DDM HelpLicence
Every installation needs a licence from us. It is a signed text that starts with ddm1., and it names
- who it is for – your company,
- the plan every organisation in the installation has,
- how many seats (people with an account and open invitations, each counted once) and how many organisations the installation may have,
- until when it is valid – usually 30 days, never beyond your contract.
Owners and administrators see its status under Settings › Licence.
Renewal
With internet access, the licence renews itself: once a day the installation asks us for the next one. If that fails – for example because a firewall blocks the way – it tries again every hour and shows the error under Settings › Licence. There you can also choose Renew now.
If we change something in your licence – more seats, a later contract end – it arrives within an hour: the installation asks every hour whether its licence is still the latest.
The licence is bound to your installation as soon as it renews for the first time. If you move to a new server, take the database with you – then it stays the same installation. We refuse a new, empty installation with the same licence; in that case, send us the Installation ID from Settings › Licence.
Without internet
If the server may not access the internet, set LICENCE_RENEWAL=off. We then send you a new licence before the old one runs out, and you enter it under Settings › Licence – or set it as LICENCE_KEY and restart the CMS. In this case, a change to your licence only arrives with the next licence.
What the limits mean
A limit never takes anything away: it only stops more from being added. When all seats are taken, the next invitation fails; when the number of organisations is reached, nobody can create a new one. If we lower a limit below what you use, everything stays as it is.
When the licence runs out
| Period | What happens |
|---|---|
| 14 days before | Owners and administrators see a banner and get e-mails – 14, 7 and 1 day before it runs out. |
| run out, the first 14 days | Read-only: everything can be opened, searched and downloaded, but nothing can be changed. Everybody sees a banner; integrations can read, not write. |
| after that | Locked: only owners and administrators can sign in – to enter a new licence. Integrations, the CMWS interface and AI apps are locked out. |
No data is ever deleted. With a valid licence, everything is immediately as it was before.
Feature requests and bug reports still reach us while the licence has run out.