Fix My Actian PSQL/Zen License

I cannot believe that I actually have to write this web page.

In the past, clicking this button on our web site would have taken you directly to Actian's web page where the process of resetting a license was defined and could be initiated. As of this summer, Actian has completely changed the entire process to include a "policy change" whenever users have issues with their product licenses, where they are giving end users (and resellers) extreme difficulty in fixing a problem where a software license is broken for ANY reason. Let's look at a few reasons why this can be an issue, and review some of the possible solutions:

1. Licenses on PSQL v10 and PSQL v11 are tied to the computer's "hardware fingerprint". The license can become "Disabled" when the computer hardware on which they are running is altered in some way.
   1. If you changed your computer hardware without realizing this (which is what happens to most people), then simply change your hardware back. Once the license is back on the original hardware, it will be "Active" again. From that state, you can deactivate the license key from the old hardware, make your change yet again, and then reactivate the license on the new hardware.
   2. If a critical part of your computer failed and had to be replaced to get it working again, such as the motherboard, HDD, or NIC, then you likely cannot go back to the original configuration. If you are on PSQL v10, then you are at Actian's mercy to get the license key reset and repaired. If you are on PSQL v11.00 through v11.21, then you should FIRST patch the server to the v11.30. (Of course, Actian doesn't make these patches available any more, so get them from our site instead.) Once on v11.30 or higher, then you can highlight the license key and click the "Repair" button in the lower right corner of the License Administrator. You get 5 "self-repairs" before you have to ask Actian for more.
2. Licenses on PSQL v12 and newer are tied to the server name, and should only break when the server name is changed. As with the above, you have two solutions:
   1. The easier option is to change your server name back to the original name, where the license will be Active once again. Deactivate the license key from the server, rename it, and then reactivate the license again.
   2. If you are unable (for some reason) to rename the server back, then you can use the Repair option as described above. You get 5 "self-repairs" before you have to ask Actian for more.
3. Sometimes, the license is not broken per se, but you simply need to move it from one server to another. You can set up a 30-day trial of the software on the new database server, and when you are ready to transfer the license to the new server, go to the License Administrator to remove the license from the old server (before taking it off-line), then apply the license to the new server. This should be fairly quick & straightforward, with each step taking about 40 seconds to complete.
4. In other cases, the old computer may have completely failed and the license may be inaccessible, such that it is impossible to release it from the old computer. This can happen due to a physical hardware failure (motherboard, HDD, SSD, etc.), man-made or natural disaster (i.e. fire, flood, tornado, hurricane, theft, gang activity, etc.), virus attack, encryption malware, one bad OS patch that renders the computer unbootable, or just about any other failure that renders a computer unusable.

In these cases where a "standard" license deactivation cannot be done for some reason, the process has (for the last 16 years anyway) been fairly simple. You contact Actian via Email at [email protected] or via telephone at 1-800-BTRIEVE and request a license reset. They complete the reset for you, typically in less than an hour, and you are then able to apply that license to the replacement server and go on with your life. More recently, they changed the Email to [email protected], but the rest was still the same. If you would like to try this process to see how it works, here is the link to their web site that this button used to activate:

CLICK HERE FOR ACTIAN'S FIX MY PSQL LICENSE PAGE

However, Actian no longer trusts end users to not attempt to use the Reset process to "steal" licenses and to work around the legal requirement where a license can be applied to only one computer at a time. License reset requests now trigger a response about buying new licenses, regardless of the version or compatability with existing software or operating systems, and regardless of the availability of licenses for the version you are running, along with a potential software audit of your organization. PSQL and Zen licenses have been sold for over 40 years under the guise of a "perpetual licenses" -- valid for as long as you wish to run that particular version. Apparently, they realized that the EULA specifically states that the license grant is "revocable", and have decided that if you allow your system to crash, fail, or get attacked by malware, then you should have to pay another license fee.

Because of this change, the best recommendation that we can make is to protect yourself with adequate system backups, including a full image backup that can restore a server after a hard drive or motherboard failure. In addition, the "best practices" of backups state that you want to follow the "3-2-1 Rule" -- you should maintain a minimum of three copies of your critical data, on at least two different media (HDD, SSD, tape, DVD, etc.), and with at least one copy off-site for site-level disaster recovery. (We have seen malware corrupt both servers AND NAS units, so having that offline copy may be extra critical nowadays.)

If you have additional questions about their process, we recommend that you contact Actian directly, as Goldstar Software has NEVER been granted any access to their internal Electronic Licensing System (ELS), and thus we have never been able to reset a license for you anyway. If you would like to review the click-through End User License Agreement (EULA), which you had to accept to install the software, then go to our EULA page and grab the correct document. (A copy of this is/was also on your server.) If you have additional comments about this process, feel free to communicate directly with Actian's Leadership Team and let them know your opinions.