Deep Freeze 8.31 made several enhancements to license activation to curb piracy and over-deployment issues. Moving forward, the workstation must connect either via the local console or directly to the Faronics Activation server to authenticate the license as and when an Internet connection is available. Failure to activate the license for more than 30 days will expire the product and prevent the workstation from rebooting into a Frozen state.

The workstation will attempt to automatically activate the license if activation is pending or if it has previously failed to activate. However, both the Deep Freeze Enterprise Console and the workstation has the ability to manually activate the workstation license via online or offline options.

Once the activation process is completed on a given workstation the workstation will not require further activation unless re-imaged, or the machine is subject to significant hardware changes.

Automatic Activation

The license is automatically activated on all workstations communicating with the Enterprise Console. If a workstation is offline (shut down or disconnected from the network), the license is activated when the workstation communicates with the Enterprise Console. The workstation will connect automatically to Faronics Activation Server if the Enterprise Console does not activate the workstation within 24 hours after the license key is applied.

Manual Activation

If automatic activation does not activate the workstation license, the Deep Freeze administrator can use the manual activation option by navigating to the Licensing dialogue in the console or client interface.

Two options are available:

• Activate Online - activate Deep Freeze workstation license over the Internet. The computer must be connected to the Internet to Activate Online.
• Activate Offline - activate the Deep Freeze workstation license by contacting Faronics Activation Support via email or phone. Create an Offline Activation Request File and send the file to activation@faronics.com to receive an Activation Response File.

For more information, refer to the Licensing section of the Deep Freeze Enterprise User Guide available at www.faronics.com/assets/DFE_Manual.pdf 

Imaging and Product Activation

When computers are imaged the workstations may be required to contact the Faronics Activation servers to validate the activation. This will only result in a new activation if the image is activated on a new piece of hardware for the first time. Re-imaging a machine that was previously activated will not represent a new activation against your license count.

Proxy Servers / Content Filters

In some cases, Proxy Servers, content filters, and other tools intended to filter network access may result in problems contacting the Faronics Activation Servers. You should ensure that all HTTP / HTTPS traffic to api.faronics.com is whitelisted to ensure that machines can freely communicate with our activation services.

Resolving Activation Problems

If your activation is failing or if you believe you have been a victim of licensing piracy, please contact Faronics Activation Support at 604-637-8271 or 1-800-943-6422 in North America or send us an email to activation@faronics.com <mailto:activation@faronics.com> .