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Licensing

PRISM is licensed per server, with a license file that lives in the server’s data directory. The License window (Add Window → Setup → License) always shows you the license the server is running on.

What a License Controls

  • Parameter budget — the total size of your patch. Each channel of every patched fixture counts against it; 16-bit (coarse + fine) channel pairs follow the standard parameter counting.
  • Maximum universes — how many DMX universes your show can use. The DMX Output window only offers as many universe rows as your license allows.
  • Maximum nodes — how many machines (this master included) may join a session.
  • Features — flags for optional capabilities.
  • Expiry — optional. A license with no expiry never expires; a dated one does.
  • Machine binding — see Machine Binding.

Without a Valid License

Without a valid license file, all DMX output is disabled: every universe stays dark, and no new nodes can join. The console itself keeps working — you can browse the show, configure the patch, and program — so nothing is held up while you wait for a license. As soon as a valid license is installed, output is live again.

An expired license behaves the same way: output goes dark while the console, show data, and editing keep working.

What Happens When Limits Are Reached

  • Patch — adding a fixture that would exceed the parameter budget is rejected; your existing patch is untouched.
  • Universes — universes beyond the licensed cap are never enabled.
  • Nodes — once the session has its licensed number of nodes, new nodes are refused a join with an explicit “license limit” message; existing nodes reconnecting are unaffected.
  • Expiry — an expired license cuts all DMX output while the console, show data, and editing keep working.

Renewal

Replace the license file with the renewed one, or install it from the License window — no restart needed. PRISM checks for changes every hour:

  • an expiry renewal brings DMX output back the moment it is applied, and an expiry that passes mid-show darkens output within an hour;
  • a universe-cap increase takes effect the same way (universes up to the new cap can then be enabled);
  • changes to the node count or parameter budget apply at the next restart.

A file that lowers limits or has a worse expiry than the one in force is ignored — renewal only ever improves what is running.

Machine Binding

A license is either bound to one console or universal:

  • Bound — works only on the console whose machine ID matches the one in the license. The machine ID is stable for the hardware (it survives reinstalling the app or the operating system). It is shown in the License window with a copy button — send it in when ordering or renewing your license, and you get back a file that works on that console and nowhere else.
  • Universal — works on any console. These are time- or capability- limited by design (for example, a beta or promotional license), so they are safe to share within their limits.

The License window shows which kind of license you are running: bound licenses display the Bound to machine ID next to the limits.

Installing a file that is bound to a different console is rejected with an error; your current license is left untouched.

Activating with a Code

Instead of handling a license file, you can activate with a code:

  1. Ask for a code (for example, when you buy or renew a license).
  2. Open the License window and paste the code into the Activation code field, then press Redeem.

That is the whole step. The code is exchanged for a license bound to this console — the machine ID is read from the hardware automatically, nothing else to send. When the code is accepted you are licensed immediately, no restart.

  • A code is single-use: one code licenses one console. Redeeming it a second time — on any console — fails, and the error is shown in the window.
  • If your machine’s hardware changes (a new machine, a failed disk that changes the machine ID), the old code cannot be reused — contact Prism for a replacement code.
  • If the console cannot reach the license server (no internet, or egress disabled), the window says so. The code has almost certainly not been used, so try again later. In the rare case the connection dropped after the license server had accepted the code, a retry is refused as already used — contact Prism; that is treated as a rebind.

Expiry and the Console Clock

A dated license (for example, a 30-day trial) is checked against the console’s system clock at startup and hourly. If the clock appears to have been set back, output is switched off until the clock is correct again — no restart needed.

Viewing and Installing in the App

Open Add Window → Setup → License to see the license the server is running on. The banner shows the current state — green Licensed, or red Locked / Expired (DMX output disabled) — along with owner, expiry, and the universe / parameter / node limits. The window also shows this console’s Machine ID (with a copy button) and, for bound licenses, the Bound to machine.

Install license file… opens a file picker. The file is verified before it is accepted — including its machine binding — and the new limits are applied live, no restart needed. A missing, corrupted, tampered, or wrong-machine file is rejected with an error and your current license is left untouched, so an upgrade attempt can never downgrade or break a running installation.

The Activation code field activates a single-use code for this console — see Activating with a Code.