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Troubleshooting licensing

This page applies to:

If you’ve got a problem related to licensing and you can’t find the answer on this page, please contact your Accredited Reseller.

General troubleshooting for licensing problems

General checks:

  • Check that the Application Server is connected to the Global Entitlement Service. The Application Server must be able to connect to the internet.
  • Re-submit the activation key or re-install the license file.
    • For subscriptions, make sure the activation key has been issued within the past 30 days and hasn’t been used more than 5 times.
    • For licenses, make sure you’ve uploaded your most recent license.
  • On the About > Registration page, click the Sync.

General troubleshooting for Global Entitlements Service (GES) connections

If you’re having issues with your Application Server connecting to the Global Entitlements Service, there are a few different things to check:

  1. Check that your firewall is allowing the connection.

    Review the Firewall Ports (Global Entitlements Service) documentation and ensure that your firewall is allowing the outbound connection.

    You can run a manual connection check by opening a browser on your Application Server, and going to the url: https://mf.cloud.papercut.com/.

    If the connection is successful, a page is displayed showing a message that the PaperCut Global Entitlements Service is up and running.

    If anything else is returned (like an error), or if the page times out, the connection has not been successful, and might be being blocked by proxy configuration or firewall rules. If that’s the case, continue to the next step.
  2. If you’re using a Proxy server.

    If you’re using a proxy server, you’ll need to make sure that the Application Server is configured with the proxy connection, as documented on How to configure PaperCut NG/MF to work with a proxy .
  3. If you’re using SSL packet inspection on your network (Advanced).

    If you suspect that you have a network appliance or service performing SSL packet inspection, check out our Tips when using SSL Packet Inspection (man-in-the-middle) on your network article.

After entering an activation key or uploading a license

Subscriptions

Error message

Description

Unable to submit activation key. Contact your Accredited Reseller for support.

Something is wrong with the activation key, for example, it's been typed incorrectly, it's expired or it's invalid for your CRN. Contact your Accredited Reseller.

Failed to retrieve subscription details with given activation code. Reason: xxx

There could be a network problem or a an issue with the Global Entitlements Service. Try the action again. If the problem persists, contact your Accredited Reseller.

Unable to contact PaperCut Gateway Service to submit activation key. Ensure your server is online and try again. If still failing, contact your Accredited Reseller for support.

The Application Server is unable to contact the Global Entitlements Service. Make sure the Application Server can connect to the internet and try again.

If your Application Server should be able to connect, but you're still seeing this error, check General troubleshooting for Global Entitlements Service connections for more information.

Licenses

Error message

Description

  • The supplied Customer Reference Number (CRN) is invalid.

  • License file is invalid. For support, contact your Accredited Reseller.

  • License file does not have CRN.

The license file is invalid. Contact your Accredited Reseller.

Unable to register license file. Subscription installation requires an activation key.

You are a subscription customer trying to upload a license file. Use the activation key supplied to activate your subscription.

Unable to register license file. Reason: xxx

Depending on the reason, perform the required action. Or contact your Accredited Reseller.

Unable to contact PaperCut Gateway Service to register license file. Ensure your server is online and try again. If still failing, contact your Accredited Reseller for support.

The Application Server needs to be online and able to contact the Global Entitlements Service (see Internet connection requirements).

If your Application Server should be able to connect, but you're still seeing this error, check General troubleshooting for Global Entitlements Service connections for more information.

You are using a license for a device your organization is not licensed for.

This can be a valid error message if you are using more devices than you are licensed for.

However, this message can be shown incorrectly if you have just upgraded from a previous version, to version 24.0.4 or later. See known issue PO-2657 for more information.

Offline data file activation errors (v24.0.5 and later)

Error message

Description

Offline data file signature is invalid. Please contact your Accredited Reseller for support.

The license file is invalid. Contact your Accredited Reseller.

Offline data file failed to be parsed due to invalid content. Please contact your Accredited Reseller for support.

The content of the license file contains some invalid data. Contact your Accredited Reseller.

This server's install ID is not in the list of allowable servers that the offline data file can be installed on.

The offline data file you are trying to upload was created for a different Application Server. Ask your Accredited Reseller to generate a new file using your server details.

The offline data file has expired. Expiry date: {0}. A new one will need to be generated by your Accredited Reseller.

The offline data file you are trying to upload was generated more than 30 days ago. Ask your Accredited Reseller to generate a new file.

The generated offline data file NG/MF version is not compatible with this PaperCut application server's version. Contact your Accredited Reseller to generate an offline data file for your server's version.

The offline data file was not generated for the correct PaperCut MF version or product (for example, if you upload the file into a PaperCut NG installation). Ask your Accredited Reseller to generate a new file.

The PaperCut application server has already been activated offline. Contact your Accredited Reseller if online activation is now required.

This happens when the server has already been activated offline and you are trying to install a license file or activation key. If you want to switch from being an offline to an online-activated customer, contact your Accredited Reseller.

I’ve lost access to most of the pages in the PaperCut admin interface

This happens when all subscriptions have expired. Also, only the default (built-in) admin account will be able to log in to the PaperCut admin interface. To renew a subscription or purchase a new one, contact your Accredited Reseller.

One or more devices are listed as “Not Licensed” on the subscriptions page

One or more subscriptions have expired. For possible reasons, take a look at Managing entitlements . You can also contact your Accredited Reseller.

The entitlements on the Registration page don’t match what has been purchased

It’s possible your Application Server has been disconnected from the Global Entitlement Service for over an hour.

  1. Check the Application Server can connect to the internet.
  2. Restart the PaperCut Application Server Service.
  3. On the About > Registration page, click Sync.

I added a new Application Server and it didn’t automatically activate

For PaperCut MF 24.0 or later, or PaperCut NG 24.0.3 or later, when you are running multiple primary Application Servers for the same CRN, automatic activation only happens:

  • for PaperCut MF, the first time a subscription is activated or a license is installed
  • for PaperCut NG, the first time a license is installed.

After that, whenever you add an Application Server to your existing environment, you have to manually activate it or install a license file .

I see licensing errors and I’m using Application Server clustering, or the Application Server Failover feature

Note that there are two different types of clustering:

  1. Microsoft Cluster Services / Hyper-V or other clustering solutions.
    • These methods do have licensing setup steps.
  2. The built-in ‘Application Server Failover’ feature.
    • This method does not have additional licensing setup steps, but does require PaperCut NG/MF version 24.0.5 or later.

See Can I use my license or subscription in a cluster?

 

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