There are several reasons why you might need to update your A-Shell license: increase the numbers of licensed nodes, extend your software maintenance contract through a new update expiration date, add options, change company name, or change platforms. In all cases, make sure you have received clear and unambiguous license information before beginning. Having somebody tell you over the phone that the company name is "Smith and Company," for example, is likely to cause problems; is it Smith and Company? Smith & Company? Smith & Co, Inc.? J. SmithCo? It may not make a difference to you or Smith, but it does to A-Shell.
The company and license key fields are NOT case-sensitive.
Normal Update
1 Log to the system operator account OPR:
2 type LICENS followed by the Enter key.
There are two things that can happen at this point: either LICENS will run, or it will not, in which case A-Shell displays ?LICENS?. If LICENS runs, then you need only to follow the prompts and enter your new or updated information. If it does not run, then this means that your version of A-Shell is pretty old, and you need to use the old method of updating the license.
If LICENS runs as expected but the license info you enter is declared invalid, look up the LICENS Error Codes and try Troubleshooting Licensing Issues.
Old Method
The program LICENS was added in A-Shell version 4.7.830 of April 2003. If your working copy of A-Shell is older than this (you should update!), then you will need to follow this method of updating your license. It consists of forcing A-Shell to prompt for a new security key when A-Shell starts. To accomplish this, use the start-up switch -k (e.g. ashell -k). When you start A-Shell, in other words, add -k to the command line.
Under A-Shell/Windows, the easiest way to temporarily launch it with the -k option is right-click on the icon, click Properties, then Shortcut. Highlight the command line (if it is not automatically highlighted, as it should be), then press Ctrl+C to copy it to the clipboard; then lick Cancel to exit the dialog. Click on the Start menu, select Run, then press Ctrl+V to paste the A-Shell command line (i.e., that which you earlier copied) into the edit box. Finally, position the cursor just past the ashw32.exe and add a space followed by -k, then click the OK button.
Notes
The "Maintenance Expiration" date will not prevent A-Shell from running unless you update A-Shell beyond your maintenance expiration date. If your expiration date is 15 January 2006, for example, and you install a new version of A-Shell on 16 January 2006 or after, A-Shell will revert to demo mode and require that you get an updated license. So remember: don't ever update A-Shell unless your maintenance expiration date is in the future.
The "old method" described above will also work with newer versions of A-Shell, although it is recommended that you use LICENS.
Information about the A-Shell license is also available with the ABOUT command, and from the Help | About menu (under Windows).
If the existing company name needs to be changed (it was misspelled, firm has a new name, you need to add "Inc.", etc.), you must simultaneously get a new security key from MicroSabio and change the company name on your system. Both the new PIC and the name company name can be entered by use of the LICENS command.
Note on Background Tasks
Provided that the license is for five or more nodes, the first five (simultaneous) background tasks do not count. After that, they count as regular nodes.