Licences

The free Arkvory core works without a paid-module licence. A licence enables paid ProAnimaStudio features, including Arkvory Pro. Expiry does not make existing Pro data unreadable; new uploads use core storage and ordinary transfers when paid features are unavailable. Until you activate a licence, Arkvory sends nothing about licences anywhere.

The commands of this page run on the host of the installation, as root on Linux or as an administrator on Windows. Docker Compose installations do not load modules, so they refuse these commands.

Activate online

1. Save the licence key from the ProAnimaStudio site in a file that only you can read, for example /root/arkvory.key.

2. Activate:

   sudo arkvory license activate --key-file /root/arkvory.key --root /opt/proanima-arkvory

3. Delete the local key file after activation. Keep access to the licence key in your account: recovery may require it again.

Arkvory sends the request to the hub of the installation (the address in config/hub.json, the same as for updates) over HTTPS with certificate verification. It accepts the answer only when ProAnimaStudio's licence key signed it, for this installation and for this request. A key with a typo is refused before anything is sent. Activating the same installation with the same key again takes no new place of the licence.

What is sent

Request	Contents
Activation	The licence key, the installation id, a random value, the Arkvory version, the id and version of installed paid modules, the time
Refresh	The activation id and its secret, a random value, the sequence number, the versions

The name of the licensee, names of people, addresses, details of the machine, amounts of data, names of repositories, contents, metadata and usage statistics are never sent. Turning statistics off neither adds nor removes anything here. With the hub off (--hub-off), use offline activation.

What is kept

• The token: the signed document of the hub, in the database and in backups.
• The activation secret: a file in config/licenses/, readable only by the account of the services. It is never in the database, the logs or a backup.
• The licence key: nowhere.

Check the state

sudo arkvory license status --root /opt/proanima-arkvory

Add --json for scripts. A global administrator sees the same in GET /api/v1/system/license (reference). Arkvory verifies each stored document again every time; a document that ProAnimaStudio did not sign is invalid and enables nothing.

State	Meaning	Paid writes
valid	The licence holds; refreshFailing when the hub has not answered for a while	in the module's mode
offline-grace	No refresh for more than a day; the token holds until offlineGraceUntil	in the module's mode
grace	The licence term ended; renewal grace until graceUntil	in the module's mode
mismatch	The token belongs to another installation (a restore elsewhere); grace until graceUntil	in the module's mode until then
expired	trial_expired, licence_expired or activation_stale (the token ended)	in the core's form
revoked	A signed revocation; the reason is shown	in the core's form
invalid	A stored document does not verify	in the core's form

In every state your data stays readable, backups and restores work, and publishing never fails because of a licence: without a licence, a paid module writes new data in the form of the free core. Writing in the module's mode resumes by itself after a successful refresh.

Refresh and the offline window

The worker refreshes each activation about once a day and when it starts. Each refresh brings a new token and a new secret; the previous secret stops working.

When the hub cannot be reached, the worker tries again after 15 minutes, then waits longer each time, up to 6 hours. The licence stays valid; after a day without a refresh it is offline-grace; when the token ends (the offline window: 30 days by default, 7 for a trial) it is expired with activation_stale. A refusal of the hub, such as licence_expired or activation_suspended, is not tried again: settle it, then run:

sudo arkvory license refresh --root /opt/proanima-arkvory

Setting the clock back extends nothing: Arkvory judges by the latest time it has seen. A database clock more than a day behind that time shows clockRollback.

If a refresh may have reached the hub but its answer was lost, Arkvory permits only one replay within the 10-minute window, including after a restart. If the outcome remains unknown, the replay budget is spent, the window ends, or the returned token is invalid, activation_recovery_required stops further refreshes. The current token remains valid until its expiry. Retrieve the key and repeat license activate --key-file <file>; license refresh cannot resolve this state.

Copies and restores

A copy of the installation, such as a cloned virtual machine, holds the same secret. When both copies refresh, the hub suspends the activation (activation_secret_reused). Activate again with the key on the installation you keep.

A backup restored on another installation keeps its token, which belongs to the old installation: the state is mismatch with grace. Activate the new installation with the key, then deactivate the old one.

An activation that was not refreshed for its offline window and 30 more days lapses, and its place is freed. The next refresh takes the place back while one is free; otherwise it is refused with activation_lapsed. Deactivate another installation, then refresh.

Deactivate

sudo arkvory license deactivate lic_0123456789ABCDEFGHJKMNPQRS --root /opt/proanima-arkvory

Name the licence or one activation. The hub frees the place, and Arkvory deletes the secret.

Offline activation

For hosts without access to the hub:

1. Write a request file:

   sudo arkvory license request --key-file /root/arkvory.key --out /root/request.json --root /opt/proanima-arkvory

   The file holds the SHA-256 of the key, never the key. Arkvory goes to no network for it.

2. Upload the file in your ProAnimaStudio account and download the answer.

3. Install the answer:

   sudo arkvory license install /root/answer.json --root /opt/proanima-arkvory

The answer must belong to a request of this installation. An offline activation is not refreshed: it holds until its end, at most 365 days, and a new request renews it. A revocation reaches such a host only with a licence revocation list, which you install the same way.

Errors

Code	Meaning
licence_key_invalid	The hub does not know the key
activation_limit_reached	Every place of the licence is taken; deactivate another installation
answer_invalid	The answer is not signed by ProAnimaStudio, or is for another installation or request; nothing is kept
installation_mismatch, nonce_unknown	The offline answer belongs to another installation or to no waiting request
seq_replayed	An older document than the one kept; refused
revocation_rollback	A revocation list older than the one kept
unreachable, timeout, tls_failed, hub_error	The hub could not be reached; the worker tries again