paid license

Then enter your login and password to ISPsystem client area. If you do not have an account yet, set a random login and password - the system will register you automatically. After you will receive an email about successful registration, as well as an email with the activation key. This key must be entered in the same web interface in the next step after authorization.

After purchasing and installing the panel, you need to activate the license. This can be done in two ways: by IP address and by key.

Activation by IP address

The paid license is activated automatically and without using the activation key, if the following conditions are met:

  1. he server has a public IP address;
  2. this address is the same as the one you gave when you purchased it.

To activate your license, go to the website of the company where you purchased the license. After that, renew the trial (by changing tariff plan) or order a paid license for the same IP address that you specified in the first order. Save the changes. You will be automatically switched to the paid version of ispmanager.

Activation with a key

Activation with a key is required in one of the following cases:

  1. There is no public IP address on the server network interface (the server is behind a NAT);
  2. The IP address specified at purchase is not the same as the actual server IP address;
  3. You did not enter an IP address in your client area at the time of purchase.

How to get an activation key

The key is generated automatically when ordering a license. It can be found in the license properties in the "Licenses" section or in the license activation letter.

The activation key can be found in the license order letter

The key works only once. Therefore, to reactivate the license (for example, if the license settings have been lost or the panel has been reinstalled) the key must be generated again. You can do it yourself once a month in your client area or request a key from the seller of the license.

Important: To activate a license by key, the license server 86.license5.ispsystem.com must be accessible on port 80 from the server where the control panel is installed.

To activate by key, follow these steps:

  1. Go to https://IP-server-address:1500/ispmgr in your browser;
  2. Select Activate existing license;
  3. Enter your key in the Activation code field. The license is then activated.

Common errors:

№1. Activation key email is not received

If for some reason you did not receive an email with the activation key, we advise to:

  1. check the availability of the license in your client area and find the activation key in the properties;
  2. contact our Customer Support Department. Our specialists will check everything and tell you what to do next.

№2. Paid license activation error

A license activation error can occur during the installation phase of the control panel or during operation.

During installation. If the installation script generates the message: You have no commercial license for or it can't be activated automatically, it means that it was unable to determine the license for your server.

During use. The license server checks licenses on client servers once a day. If the next check fails, you will see an activation error instead of a login form.

The solution is to check the settings. Check that all the conditions required for successful automatic license activation and verification are met:

  1. For licenses renewed by IP address, without a key, the IP address of the server specified when purchasing must match the actual IP address;
  2. license server 86.license5.ispsystem.com is accessible on port 80 from the server where the control panel is installed;
  3. The port that the ihttpd service is listening to must be open on the server. The default port is 1500. That is, your server must accept incoming connections to IP-license_address:1500 in order for the license server to deliver the license;
  4. Time on the server should not differ by more than one hour from the global time, taking into account the time zone.

№3. Trial license activation error

On the license activation form, there is no Get trial version option. This means that the free version of the product for this IP-address has already been activated and its reactivation is temporarily impossible.

Why this could happen. Hosting providers provide their servers multiple times to multiple customers. Customers rent them for different periods of time: from 1 day to several years. If you have obtained a server whose IP address has already been used to activate the free version of ispmanager, you will not be able to activate it again. According to ISPsystem terms, free versions of ispmanager are given only once per IP address.

Solution — contact our Customer Support Department. We will check if the IP address exists in the license server registry and delete the entry. After that, perform the following steps:

  1. delete the license file from the server: rm /usr/local/mgr5/etc/ispmgr.lic
  2. download the file again: /usr/local/mgr5/sbin/licctl fetch ispmgr
  3. go to the management panel URL: https://:1500/ispmgr

If none of the above work

Unfortunately, sometimes rare or unforeseen errors occur that are not described here. If none of the above solutions work, contact our technical support.