Migrating to ID-Based Licensing for ReadyAPI

Here are some options for upgrading your SmartBear ID-based license right away:

Get your new license access

As part of your current renewal and/or if you are buying new licenses, you will be issued new SmartBear ID-based licenses only. You can simply follow the activation steps to log in and start.

Please refer to this page for more information. Contact SmartBear Support for assistance.

Moving to on-premise

• Contact your SmartBear Account Representative or Contact SmartBear Support for assistance.

• Ask them to assign the new SmartBear license on Smartbear license portal.

• If you are using a floating license, use the license fingerprint process to create the floating license server and set up the license for use (including adding authentication, if required).

• Provide the license server address to the user so they can update the license request feature in the product. It may be helpful to provide the user with access instructions to the on-premise license portal so the user can view licenses or get their license access key.

• If you are using SLM offline (fixed) license, use the license fingerprint exchange process to enable the license administrator to convert the user license for offline use.

• Try out your license and ensure the product works as required.

• Once SLM works, you can uninstall and deactivate your file-based license.

• Update all the ReadyAPI instances in your network.

In case you face any issue blocking the upgrade process, you can return to the legacy licensing system. We will issue a temporary legacy license while you work through the issue with our support team.

In this approach, you run a hybrid license operating model. Your early adopters will upgrade to SLM and use the SmartBear login option to connect to SmartBear license servers or install offline license options on their machines. Meanwhile, your core team will continue to support legacy, file-based license support by maintaining their licenses including the current Protection! Licensing Server. The new license server for SLM on-premises will coexist with the old one on the same network. As a result, your team can use both license models of ReadyAPI for a while. However, users can only use one license type at a time.

To ensure your users migrate stress-free, we will work with you to plan your coexistence timeframe. During that time, non-updated ReadyAPI instances will use Protection! Licensing Server 4 or 5.

To learn about the upgrading process, please refer to the immediate upgrade section.

This option is no longer viable, and time is running out. SmartBear License Management has been available for over two years and offers more benefits and security than the Protection! Licensing Server. Additionally, starting September 1, 2024, any renewals or expansions under the legacy licensing systems will incur a service charge. Furthermore, we plan to deprecate these systems from general availability in 2025. We urge you to make the switch now.

To ensure a smooth transition, we are here to provide assistance and additional information. Please contact your SmartBear Account Representative or SmartBear Support to discuss your Proof of Concept (POC) and to get help with planning and getting started.

We understand that you may need to run a trial or proof of concept before moving your whole team over. This may be especially relevant when implementing automated testing support and using CI/CD pipelines.

We would like to understand the nature of the Proof of Concept you want to run. This will enable us to provide the necessary support, and trial licenses and remove any potential blockers to progress. In the meantime, you can stay with the current versions of ReadyAPI and Protection! Licensing Server.

While each Proof of Concept is individual, there are some common topics to consider upfront.

• Which team runs the POC and where are they based?

• Are users accessing the ReadyAPI product via GUI or running automated tests (headlessly)?

• Is ReadyAPI going to be installed on physical machines or VM/Docker?

• Are processes connected to CI/CD pipelines and how is that setup and configured?

• Will the users access SmartBear Hosted license servers for the POC or will you require offline licenses?

  • To access your trial ID-based licenses, log in to the Smartbear license portal. Once you log in to the SLM portal, you will be assigned license admin access. This will allow you to assign users to a license, revoke users from a license, generate reports, and promote additional admins.

  • The computer where you run ReadyAPI must have permanent access to these servers. That is, the proxies and firewalls running in your network should allow connection to them:

    • https://manage.smartbear.com:443
    • https://api.slm.manage.smartbear.com:443
    • https://login.slm.manage.smartbear.com:443
    • https://server.manage.smartbear.com:443
    • https://server.slm.manage.smartbear.com:443
    • https://profile.id.smartbear.com:443
    • https://profile-api.id.smartbear.com:443
    • https://auth.id.smartbear.com:443

    This access is needed both at the product start and during the product runtime. The addresses are for API servers and don’t have a user interface visible in browsers. When products call these hosts, they add some specific paths or URLs to the addresses.

    Note:

    We encrypt all data at rest and over the wire.

  • If you work in private networks not connected to the global Web, you can contact your Account Manager to get your licenses converted to support offline access.

    • Activate ID-based license in ReadyAPI
    • ID-based licenses in CI/CD pipeline
    • Activate ReadyAPI on Headless Machines

  • We recommend using the access key as your authentication token for headless testing. An access key is typically specific to a user account. Users will need to retrieve their own access key which will be added to the command line query referred to above.

    • Here are instructions on how to access your access key from your online license portal.

    • Users in private networks should request access to their on-premise license portal to retrieve their access key. Your license administrator will help you get this token.

We request that you contact your SmartBear Account Representative or SmartBear Support for assistance with any of the above topics.