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Licensing

This document describes the licensing types available to Phonexia's partners and customers. It does not cover the business conditions of Phonexia licensing.

What Is a License?​

A license is a formal agreement regarding "The Product Usage Rights" between Phonexia and a user of any Phonexia technology or product. Licenses are issued by the Business Department for all speech technologies and products and may be required to use utilities and tools developed by Phonexia or its partners.

For technical purposes, the license agreement is represented by the license file, which describes the Phonexia technologies or products allowed to be used with that license file.

License File​

The license file is a plain text file named license.dat by default. It describes all the conditions and parameters that maintain the validity of the license, such as the product or technology name, unique license ID, license expiration, and the number of instances covered for each technology.

License file example:

license.dat
# Phonexia license file
# generated 2025-08-26 07:24:37 UTC
SERVER license.phonexia.com/lic
USE_SERVER

PRODUCT Evaluation_VIN5 7438B06C32569432B37702FA1D004EA3 5EC6982A BD3DD96C [email protected] # crc:6 slots:8 until:2025-09-04 12:00:00
PRODUCT PHR-tech 9A83A2062B140253E8EAAFB320B46DA1 0EEDFFF2 38C7E717 [email protected] # crc:103 slots:8 until:2025-09-04 12:00:00
  • The USE_... line determines the licensing type:
    • USE_SERVER – license linked to the Phonexia licensing server (known as a NET license) (online license)
    • USE_USB – license linked to a USB licensing key provided by Phonexia (offline license)
    • USE_HW – license linked to the HW profile of a selected machine (offline license)

Refer to the sections below for more details about each license type.

How to Use the License File​

The default way is to place the license file in the same directory as the product executable. The product will find the license file automatically during startup and read its content.

License Types​

NET License​

The NET license is specified by the USE_SERVER line in the license file.

The only requirement for this license is outgoing HTTP internet connectivity to the address (and port) specified on the SERVER... line — by default, Phonexia's license server at license.phonexia.com/lic, port 80. This means that, by definition, the license will not work if there is an issue with internet connectivity between the source machine and Phonexia's servers, e.g., a connection blocked by a firewall, routing issues, or maintenance of the Phonexia servers.

note

Although we usually achieve 98% availability, it cannot be guaranteed and an SLA cannot be declared. Therefore, we do not provide the NET license type for production deployments.

Typical recommended usage:

  • development
  • testing software functionality
  • data evaluation

Not recommended for:

  • demonstration purposes (partner to customer), due to its dependency on an internet connection — there may be various obstacles in different customer environments (firewalls, air-gapped rooms, etc.)

USB License​

The USB license is specified by the USE_USB line in the license file (the SERVER line is ignored in this case, and no internet connection is required).

This license is bound to a physical USB token delivered by Phonexia. To successfully use the USB license, all of the following conditions must be met:

  • The Phonexia software must use a valid license.dat file (usually present in the same directory as the Phonexia software).
  • The USB token must be present in the USB port/hub of the machine running the Phonexia software (in virtual environments, this device must be provisioned to the virtual machine running the Phonexia software); disconnecting the USB token may cause the software to crash.
  • The USB token must contain a license.dat file in the root of the USB dongle, and it must be accessible in read/write mode.
note

The USB dongle is labeled with a sticker showing the dongle number, used for future support. The sticker must not be removed from the USB dongle.

Typical recommended usage:

  • production stages of a project
  • sharing a license between developers
  • demonstration purposes (traveling)

HW License​

The HW license is specified by the USE_HW line in the license file (the SERVER line is ignored in this case, and no internet connection is required).

This license is bound to the "HW profile" of a specific machine (based on OS, CPU, RAM, HDD, and ETH). The HW profile is generated as a hash from a TXT file — usually named hw-info.txt — created using the hw-gen tool, available for download below.

note

Any major change to the HW profile — including an OS version change, e.g., after an upgrade or patch — can prevent the license from working, and Phonexia support must be contacted (with the new HW profile of the changed machine) to generate a new license file.

Therefore, make sure to plan for and coordinate your OS patches or infrastructure changes properly, to avoid unwanted service outages due to invalid licenses.

To successfully use the HW license, follow these steps:

  1. Get a machine for processing (64-bit required) and make sure its OS, CPU, RAM, HDD, and ETH configuration will not change over time (this is especially important in virtual or cloud environments).

  2. Create a TXT file containing the HW profile.

  3. Send the TXT file to your Phonexia business contact.

  4. We will get back to you and send you the license.

Typical recommended usage:

  • software evaluation in isolated environments
  • Proof of Concept project stages
  • demonstration purposes on fixed HW (laptops)
  • production project stages with fixed HW and OS

Limited usage for:

  • dynamic virtualization environments (fixing the HW is required)