Forced deactivation of full license

[simoncn]

At present the only way to deactivate a MinimServer full license is by using the License tab of the MinimServer configuration web page on the device running MinimServer. This ensures the license deactivation is registered on the device as well as in the central license database.

There are some situations where this isn't possible. For example, the device might have a hardware fault that has made it unusable or the device might have been reformatted to overwrite the licensed MinimServer installation. Until now, the only way to deactivate the license in these exceptional cases has been for me to patch the central license database. As the number of licensed devices increases, requests for me to do this are becoming more frequent and I have been considering whether there could be a more convenient "self-service" solution.

This self-service solution is now available. On the "License details" page of the minimworld.com website, there is now a link to a new Force Deactivate License page. This page enables you to select any of your licensed devices and do a forced deactivation of the license for that device, freeing up the license activation to be used on some other device.

Forced deactivation should not be selected for a device that is still running MinimServer. If you accidentally do this, MinimServer will reset to a starter license and stop running, usually some time within the next 24 hours. The Force Deactivate License page atempts to check for this and warn you if it applies.