Skip to main content

e-Protector

The e-Protector is a protection key (HASP) that licenses the server without needing an internet connection. Depending on the product, it may be accompanied by a license file that records the detailed limits.

An e-Protector can be used on either a physical or a virtual machine, although some virtualization features — such as live migration — are not supported while one is in use.

The files involved​

Setting up and maintaining an e-Protector means exchanging several files with Asprova Corporation through your distributor. Each has a fixed name, where XXXX is the serial number.

FileNameDirectionPurpose
Fingerprint fileasfingerprintXXXX.c2vyou → AsprovaIdentifies the machine the key will be tied to.
Certificate fileaslicenseXXXX.v2cAsprova → youCreates the e-Protector on that machine.
Backup certificate fileaslicenseXXXX_backup.v2cAsprova → youCreates a backup e-Protector.
Creation log fileascreatelogXXXX.c2vyou → AsprovaRecords that the certificate file was applied.
Cancellation fileascancelXXXX.c2vAsprova → youReleases the key so it can be moved.
Cancellation log fileascancellogXXXX.c2vyou → AsprovaRecords that the cancellation file was applied.
note

The certificate file and the backup certificate file are applied with buttons labelled [Apply license file] and [Apply backup license file]. This documentation calls them certificate files to keep them distinct from the license file that accompanies the key for some products, which is a separate artifact.

Installing the driver​

Before an e-Protector can be read, its driver must be installed. Install it from the Settings tab of the Control Panel. If the driver is missing, the server reports a "driver not installed" error.

Activating and renewing with a magic number​

An e-Protector's contents — including its validity period — can be updated by applying a magic number provided by Asprova. Use this to renew an expired key or to change what the key licenses. When entering a magic number, take care to avoid copy-and-paste errors.

Backup license​

A backup license lets the server keep running in an emergency when the primary e-Protector is unavailable — for example if the key is lost or damaged, or while it is being replaced.

Using a backup license has two stages:

  1. Apply the backup certificate file. Obtain the backup certificate file (named aslicenseXXXX_backup.v2c) from your distributor and apply it on the server. This installs a backup e-Protector that can be activated later. Until it is activated, the backup provides only minimal, placeholder access — enough for the server to start, but not for normal use.
  2. Activate the backup license when you need it. Activation makes the backup license fully usable, with no limitations, for 3 weeks. Because activation is a one-time action that cannot be undone, activate the backup only when you actually need to fall back to it. Once activated, it stays active until its expiry date; after that the server needs a valid primary license again.

If the installed backup has not been activated yet, the server reports that it must be activated before it can be used. An already-activated backup cannot be activated a second time.

Expiry​

If the key's validity period has ended, or has not started yet, the licensed features are blocked until the key is renewed with a magic number.

Virtual machines and cloud services​

Each virtual machine needs its own authentication. The virtualization software and cloud services in the table below are supported. Using a feature that changes the hardware information, however, may be taken as a move to a different machine, after which the e-Protector may no longer be recognized.

VMWare ESXi
4.x, 5.x, 6.x, 7.x		VMWare Workstation
15, 16		Microsoft Hyper-V Server
2008, 2012, 2016, 2019, 2022		Microsoft Azure
Virtual Machines		Xen Project
4.12		Amazon Web Service
EC2		Google Cloud Platform
Virtual Machines
e-Protector supported○○○○○○○

Changing a virtual machine with the features below stops the e-Protector being recognized (×: combination cannot be used).

VMWare ESXiVMWare WorkstationHyper-V ServerAzure VMsXen ProjectAWS EC2Google Cloud
Live migration××××
Hot standby×××××××
Cloning a virtual machine×××××××
Restoring from a snapshot×××××××
Changing the instance/volume combination×××
  • Live migration — moving an entire running virtual machine, without stopping the OS or the software running on it, to a different physical computer; and the hypervisor feature that does this.
  • Hot standby — a redundancy technique in which several systems are kept running at once so that processing switches over immediately if one fails. (Cold standby, where the other system is started from a stopped state, is a related approach.)
  • Cloning a virtual machine — creating a copy of a virtual machine at a point in time. On Amazon Web Service EC2, if you create an Amazon Machine Image (AMI) after e-Protector authentication and build a virtual machine from it on another instance, the e-Protector is not recognized and you have to go through authentication again. The same applies to Azure.
  • Restoring from a snapshot — a file-based snapshot of a virtual machine's state, disk data and configuration at a point in time.
  • Changing the instance/volume combination — on Amazon Web Service EC2, Azure and the like, changing which volume is combined with which virtual machine instance. Changing the instance type is fine.

When the e-Protector is not recognized​

Applications related to the e-Protector are sometimes wrongly restricted by DEP or by antivirus software, which stops the e-Protector being recognized. If that happens, exclude the following file from DEP and antivirus control and check the behaviour again:

C:\Windows\System32\hasplms.exe

The Sentinel LDK License Manager service is required for the e-Protector to be recognized. If you cannot find that service in the Windows service list, reinstall Asprova My Schedule.