How to: Fix the Invalid License Error

Overview:

There are a variety of reasons why you may get the "invalid license" error. They all relate in some way to the quad daily license verification. This How-To document will give the reader an overview of each cause and how to fix it.

It is important to remember that this error does not mean that your site or email are down. The normal operation of the server has NOT been interrupted. You have merely been locked out of NodeWorx and SiteWorx. Visitors can still view yours and your client's web pages and your email still works.

Causes:

There are five known causes of the invalid license error:

1. The time on your system clock is off.
2. Port 2443 is blocked or InterWorx is not installed on a publicly available IP.
3. You have changed IPs and haven't made the change on our licensing server.
4. Your server is unable to resolve license.interworx.com.
5. Your license has expired or has been suspended due to non-payment.

Solutions:

Depending on the cause, please follow the instructions below to fix your server:

Cause #1: The time on your system clock is off

• Log into your server as 'root' and verify the system time.
• Sync your system time against an Internet timebase server (run the following as root):

service ntpd stop
ntpdate ntp.interworx.com
service ntpd start

• Sync your license with the licensing server:

/home/interworx/cron/license.pex

Cause #2: Port 2443 is blocked or InterWorx is not installed on a publicly available IP

InterWorx must have at least one IP that is publicly available with port 2443 OPEN to all connections. You can install InterWorx on an internal IP, but you will have to make appropriate changes to firewalls/routers to make that port accessible to the Internet on at least one IP. The InterWorx software contacts our licensing server four times a day to verify the license. If it fails to make contact, there is an approximately 24-hour grace period, after which it suspends the software until such time as it can make contact.

• Reconfigure your router if needed to make sure at least one IP is available to the Internet.
• Verify that port 2443 is completely OPEN in your firewall.
  1. Log into your server as root and run the following command ~iworx/cron/license.pex

Cause #3: Changed IPs

Each licensed copy of InterWorx Control Panel may only be installed on ONE server at a time. In order to enforce this license, the InterWorx software attempts to contact the licensing server four times a day to verify the license. If the IP of the server and the IP on file with the licensing server for a particular license key do not match, the InterWorx software will suspend itself until such time as this is corrected.

• If you are planning to run InterWorx Control Panel on more than one server, you will need to buy a separate license key for each server (even in clustering).
• If you have changed servers or have changed the IP on your existing server:
  1. Follow the instructions in this how-to doc to change the IP associated with your license key.
  2. Log into your server as "root" or su to root and execute the following command ~iworx/cron/license.pex --sync

Cause #4: Unable to resolve license.interworx.com

As part of the license verification process, InterWorx attempts to contact license.interworx.com. If the DNS lookup fails, this can also suspend your license.

Assuming you are using your own server as a DNS server: Check your resolv.conf settings:

[[email protected] ~]# cat /etc/resolv.conf
nameserver 127.0.0.1
[[email protected] ~]#

If this has been changed somehow:

1. Edit resolv.conf so that it reads as above
2. Execute service ntpd restart as root

If you are using an external DNS resolver

1. Run ping license.interworx.com as root
2. If you don't get a response, contact your DNS provider for assistance

Cause #5: Expired or suspended license

1. Please check causes 1-4 before contacting InterWorx unless you already know that this is the cause.
2. Contact InterWorx to verify that your license is up-to-date and paid.
3. Renew or pay your bill as needed.
4. Log into your server as root and run the following command ~iworx/cron/license.pex

None of these:

If none of these issues seems to be the problem, direct clients, please open a support ticket. Indirect clients, please contact your reseller for assistance.