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If you have a Standalone license, you should activate ABBYY FineReader Engine on the same computer where it is installed. In the case of a Network license, you should activate ABBYY FineReader Engine on a network server — a computer which will manage and distribute licenses among workstations in a network. However, ABBYY FineReader Engine may be installed both on the network server and on workstations. All licenses require the Licensing Service (LicensingService.exe in Windows) for correct operation of ABBYY FineReader Engine. The Licensing Service can be installed automatically during the Developer installation and the Runtime installation of the ABBYY FineReader Engine library in automatic mode. If you need to install it manually, see Installing the Licensing Service article in UserGuide for details.
The Licensing Service settings are provided in the LicensingSettings.xml file. The file is required for network installation and for standalone installation if Online protection is used. This file is generated automatically during automatic installation. When installing manually, you must specify the correct settings in this file. The XML schema of the Licensing Service settings is described in the LicensingSettings.xsd file. You can find this file in the Inc folder. The detailed description of the settings is provided in the Working with the LicensingSettings.xml File section.
For managing licenses ABBYY FineReader Engine provides the License Manager utility. The License Manager utility allows you to work with licenses of all protection types:
  • Software protection
    Uses an activation file that should be obtained from the ABBYY server during a license activation process.
  • Online protection
    Uses a password-protected file that contains the license parameters. In this case, license activation is not required.

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If you choose online protection

If you choose online protection, you need to ensure that the Licensing Service installed on your computer can connect to ABBYY Online licensing services: allow connections to *.abbyy.com on port 443 (HTTPS). With online protection, license activation is not required, but ABBYY Online licensing service synchronizes with your workstation in set time intervals. Online License appears in the License Manager utility after ABBYY FineReader Engine transfers the connection data to ABBYY Online licensing service. The presence of an Online License depends on the state of the connection to ABBYY Online licensing service. With a continuous connection to ABBYY Online licensing service, the license is always present in the License Manager utility. If the connection to ABBYY Online licensing service is lost, there is a certain timeout during which it can be re-established. Otherwise, the license is invalidated and will disappear from the License Manager utility until the local Licensing Service connects to ABBYY Online licensing service. The synchronization and timeout periods are the parameters of your license. The same Online License can be used on multiple computers which number is limited by the license; no specific actions are required to allow concurrent usage.
If your Online License has a limit on the number of concurrent users, it will become available to another user after a time equal to the offline working time from the moment the workstation or license server was shut down. If you need to release an Online License faster, use the “Release Online Licenses…” option in the License Manager utility or call the ReleaseOnlineLicense method of the Engine object. The time it takes to complete the operation depends on your network bandwidth, however, you may specify the OperationTimeout parameter of the ReleaseOnlineLicense method for your convenience. If you choose software protection A software protection key requires the activation of its serial number by means of the License Manager utility. How is activation carried out? Activation takes very little time and is carried out with the help of one of the tools listed below. These tools are used for sending the necessary activation information to ABBYY.
  • Linux activation script: activatefre.sh
The Linux script can be found in the root folder of the ABBYY FineReader Engine distribution package.
Windows Subsystem for Linux does not support working with software protection.
Activation script should be run under ROOT.
  • Windows Activation Wizard
The Windows Activation Wizard is built into the License Manager utility. The Activation Wizard is also used for loading the ABBYY License File (*.ABBYY.License file) which Windows users receive from ABBYY during activation. Activation information is sent as a code (Installation ID) which is generated on the basis of information about the computer on which the program is being installed. No personal information about the user or computer is used for generating this code and this code cannot be used for identifying the user. Activation methods:
  • Via the Internet
Activation is carried out automatically and takes only a few seconds. An Internet connection is required for this type of activation.
  • By e-mail
The user needs to send an e-mail message generated by the program and containing information required for activation to product-activation-robot@abbyy.com. To ensure a quick reply from the mail robot, do not alter the information in the message body or Subject field.
  • By e-mail from another computer
This method is suitable, if your computer does not have an Internet connection. The program will generate an e-mail message containing information required for activation and offer you to copy the message and send it to ABBYY from another computer. In the case of activation via the Internet, the whole process is carried out automatically. In the case of activation by e-mail, the user needs to enter the path to the Activation File received from ABBYY in the License Manager utility in Linux or in the corresponding field of the Windows Activation Wizard. Once the activation is complete, the program can be used.
If you need to activate or deactivate ABBYY FineReader Engine 12 using a proxy server, you will need to specify
  • the connection parameters in the LicensingSettings.xml file ( See License Activation via a proxy server) in Linux
  • the correct proxy settings in Internet Explorer (Tools > Internet Options > Connections) for Windows
Reactivation ABBYY FineReader Engine 12 can be reinstalled on one and the same computer an unlimited number of times without reactivation. However, if you make major upgrades, format your hard drive, or reinstall the operating system on the computer where the Licensing Service is installed, an additional activation may be required.

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Deactivation

ABBYY FineReader Engine 12 license can be deactivated. The deactivated license can be then activated on another computer. The number of allowed deactivations can be restricted by your license. Deactivation takes very little time and is carried out with the help of the License Manager utility. In Windows, the License Manager utility has a built in Deactivation Wizard. During the deactivation the Activation File (*.ABBYY.License file) which you receive from ABBYY during activation is deleted. Any copy of this file cannot be used for activation again. The deactivation can be performed only via the Internet. Deactivation is carried out automatically and takes only a few seconds. An Internet connection is required. Once the deactivation is complete, the license can be activated on another computer.

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License update

If you have purchased additional modules or an additional amount of pages for ABBYY FineReader Engine 12 and your license does not allow you to use them, you need to update the license. The license update process is similar to the activation process. The update process is carried out with the help of the the Linux License Manager console utility or the Windows Update Wizard and can be performed via the Internet or by e-mail. Once the update is complete, the newest functionality of the program can be used.
Online License is updated automatically during the synchronization period after changing the license parameters on the ABBYY FineReader Engine side.

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See also

Licensing