The page was created for Map Suite 10. For Map Suite 9.0 please visit (http://wiki.thinkgeo.com/wiki/map_suite_production_server_licensing_9.0).

In addition to the developer license that you will need in order to write an application against the Map Suite .NET controls, some Map Suite products also require production server licenses. These licenses are necessary when you have a web-based application or other service that lives on a web- or cloud-based server. In order to deploy your application or service to such an environment in a production capacity, you will need a server license for each server that will host the application. Failure to install a production server license will result in a blank map being drawn by your application, with a message stating “Unlicensed for Runtime”.

The following Map Suite products require production server licenses: Map Suite Web For WebForms, Map Suite Web For MVC and Map Suite Web For WebAPI. A production server license may also be required if you are running an application built with the following products in a web or cloud-based environment: Map Suite Routing and Map Suite Geocoder.

If in doubt, contact your ThinkGeo sales representative for full details. Production server licenses can be purchased online from the ThinkGeo Store, and are offered on a per-server or unlimited-servers basis.

Once you have purchased the appropriate server license from ThinkGeo, simply log into the Product Center using the associated ThinkGeo account. Click on the product for which you purchased the server license – for example, Map Suite Web For MVC and you will see a button named Setup Deployment Server on the right side of the window. Click this button and a dialog box will appear.

Simply select the Install Production Server checkbox and then click OK. Your production server license is now installed! To test it, launch or access your Map Suite application at runtime and ensure that your maps are displaying correctly and without any watermarks.

When you activate a Map Suite product license that you have purchased, that license is verified with ThinkGeo's online servers as part of the activation process. This simple process ensures that you are activating a license that you are entitled to, and also allows you to easily move licenses from one machine to another by first deactivating and then reactivating that license. ThinkGeo takes care of all the particulars, and the process is seamless if you have an Internet connection.

However, if your development machine or server environment does not have an Internet connection, or you are otherwise unable to reach the thinkgeo.com domain due to the proxy, firewall or other issues, you are still able to activate your license with a simple process that consists of the following basic steps:

1. You generate a request file on your development machine or server.
2. ThinkGeo generates a unique license file for you, based on your request file.
3. You complete your license activation by importing the unique license file.

The following guide will walk you through these steps in detail.

To begin the process of activating your product license while offline, click the “Activate Offline” button on the right top of the Product Center.

Select the “Generate Request File” button. This process will generate a special file that ThinkGeo will then use to create a unique license for your particular account, product and environment.

When you click “Generate Request File”, a save file dialog box will appear. Select where you want to save the request file, then click “Save”. The following message will appear:

When you click “OK” on this message box, an Explorer window will open, highlighting the location of the request file so that you can easily attach it to an email.

Now, email the request file to support@thinkgeo.com with the subject line “Product Activation Request”. In the body of the email, please include:

• Your name (e.g., John Smith)
• Your company name (e.g., ABC Industries)
• The name and version of the Map Suite product that you wish to activate (e.g., Map Suite Web Edition X.X)
• Whether you are activating a developer license or a production server license

ThinkGeo will manually generate a unique license file for your particular installation, a process that is usually completed within one business day. Once this is done, the license file will be returned to you by email. Once you receive it, you will need to import it using the Product Center.

Click the “Activate Offline” button on the right top of Product Center again. The offline activation dialog will appear. Select the “Import License File” button.

Locate the license file that was sent to you by ThinkGeo and double-click it to process the activation contained within.

If everything is in order, the Product Center will respond with a success message.

Your product license is now activated!

If any errors occur, please take note of the specific error message, and then contact ThinkGeo for assistance.

To remove a production server license, simply select the product that you've installed on a production server license, e.g. Map Suite Web For MVC and you will see a button named Setup Deployment Server on the right side of the window. Click on this button and a dialog will pop up. Simply select the *Uninstall Production Server* option and click OK. The production license will be uninstalled from this machine.

If you installed the server license as a “Production Server” type, uninstalling will free up one server license activation in your ThinkGeo account. This means you can reinstall the server license later at any time, or on a different server. Please note that your server will need to have an active Internet connection in order for your license to be freed.