Group Policy Licensing FAQ

How do I obtain my initial license for PolicyPak ?

Launch our license wizard and click “Generate an initial request for a new license.”

• The license wizard will automatically count the number of computers that you intend to use the product with, based on the OUs you selected in your good-faith estimate. Remember: PolicyPak Professional is always licensed per computer (and there’s never any additional fee to create your own paks.)
• You then send us your license request via email. It’s a simple text-based “copy / paste” request. The license request contains only the data needed to license the product, and all of this data is shown to you first. The license request also contains a digital “signature” verifying that the data came from our license management tool.

• Once we receive a PO/ payment, we send you a license file for your particular PolicyPak and you’re licensed for a year.

How do I install the new license?

You install the license file for your PolicyPak using the same license wizard.

Just click “Install a License Received From PolicyPak” and follow the prompts. In practice, the License Wizard creates a new “Licensing GPO” at the highest point. You should select to "Enforce" the GPO (in case of a Block Inheritance.)

What happens if I try to use PolicyPak in unlicensed places?

Anytime a computer is unlicensed, it falls back to Community mode. If a computer isn't licensed then it will automatically process the first 25 elements of the first PolicyPak Professional pak it sees. So, in some cases, you might get exactly what you want. But, if you're trying use two PolicyPaks (or use more than 25 elements) then, because the computer is unlicensed, it won't process all the elements you want, and you won't be as secure as you want.

What if I add dozens, hundreds, or thousands of new users or computers to my domain or OUs, exceeding the user count I have paid for?

Everything just continues to work. First of all PolicyPak is licensed per computer. So you never pay "per user" -- ever.

Let's go thru an example. Let’s assume you initially estimated that the Sales OU, Marketing OU and Research OU would use PolicyPak Professional. And at that time, our initial estimate found a total of 3,000 computers.

But two months later, you add 1,000 new computers to each of Sales OU, Marketing OU and Research OU. That’s another 3,000 computers for a total of 6,000 computers !

Your PolicyPak investement continues to work fine! You’ll simply “true up” to pay for those computers at the end of the year. You’ll do that using the audit feature of our license management tool. It’s just like generating an initial license request, except that the license management tool counts the number of computers where PolicyPak itemsare being used.

What is “Truing Up?”

In the previous example, usage of PolicyPak Professional. That’s great – we want you to use your PolicyPak investment the way your company needs to, when you need to. You don’t need to come to us every time your company grows or uses PolicyPak for more computers.

However, we do require that your license catch up with your usage at one-year intervals. We call this “truing up.”

Before the expiration of each one-year licence period, the “Technical Contact” will be reminded to re-run our license wizard, this time using the audit feature. The license wizard will make a quick inspection of all GPOs within the scope of license that use the PolicyPak in question.

The product will count the computers in the OUs where you have linked the product. You will send in your updated license request.

At that point, we will bill you appropriately for your updated user count before issuing your next one-year license

Note: It’s possible you have less computers than you did the last time. In that case, you don’t pay anything for new licenses. However, you are still bound to pay the maintenance fee for the highest amount of computers found in the last three audits.

What if I don’t run the license tool to “True-Up” every year?

You must run the license tool every year to get an updated license file for your PolicyPaks or PolicyPak Professional.

If you fail to run the True-Up, then PolicyPak Professional will stop processing new directives and PolicyPak will not re-enforce the setting.

If you are using PolicyPak's AppLock features, users will then have access to your application's UI functions as if PolicyPak wasn't installed.

PolicyPaks stop working on clients exactly one year after the license file is originally generated for each PolicyPak.

So, at the 11th month mark, we automatically remind you to run the PolicyPak license management tool to perform a “True-Up.” We will continue to send email reminders and make a best effort to call you if we see you’re getting close to lapsing.

At the year anniversary, PolicyPak will stop functioning. Correctly licensed PolicyPak with current licenses will continue to function. You will need to install another license to keep working.

Will I be charged on a per-user basis or a per-computer basis?

PolicyPak is always licensed on a per-computer basis. PolicyPak Professional looks to see if the COMPUTER is licensed. And if, so, any user on that computer will get the directives inside the PolicyPak.

And, because PolicyPak Professional lets you create your own packs, you can create as many paks as you want for as many users as you wish (because you're licensing the COMPUTER and not the user.)

Once the computer is licensed, it can embrace an unlimited number of PolicyPaks that you create.

How are GPOs linked to Active Directory Sites licensed?

Computers within sites need a valid license to process site-linked GPOs.

How many licenses do I need?

PolicyPak needs a licnese for each computer account in Active Directory. You would need seperate licenses for PolicyPak Professional vs. our pre-configured PolicyPak PowerPaks.

Our initial estimate and audit features will count these computers for you and make sure you are in full compliance at six-month or one-year intervals. Our license wizard has all the power you need to make sure you are properly licensed.

Are objects in sub-OUs / containers counted towards licensed totals?

If a Group Policy is linked to a parent OU (or the domain), it applies to all sub-containers as well. Therefore, we count computers in sub-OUs as well as the container to which a policy employing our product has been linked. Our license management tool makes it easy to see which containers are included.

Do disabled objects count towards licensed totals?

No, only active computers are counted. Disabled computers will not receive policy therefore they are not counted by PolicyPak.

Do computers with the name “computer” count towards licensed totals?

No. Computers with the name “computer” are not counted toward licensing totals because they are used in Trial mode.

Do service accounts get counted toward license quantity?

No. Because we don't count user accounts -- only computer accounts. Service accounts are "users" and we don't count users.

How can I “get around” the PolicyPak licensing system?

There are several ways to avoid paying for licenses:

• Rename all your computers so they have the name “computer” in their name.
• When the true-up occurs at the one-year interval, delete the GPOs. Then, use the Licensing Tool to perform the licensing count, and report bogus information.
• Create a dummy domain with the same domain name as your production domain. Then use the Licensing Tool to perform the licensing count in the dummy domain and report bogus information.
• Move computers or computers into a dummy OU without any GPOs containing any PolicyPaks. Then use the Licensing Tool to perform the licensing count and report bogus information.

Why are you telling me how to “get around” the PolicyPak licensing system?

Because we know some people will do it anyway. However, we know most people honestly want to be honest.

The licensing system is really only there to ensure that an accurate count is performed and that your company is paying for the tool they are actually using.

If you are intentionally overusing our software or intentionally working around the licensing system, you are violating the PolicyPak EULA by which your company is legally bound when you initially install PolicyPak.

How does PolicyPak work with Terminal Servers and Citrix servers?

We cannot "count" Terminal Servers or Citrix servers using our licensing tools. So, you'll need to explicitly tell us when you plan to use PolicyPak on Terminal Services or Citrix machines. There is a flat rate for this kind of use, per Terminal Server / Citrix machine based on the overall quantity of licenses you buy.

I have a special licensing situation. Can you accommodate?

We’ll try. Please call us at 800-882-8002.