This page covers versions ML8.0.1.4+ and MultiStore 9.1.0.1+. For earlier versions of the software, please see this page.

Every site needs to have a license key in place, or the front-end of the site will be disabled so only an 'unlicensed' nag message will display - no other site content will be visible to customers until the site is licensed. The admin console will function while unlicensed, though the nag message will display there as well.

The licensing check is based on the address that customers hit the site at. If a customer goes to www.someshop.com, the software will verify that the license file installed on the site is for www.someshop.com. If the URL displayed in the address bar doesn't match the URL in that license key (for example is www.someothershop.com, an IP address, etc) the 'unlicensed' message will be displayed.

Licensing for test sites has changed in newer versions of the software. It is not necessary to specify localhost for staging site URLs - the license file you download automatically enables stores running in a "localhost" environment, and stores running on "AspDotNetStorefront" subdomains (for example, http://staging.aspdotnetstorefront.mystore.com). As long as the test URL is 'localhost' or has an 'aspdotnetstorefront' subdomain, you may have as many test sites as necessary, even if they test URLs vary. Simply copy the .licx file that you will generate below to each of the sites.

Directions for generating and installing the key files are given below. A few things to keep in mind are:

- The key file needs to be for your domain, subfolders are not required (eg www.domain.com/shop would only need a license for www.domain.com)
- If you want your site to be accessible both with 'www' and without, make sure you enter 'www' in the key.
- Sites can always be accessed at the IP address, however postbacks will trigger the 'Unlicensed Software' message. This will allow the site to be indexed or reached via IP for other reasons, but not used for checkout.
- The 'Unlicensed Software' message will only display to requests that hit the site at an invalid address. Customers who access the site correctly will not be affected.

1 - Log into http://www.aspdotnetstorefront.com/license with the account that was used for your original purchase.

2 - On the Licenses tab, click on the GUID of the license you wish to manage, and a panel will expand showing you that license's details. Enter the domain(s) you want to generate a key for in the box(es) under Licensed Domains, and click the 'Set domain(s)' button. See the note about staging/testing sites above: you should only enter the live site's domain here, the key will automatically allow the site to run on valid test sites as explained above.

3 - Once the new changes are saved, click 'Retrieve License' and the new key file will be saved to your machine. Do not change the filename. Directions for installing the key file are below.

1 - Follow the directions here to install the software and set up your stores.

2 - Use FTP or Windows Explorer to copy the file to where the software is installed. The license file must go in the {root}/images folder. Be sure to keep the .licx extension intact.

3 - Verify that the .NET user account (typically ASPNET for WindowsXP or NETWORK SERVICE for Windows Server 2003/Vista or IIS_IUSRS for Windows Server 2008/Windows7) has read access to the license file.

4 - Click “Reset Cache” in the upper right of the Admin Console.

Customers on versions ML8.0.1.3, ML8.0.1.4, MultiStore 9.1.0.0, or MultiStore 9.1.0.1 should apply this patch to their sites to decrease the likelihood of mistakenly seeing the 'Unlicensed' message after a key has been installed.

If you have followed all of the steps above and continue to see the unlicensed message, or see the unlicensed message again after the site has been running licensed for some time, check the following things:

• First and foremost, verify that your site is only being accessed at the domain(s) it is licensed for. IP addresses, domain aliases (that aren't licensed), etc should not be used. If necessary, most hosts are able to track how requests to your site are made, to help narrow down how your site is being accessed incorrectly.
• Ensure that the user account your site is running under has the proper permissions to the {root}/images folder on your site, as described in step 3 above. Your host can verify this for you if you don't have access to do so.
• Verify that you only have a single .licx file in the {root}/images folder on your site.
• If you are on ML8.0.1.3, ML8.0.1.4, MultiStore 9.1.0.0, or MultiStore 9.1.0.1, make sure that you have applied the license patch linked to above.
• Ensure that the license file is named properly. This will be a 'random' sequence of letters/numbers (a GUID) assigned by the AspDotnetStorefront site when you download the license file. If the file has been renamed, you can re-download the file from our site to obtain it again with the proper name.