article Qlik Licensing Service Reference Guide in Official Support Articles

Qlik Licensing Service Reference Guide

Andrew_Delaney — Fri, 03 Nov 2023 09:22:03 GMT

Content

Background

Qlik Products have generally utilized license keys to enforce license entitlements and use rights. During activation, the licensed entitlement is downloaded to the product in the format of a Licensing Enabler File (LEF). Activation requires internet connectivity to the deployment and is triggered by entering a 16-digit serial number and a corresponding control number. Offline activation is also supported using a manual LEF by copying and pasting a text file into the activation user dialog. Communication is through an http protocol.

Qlik Licensing Service (QLS)

Introduced with the February 2019 release [GM1] of Qlik Sense Enterprise, Qlik has developed an alternative process for product activation. There have been several drivers for this change, including a move to an https protocol for a more secure connection between the Customer deployment and Qlik infrastructure. More information follows below.

To allow for Customers to make the decision when to move, Qlik has introduced the use of a Signed License Key to determine which activation method to use. Over time Qlik Licensing Service will replace the current activation process, but for now both methods of activations will work.

Signed License Key (JWT)

As mentioned above, Qlik has added one additional way to activate Qlik products.

What is a JSON Web Token?

JSON Web Token (JWT) is an open standard (RFC 7519) that defines a compact and self-contained way for securely transmitting information between parties as a JSON object. This information can be verified and trusted because it is digitally signed. JWT’s can be signed using a secret (with the HMAC algorithm) or a public/private key pair using RSA or ECDSA.

Although JWT’s can be encrypted to also provide secrecy between parties, we will focus on signed tokens. Signed tokens can verify the integrity of the claims contained within it, while encrypted tokens hide those claims from other parties. When tokens are signed using public/private key pairs, the signature also certifies that only the party holding the private key is the one that signed it. That is why we refer to this as the Signed License Key.

What’s in this for me as a Customer?

With the use of a Signed License Key, there are more Product and deployment offers to use.

Use of multi-site deployments, such as connecting a Qlik Sense Enterprise site with a QlikView Server deployment using Qlik Sense Enterprise license options. This is enabled by accepting a Dual-Use offer for each QlikView deployment that should be enabled for a Unified License scenario.
Use of multi-geo deployments, such as having Qlik Sense Enterprise sites in different locations using the same list of users.
Use of the consumption-based license, Qlik Sense Enterprise Analyzer Capacity. This additional user license is possible to use in a single or multi-cloud scenario.

All of the above is enabled by the use of the Signed License Key. This made possible as the local deployment will sync entitlement data with all deployment’s using the same Signed License Key through an online database, License Backend, hosted by Qlik within Qlik Cloud.

Activation Using the Signed License Key

This is initiated by entering a Signed License Key to the Control Panel. The request is performed by the service Licenses using port 443 (https protocol procedures applies).

https://license.qlikcloud.com

Signed license Key

Example data

A Signed License Key based on one of Qlik’s internal keys.

eyJhbGciOiJSUzUxMiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCIsImtpZCI6ImEzMzdhZDE3LTk1ODctNGNhOS05M2I3LTBi
MmI5ZTNlOWI0OCJ9.eyJqdGkiOiI2MjNhYTlhZi05NTBmLTQ3ZjctOGJmMC1mNGQzOWY0MmQ5N
mMiLCJsaWNlbnNlIjoiOTk5OTAwMDAwMDAwMTI1MyJ9.YJqTct2ngqLfl2VP3jxW4RsDNK2MTL-BpJ
WnBdIfF5gGbJcX0hc__tfIa2ab5ZrL9h6tsZxTwgucTFiRTAOz8PaOQP7JTnhPCyrBZwpnmhvCrSHx2
C-HbCARFUIueBzMg8fgvWH-3HxBuxx6jnDhekDTUbb12vBq7CySampJkgMT7QsDdUkeJy5E7O0U
8yhd1RtEDeuTbeX35eIdQUN4DyJWHHPiT9qZt1AV0_Ofe1iLKxYZMa5jC0kIsVwYnRCJzibZlrLE7mS
VlNitxmcm8OoUrR_ZIk8VuOkoz_qqy8N_wwrt7FcT2slWz50XzuL8TIWY9mcGIL

Frequency in which license information is updated

Assignment information (what user has what type of access assigned) is synchronized from the license service to license.qlikcloud.com every 10 minutes.
Changes to a license (such as adding additional analyzer capacity) can take up to 24 hours to be retrieved.

Data Transmitted by an Activation Request

Data Element	Comment	Example Data
Signed License Key		See above
Cause	Initial or Update	“Initial”
User agent	build by the License service version (operating system) and Product (e.g. QSEfW, QCS, QSEfE, QV)	Licenses/1.6.4 (windows) QSEfW

Activation Reply

Data Element	Comment	Sample Data
License definition	content variable based on product and entitlement	"name": "analyzer_time", "usage": {"class": "time", "minimum": 5}, "provisions": [{ "accessType":"analyzer"} ],"units": [{"count": 200, "valid": "2018-06-01/2018-12-31"}]}, "name": "professional", "usage": { "class": "assigned", "minimum": 1 }, "provisions": [{ "accessType": "professional" }],"units": [{ "count": 10, "valid": "" }]}

Analyzer Capacity License Report Process

(Time schedule is not disclosed and includes grace time to support outages in the internet connection, a/k/a Optimistic Delegation.)

Data Transmitted

Data Element	Comment	Sample Data
Signed License Key		See above
Array Element id	Used for internal match only	1
Allotment name	alternatives are Analyzer_Time, Core_Time	“analyzer_time”
Year/Month	YYYY-MM	2018-11
Consumption	for this deployment since last sync	242
Source	hashed ID to make each deployment unique, e.g. a Qlik Sense Enterprise on Windows and a Qlik Sense Enterprise on Kubernetes will have different Source ID's	fbe89d02-6d24-4595-915e-c52ce76f2195
User agent	same construct as for as activation request	Licenses/1.6.4 (windows) QSEfW

Sync Reply

Data Element	Comment	Sample Data
Total consumption	Used by the Product for enforcement. Deny access will be executed if quota has been exceeded. Quota is set in the LEF. Additional quota for the month could be managed as Overage in the LEF. This would contain an Overage Value (COUNT) or the value YES. Total quota for the month is calculated as licensed quota + Overage quota. If the LEF contains the value YES, there will be no cap on the capacity for the Year/Month.	12345

User Assignment Sync Process

Data Transmitted

Data Element	Comment	Sample Data
Signed License Key		See above
Allotment name	Professional / Analyzer	“professional”
Subject	Domain / User ID; if this an add or delete transaction. By delete the subject will be removed immediately. An internal id will be used to secure sync to other deployments using the same Signed License Key. The internal id will disappear within 60 days after a delete transaction. (This information is stored for all assigned users until such a time that the assignment is deleted at which point it is deleted. The information is used for synchronizing assignments across deployments in order to facilitate the single-license-multi-deployment scenario. It is encrypted in transit and at rest.)	“acme\bob” (For information on how data is submitted and stored in the audit logs see here)
User agent	Build by the License service version (operating system) and Product (e.g. QSEfW, QCS, QSEfE, QV)	Licenses/1.6.4 (windows) QSEfW
Source	Hashed ID to make each deployment unique, e.g. a Qlik Sense Enterprise on Windows and a Qlik Sense Enterprise on Kubernetes will have different Source ID's	fbe89d02-6d24-4595-915e-c52ce76f2195
Sync metadata	Versioning information about the subjects and list of subjects to manage the synchronization process	{ "source": "my assignments", "bases": [{ "license": "1234 1234 1234 1234", "version": 0 }], "patches": [{ "instance": "", "version": 0, "license": "1234 1234 1234 1234", "allotment": "analyzer", "subject": \\generated4, "created": "2019-04-18T10:01:35.024031Z" }

Reply from License Backend

Data Element	Comment	Sample Data
Signed License Key		See above
Subject	Including subjects changed by other deployments	“acme\bob”
Sync metadata	Versioning information about the subjects and list of subjects to manage the synchronization process	{ "bases": [{ "license": "1234 1234 1234 1234", "version": 17 }], "patches": [{ "instance": "5382018630938057025", "version": 14, "license": "1234 1234 1234 1234", "allotment": "analyzer", "subject": ACME\\bob", "created": "2019-04-18T10:01:35.024Z", "rejection": "" }]

This Reference Guide is intended solely for general informational purposes and its contents do not form part of the product documentation. The information in this guide is subject to change without notice. ALL INFORMATION IN THIS GUIDE IS BELIEVED TO BE ACCURATE BUT IS PRESENTED WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED. Qlik makes no commitment to deliver any future functionality and purchasing decisions should not be based upon any future expectation.

Re: Qlik Licensing Service Reference Guide

Anil_Babu_Samineni — Tue, 07 Jul 2020 10:33:28 GMT

@Andrew_Delaney

Good post and it helps to dig and upgrade. I got one question. For this "Activation Using the Signed License Key".

Does Port 443 need to enabled? By Default, Qlik will listen 443 only (Do we still need more on this)

https://license.qlikcloud.com ? For this, I can talk to URL from my machine where as I can't listen that and accessing thru Qlik Sense server? Do we need to provide access to that URL where before apply JWT?

When I applying SLK, I am troubling some issue.

Kindly Acknowledge about your feedback?

Re: Qlik Licensing Service Reference Guide

Sonja_Bauernfeind — Tue, 07 Jul 2020 14:31:00 GMT

Hello @Anil_Babu_Samineni !

When activating a Qlik Sense SLK, port 443 to the license backend needs to be open.

See comment in this article:

This is initiated by entering a Signed License Key to the Control Panel. The request is performed by the service Licenses using port 443 (https protocol procedures applies).

https://license.qlikcloud.com

If you experience any issues when applying the signed license key, I would recommend searching our knowledge base for further assistance. Here is a link with a simple pre-defined query.

Re: Qlik Licensing Service Reference Guide

Anil_Babu_Samineni — Thu, 23 Jul 2020 11:08:14 GMT

@Sonja_Bauernfeind I've opened port where as I can't get link to open due to restrict with in my storage in servers due to policy. I hope, I can apply with Key and control number as alternate. And also, I may not finding any different behaviour with SLK vs Control number? Do you think this will behave different?

Re: Qlik Licensing Service Reference Guide

aniketvasadkar_eq — Thu, 10 Feb 2022 11:59:32 GMT

Hi All, We need to test our license over internet for QLIK VIEW . Do we need to whitelist same url https://license.qlikcloud.com from our servers for port 443 ?

@Sonja_Bauernfeind @Andrew_Delaney

Re: Qlik Licensing Service Reference Guide

Andrew_Delaney — Mon, 14 Feb 2022 08:05:09 GMT

Short Answer: Yes

If that is not viable, then it is possible to set up a proxy for this service, please see the help at https://help.qlik.com/en-US/qlikview/May2021/Subsystems/Server/Content/QV_Server/QlikView-Server/QVS_LicenseServiceProxySetUp.htm

Re: Qlik Licensing Service Reference Guide

humansoft — Thu, 18 Aug 2022 07:47:25 GMT

@Sonja_Bauernfeind @Andrew_Delaney

I have important question from our customer about online communication to QLS. You mentioned about User Assignment Sync Process: Data Transmitted and Reply from License Backend. Is Subject (user login) in hashed form (like you mentioned here) or unchanged form transmitted to QLS?

“a24a2f2b67c5e051bcb6cd2d7a9f7ebe” (hashed form) OR “acme\bob” (unchanged form)?

Re: Qlik Licensing Service Reference Guide

Sonja_Bauernfeind — Fri, 09 Sep 2022 09:22:00 GMT

Hello @humansoft

I've reached out to our licence team and will update you as soon as I hear back.

All the best,
Sonja

Re: Qlik Licensing Service Reference Guide

Sonja_Bauernfeind — Wed, 05 Oct 2022 09:03:13 GMT

Hello @humansoft

We received a reply.

The subject is sent to the backend not hashed. The communication's encryption mechanism is described in this link: Configuring preferred cipher suites for Qlik License Service in Qlik Sense Enterprise on Windows.

All the best,
Sonja

Re: Qlik Licensing Service Reference Guide

amartinezSAND — Tue, 16 Apr 2024 08:34:48 GMT

Good morning @Sonja_Bauernfeind !, we understand that the same SLK can be used to set up an independent development server since both environments would use the unified license allocation and would not be duplicating users. Is this correct?
Thank you very much!

Re: Qlik Licensing Service Reference Guide

Sonja_Bauernfeind — Thu, 18 Apr 2024 08:54:59 GMT

Hello @amartinezSAND

That is correct. Users who are shared between the environments (example, if my user exists in both, the production and development node), the user will be synced. In this example I would have the same license on both nodes.

All the best,
Sonja

Re: Qlik Licensing Service Reference Guide

ReneDeVries — Mon, 26 Aug 2024 08:33:00 GMT

Hello @Sonja_Bauernfeind ,

We have some problems with QlikView Desktop users getting the message below.When I try https://license.qlikcloud.com/ I get a 404 with "nginx".

Our company is using Zscaler services to access Internet and I have to tell our network guys exactly how the licensing works and what URL and ports need to be whitelisted.

Please advise!

Greetings, Rene de Vries

Re: Qlik Licensing Service Reference Guide

Sonja_Bauernfeind — Tue, 27 Aug 2024 09:16:12 GMT

Hello @ReneDeVries

This topic may require additional troubleshooting than what we can provide an article. I recommend you post about your issue in the QlikView Administration forums.

Though, on a first look, make certain that your network admins have properly allowed traffic to the license server (https://license.qlikcloud.com/ with port 443), as that is the usual culprit here. The URL you mentioned there is the one you need. They should also be able to tell what their service is blocking.

You can find out more information about the signed license key here: About the Signed License Key. This section is about Qlik Sense, but the same principles apply.

All the best,
Sonja

Re: Qlik Licensing Service Reference Guide

ReneDeVries — Thu, 29 Aug 2024 08:57:47 GMT

Hi @Sonja_Bauernfeind ,

Thanks for your quick response!
I have some additional general questions, which could be of interest for other users:

Does QlikView Desktop use the license.qlikcloud.com or the lef1 through lef4.qliktech.com? And do the lef* calls also use port 443?
Does QlikView Desktop verify the license EVERY time when it is started? Our network engineers couldn't see ANY traffic to the URLS above for the user when starting the application.

Greetings, Rene de Vries

Re: Qlik Licensing Service Reference Guide

Sonja_Bauernfeind — Fri, 30 Aug 2024 05:27:26 GMT

Hello @ReneDeVries

My apologies, the article you responded to had me identify this as an issue with a product that needs to be licensed with a signed license key. (I admit the screenshot should have given it away.)

Based on what you replied with here, you are looking to license a standalone QlikView desktop client. You can find all relevant information about this here (How To License QlikView Desktop Client), though typically you will not have a QlikView Desktop standalone license, but will be leasing a license from a QlikView server.

This article also provides information on the LEF servers: List of IP Addresses behind license.qlikcloud.com and lef.qliktech.com

On your frequency question:

If a license is leased, it will check its validity every time it starts and if it can access the server it leased a license from. If the server cannot be reached, the license remains active for 30 days before it must be renewed
If it is not leased- this part I need to find out for you, it has been a while since I worked with this product!

Important though! Make sure the license you have is for a Desktop client and not a server license. The error you are receiving may be incorrectly phrased and indicate that you are attempting to license a QlikView server license on your Desktop (also make sure it is still valid for the release you are installing).

All the best,
Sonja

Re: Qlik Licensing Service Reference Guide

Sonja_Bauernfeind — Fri, 30 Aug 2024 07:04:31 GMT

Hello @ReneDeVries

As suspected, if you do actually have a legacy QlikView Desktop license, then once you have applied it, it will not expire unless the license itself has an expiration date in the LEF. It will also not "phone home".

I still recommend you look at what license you are trying to use to make sure it is meant for what you are trying to do.

All the best,
Sonja

Re: Qlik Licensing Service Reference Guide

TTA — Thu, 12 Feb 2026 10:22:01 GMT

Hello Team,

please i want to move a SLK from on site to another , how to proceed. I see that i cannot deactivate the SLK in QMC. version Qliksens february 2024

Thank you

article Qlik Licensing Service Reference Guide in Official Support Articles

Qlik Licensing Service Reference Guide

Background

Qlik Licensing Service (QLS)

Signed License Key (JWT)

What is a JSON Web Token?

What’s in this for me as a Customer?

Activation Using the Signed License Key

Frequency in which license information is updated

Data Transmitted by an Activation Request

Activation Reply

Analyzer Capacity License Report Process

Data Transmitted

Sync Reply

User Assignment Sync Process

Data Transmitted

Reply from License Backend

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