About application activation

Application Activation is the procedure to activate the license and receive the right to use the fully-functional version of the application during the course of the license validity period.

To activate the application, a license key must be added to all SVMs. The application activation task is used to add a key to SVMs.

When the application activation task is created, a key from the Kaspersky Security Center key storage is used.

You can add a key to the Kaspersky Security Center key storage in one of the following ways:

• using the key file
• using the activation code

You can add a key to the Kaspersky Security Center key storage while creating an application activation task for SVMs or in advance.

Conditions for activating the application using the activation code

Adding a key using an activation code requires a connection to Kaspersky activation servers. The Key Storage Wizard sends data to Kaspersky activation servers to validate the activation code that was entered. The activation proxy service establishes a connection to the activation servers. If the activation proxy service is disabled, the key cannot be added to the storage by using an activation code. If Internet access is provided via a proxy server, the proxy server settings must be configured in the properties of the Kaspersky Security Center Administration Server.

For more details on the activation proxy service, please refer to the Kaspersky Security Center documentation.

Special considerations when adding license keys

When adding license keys, you should take the following into consideration:

• Simultaneous use of several license keys of the same type on an SVM is not supported. If you add a key on the SVM with a previously added key of the same type, the new key replaces the previous key.
• If you are using a licensing scheme based on the number of protected virtual machines, the type of key that you use to activate the application must match the guest operating system type of the virtual machines:
  • For the protection of virtual machines running server operating systems, you need to add a server key to SVMs.
  • For the protection of virtual machines running desktop operating systems, you need to add a desktop key to SVMs.
  • For the protection of virtual machines running server operating systems and desktop operating systems, you need to add two keys to SVMs: a server key and a desktop key.

  If you are using a licensing scheme based on the number of processor cores or based on the number of processors, you need one key (with a limitation on the number of processor cores or with a limitation on the number of processors), irrespective of the type of operating system installed on the virtual machines.

  To protect virtual machines running Linux guest operating systems, you can use only server keys, keys with a limitation on the number of processor cores, and keys with a limitation on the number of processors.

• Simultaneous use of keys corresponding to different licensing schemes on SVMs is not supported. After activation of the application, if you add a key that corresponds to a different licensing scheme, the previously added key is removed from the SVM. For example, if you add a key with a limitation on the number of processor cores, and a desktop key and/or server key was previously added to the SVM, the active and (if available) additional desktop and/or server keys are deleted when the task is completed. They are replaced by the key with a limitation on the number of processor cores as the active key.

  On an SVM, only keys corresponding to the same licensing scheme can be simultaneously used, for example, a desktop key and a server key (a licensing scheme based on the number of protected virtual machines).

  A key that was removed from one SVM can be added to another SVM if the term of the license bound to the key has not expired.

• Simultaneous use of commercial keys and subscription keys on an SVM is not supported.

  For example, if you add a commercial key on an SVM with a previously added subscription key, the subscription key is removed from the SVM. The commercial key is added in its place.

• Simultaneous use of keys matching different types of licenses (standard license or enterprise license) on an SVM is not supported.

  For example, if you are adding a key that corresponds to an enterprise license but the application was previously used with a standard license, all active and (if available) additional keys that correspond to the standard license are removed from the SVM. A key that corresponds to an enterprise license is added instead of them.