Testing software Licenses

What is Software License?

Software license is a file that verifies User’s permission to use a software program. Usually, a license is used to activate the software for the user and can be used over a period of time, after which the user has to renew it again by connecting to internet.

What is License Management?

License Management feature covers the acquisition, storage, usage (binding), backup/restore and destruction (deletion) of licenses.

What need to be tested?

· 1 X 1 Licenses: These licenses should be useful only for one machine and one user. If we try to use the same license in another machine or for another user product, it should give an appropriate error message.

· n X n Licenses: These are licenses for multiple machines and multiple users. For ex: 1X2 license should be allowed to activate the product in single machine for two different users and 2X1 license should be allowed to activate the product in 2 machines for the same user.

· License specific to a User: Here we need to make sure that license file created for a user while activating the product should not be useful for the other user in the same machine or in different machine by copying to another machine or user’s folder.

· License specific to a Machine: Here we need to make sure that license file created for a machine while activating the product should not be useful in other machine for the same user or different user.

· Checking validity of license while using the product every time (Online/Offline): When user logs-in to the product, product should check for the validity of the license. We may use the product while it is online to the license server or it may be offline. So this validity check should be done in both cases.

· Checking License expiration: We need to make sure that license expires after the period specified by the license provider.

· Renewal of License files from Server: In some products, license may be renewed in frequent intervals if the user is online. The functionality of the product should remain intact after license renewal.

· Checking License validation process: We need to know the way license is validated while using the product. Many products validate the license only when the user logs-in to the applications. If the user doesn’t log-out, S/he may use the product after license expiration. We many need to control this process. In our project we used Tickers to check the license at frequent intervals even though the user is not logged-out

· Checking License after changing the System Time (forward/Backward): Some license servers detect the change in system time settings. We need to check the product functionality when the system time is changed like rolling the time forward or backward.

· Checking License while installing after changing the System Time: We also need to check the installation of the product after changing the system time. If we install the product at different system time, it should not allow using the product.

· Checking Time Zone dependency on License file: Licenses created for the product should be useful in any time zones. The license validity or expiration time should not be changed even though time zone setting is changed in the machine

-GuruQualityGuru