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APN-081 Rev A
Using Waypoint Software on Virtual Computers
This document is intended to explain the differences in licensing when using Waypoint software on a
virtual computer, and to provide suggestions on how to handle those differences.
Waypoint software supports single instance use on virtual machines. This means when using Waypoint
software on a virtualized computer only a single user may use the software at any time. The exception is
the Waypoint SDK, which supports multiple instances/users.
Licensing for Waypoint software works differently on a virtualized computer. The information used to
uniquely identify a virtualized computer is different than the information used to uniquely identify a
physical computer. Additional items termed VMID and VM Generation ID are used to determine the
identity of a virtualized computer
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. These items are not available when using a physical computer.
If either the VMID or VM Generation ID change, the computer identity will change with respect to how
Waypoint licensing sees it. This can lead to issues returning the license from the virtualized computer.
Usually the VMID will not change unless the virtual machine is cloned.
The VM Generation ID will change after the following actions are taken on a virtual machine
(i.e. unsafe licensing actions):
• The virtual machine starts executing a snapshot
• The virtual machine is recovered from a backup
• The virtual machine is failed over in a disaster recovery environment
• The virtual machine is imported, copied, or cloned
The VM Generation ID will not change after the following actions are taken on a virtual machine
(i.e. safe licensing actions):
• The virtual machine is paused or resumed
• The virtual machine reboots
• The virtual machine host reboots
• The virtual machine is live migrated
• The virtual machine is failed over in a clustered environment
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A computer’s “identity” as seen by Waypoint is an obfuscated hex string generated by the licensing API. There is
no actual identifying information present, such as IP address. While this hex string is unique to each computer, it
cannot be used to reveal any user data.
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In order to successfully return a license, the license server requires the return request to come from the
same computer the activation request came from. If the identity of a virtual machine changes between
license activation and return (i.e. VMID or VM Generation ID change) it is likely that the license cannot
be returned and is therefore locked to the virtual machine.
The suggested method of handling a Waypoint license on a virtual machine is to activate the license
when you need it and return the license when you are done. This avoids the potential for the computer
identity to change while a license is active.
If the license is locked and cannot be returned due to a difference in the computer identity, a license
replacement request must be done. Contact support@novatel.com
for further information.
