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Phase Console

Activate Pro

Unlock Pro with your key, one machine at a time, and move it when you change machines.

A licence key unlocks Pro on the machine it is activated on. After installing, run this once on each machine, with your key in place of the placeholder:

phase-console license activate PCP-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX

The installer runs it for you when you give it --key. One activation serves every console on the machine, because the licence is a single file: ~/.local/state/phase-console/license.json.

To see what this machine holds (its state, when the licence was last checked, when the next check is due, and when the term ends), run:

phase-console license status

Three machines at a time

A key is active on up to 3 machines at once. A machine is one computer, physical or virtual, recognised by a one-way hash of its platform identifier and its host name. So each WSL2 distribution counts as a machine of its own, and a machine whose host name changes counts as a new one.

A fourth activation is refused, and the refusal lists the machines holding the key, with the date each was last seen.

Moving to another machine

Free a place first, then activate the key on the new machine. On the machine you are leaving, run:

phase-console license deactivate

It gives the machine's place back to the licence server and removes the licence file.

If that machine is gone, or cannot reach the licence server, free it from your account page instead: under your licence, choose Deactivate beside the machine. If you still have the machine, phase-console license deactivate --local then removes its licence file without asking the server.

Checks, and working offline

Pro checks the licence with the licence server when you activate it, and at least once every 7 days while a console runs. If a check falls due and the server cannot be reached, Pro keeps working for a grace period of 30 days. If no check succeeds by the end of it, the Pro features stop until one does. The free features keep working in every case, and nothing in your repositories changes.

Activating a machine needs to reach the licence server.

What activation and a check send

Activation sends:

  • the licence key;
  • the machine's fingerprint, which is a one-way hash;
  • the machine's host name and platform;
  • the version of Phase Console.

A check sends the licence identifier and the fingerprint. Neither sends anything from your repositories, plans or sessions. The host name and platform are what your account page shows, so you can tell your machines apart. Section 4 of the licence agreement says the same.

If activation is refused

  • The key has a typo. The last block of a key checks the rest, so a mistyped key is refused on your machine before anything is sent. Copy it again from the email or from your account page.
  • The key is already on 3 machines. Free one, as above, then activate again.
  • The licence has expired. Renew it from your account page, where the key stays the same, then activate again.
  • The licence server cannot be reached. Nothing has changed. Try again once the machine is online.