Offline Activation

Offline activation unlocks Serial Studio Pro on a machine that never connects to the internet. Instead of validating the license online, the machine imports a signed license file that you obtain once from the activation website.

This is meant for air-gapped, industrial, or locked-down deployments where the computer running Serial Studio cannot reach the internet. A machine that has occasional internet access does not need this: normal online activation covers brief disconnections with a 30-day offline grace period.

Offline activation is available only for lifetime and test-stand commercial licenses. Monthly and yearly subscriptions use online activation with the 30-day offline grace period instead.

Warning: activating an offline device permanently consumes one license seat. An air-gapped machine cannot report a deactivation, so there is no way to verify that a seat was released, and the seat cannot be freed or moved to another machine. Plan your seats before activating.

What you need

A Serial Studio Pro lifetime or test-stand license key and the email address used to purchase it.
The offline machine, running a Pro build of Serial Studio.
A second computer with internet access (a phone, laptop, or any browser).
A way to move a small file between the two machines, such as a USB drive.

Steps

Offline activation is a three-step exchange: the offline machine produces a device file, the website turns it into a license file, and the offline machine imports that license file.

1. Save the device file

On the offline machine:

Open the About dialog from the toolbar, then click Manage License.
In the License Management dialog, click Activate Offline… to open the offline activation wizard.
Click Save Device File… and store the .ssmachine file.

The device file identifies this machine and carries no personal information. It holds a hardware fingerprint and the application version.

2. Get the license file

On a computer with internet access:

Go to serial-studio.com/offline-activation. The wizard also shows this address so you can type it on the other machine.
Upload the .ssmachine device file.
Enter the email address and license key from your purchase.
Download the .sslic license file the site returns.

The site verifies your license before it issues the file, so a valid Pro license is required.

3. Import the license file

Move the .sslic file to the offline machine, then:

Reopen the wizard from About → Manage License → Activate Offline….
Click Import License File… and select the .sslic file.

Pro features unlock immediately, and no network request is made on this machine.

How the license behaves

The license file is bound to the machine that produced the device file. It will not activate any other machine.
Each offline activation permanently consumes one seat on your license. Unlike an online activation, the seat is never released: the machine cannot report a deactivation, and the server cannot verify one.
The same machine can be reactivated by importing its .sslic file again, as long as its machine ID has not changed. The machine ID is derived from the operating system, not Serial Studio, and may change after an OS reinstall or a hardware replacement. Keep the license file somewhere safe.
Lifetime and test-stand license files do not expire. They keep working on that machine with no further steps.
The activation persists across restarts and needs no network on the offline machine.

Managing seats

An offline seat is consumed permanently. The offline machine cannot reach the internet, so it cannot report a deactivation, and the license server has no way to verify that a seat was released on an air-gapped machine. Removing the license from within Serial Studio only deletes the local certificate; the seat stays in use.

Deleting the certificate is reversible on the same machine: import the .sslic file again and Pro features unlock, provided the machine ID has not changed. That ID depends on the operating system, so an OS reinstall or a hardware replacement can invalidate it through no action of Serial Studio.

If an offline machine is destroyed or decommissioned, contact alex@serial-studio.com.

Troubleshooting

"This certificate was issued for a different device." The license file was generated from another machine's device file. Export a new device file on the machine you are activating, then repeat the steps.
The import reports a malformed file. Confirm you selected the .sslic file returned by the activation site, not the .ssmachine device file.