Devices: Key Concepts
Devices
A device is a hardware or software component that uses FlexNet Embedded to license its products. FlexNet Embedded devices connect to FlexNet Operations to manage their ownership, state, features, and more. Examples of devices include high-end medical equipment, routers, and microchip ID scanners.
A device is identified by a device ID and its type. Device types are
| • | Standalone Device—FlexNet Embedded device that connects to FlexNet Operations, which manages the device. |
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| • | Server—FlexNet Embedded server that communicates with FlexNet Operations to manage device ownership, state, and features for a collection of served devices. (When a FlexNet Embedded server is used, its served devices connect with the FlexNet Embedded server rather than connecting directly to FlexNet Operations.) |
| • | Served Device—FlexNet Embedded device that is managed via a FlexNet Embedded server. In FlexNet Operations, served devices are essentially read-only entities. |
Creating a Device
There are many ways to create a device. In the typical scenario, the device is claimed via the activation process in the End-User Portal. In another scenario, the producer creates a device and assigns an owner through the Producer Portal, then the customer accesses the device through their End-User Portal.
Adding Device Features
Applications running on devices use licensed product features to turn access to functionality on or off in the application or device. When a feature is created, it is configured as one of two types: counted or uncounted. This configuration indicates whether the feature is limited to a certain quantity or turns access to the functionality on or off.
An example of a counted feature is number of cell phone minutes you have, and an example of an uncounted feature is whether you have access to text messaging or not.
Pre-Installed Licenses
A device must be created before a pre-installed license can be generated for it. A pre-installed license defines the basic or default features of a device. Pre-installed license generation is a producer activity; a pre-installed license is typically loaded on the device by the producer before shipping.
On the Producer Portal, producer users can download a license response file for a pre-installed license after the pre-installed license is generated.
Additional Products
Additional products are capabilities that can be mapped to a device in addition to the basic, pre-installed product included with the device. Additional products can also be removed from a device.
Product Licenses
A product license grants additional capabilities or capacity for a device or an application. For example, a producer can create a camera with a pre-installed license for the basic product. Later, licenses for more advanced products can be added to the camera to reflect additional capabilities purchased by the customer. An application example is personal computer software with a pre-installed license for system security features. The software can also include product licenses for a system repair tool kit and junk file removal tool that the customer can purchase later.
Product licenses can be generated online (programmatically), or manually on the Producer Portal or End-User Portal. (Additional features on devices that cannot connect directly to FlexNet Operations can be activated via the manual process of offline activation.) A feature license can be generated manually with a request file (offline activation) or without one. A license response file for a feature license can be downloaded after the license is generated.