PHP License Management Software FAQ

The program contains two modules: admin and user. Admin module is a web-based PHP licensing script hosted on developer’s server. Its main purpose is to manage products, clients, and licenses. Equally important user module contains several PHP files to be included in final product.

First, developer installs admin module to setup products and issue licenses. Then he configures protection settings and includes bundled files (user module) in a script. From now on, PHP licensing script guards specific product against unauthorized usage. In other words, there’s nothing else to do – protection operates on its own.

User can activate his license using email address or purchase code. To summarize, client only needs to provide his email address or purchase code during installation. PHP license manager script will store those values on user’s machine and verify them against your server every time.

Since email address or purchase code don’t need to be hardcoded into script, authors can provide exactly the same code to all clients.

No matter where client deploys protected application, all the security features are functional. However, license check fails immediately when user tries to block, nullroute, or redirect server’s IP.

Server requirements are very basic – PHP 5.5 or higher along with its most popular extensions: MySQLi, cURL and OpenSSL. MySQLi support is only needed for PHP license management software web module. If protected application doesn’t use a MySQL database, PHP licensing script will keep license key in a separate file.

Both server and user modules work on any hosting account that meets basic PHP requirements listed above.

Yes. PHP license management software stores all products, clients and licenses in one database. Therefore, authors can access and manage all the data in a single place.

Auto PHP Licenser is suitable for both beginners and professionals. As a result, its setup depends on personal needs. For example, basic protection takes about 5 minutes to setup and requires nothing more than including several files and calling one function. Advanced protection expands it further by verifying authenticity of script’s files, forcing data removal from user’s server, and performing other operations.

Both modes are fully compatible, so developers you can start with basic protection and expand it later.

Anyone who knows how to include PHP files and call functions can do it. Here’s the complete scheme:

• Install server module using single-click installer.
• Include Auto PHP Licenser files (user module) using PHP include or require function.
• Configure license verification settings.
• Call Auto PHP Licenser function(s).
• Encode application (optional).

Here’s the example code to install license:

functionNameHidden("http://somedomain.com", "licensed@email.com", "optional_license_code")

In brief, our PHP license management software is compatible with all of them. Simply put, if a framework allows including external files and calling additional functions inside code, it will work perfectly.

Code protection is only as strong as a weakest encryption; therefore, Auto PHP Licenser doesn’t utilize a weak proprietary code obfuscation like less reliable solutions do. In fact, many such products employ base64_encode or similar functions to encrypt code. Since these can be easily decrypted, we believe our clients will want to obfuscate their scripts using world-class PHP guard solutions like ionCube or ZendGuard. First, those obfuscators greatly improve overall protection. Second, 99% of servers have ionCube and Zend loaders enabled by default, so protected script is compatible with any hosting account. For this reason, license manager script doesn’t obfuscate code. Instead, it enables developers to combine two powerful methods of code protection for ultimate security: exceptional licensing module provided by PHP licensing script and award-winning obfuscation provided by desired encoder.

Code encryption is optional. While we recommend to obfuscate code before providing script to end user, it’s not required. If someone wants to secure his application with Auto PHP Licenser and leave code unencrypted, he can do so. Important to realize that license manager script also supports partial encryption. For example, if an author created WordPres template, he can encrypt the most important core files, but leave other files (responsible for rendering actual HTML content) editable. In this case, user can’t bypass license verification, but he can freely customize website layout.

In a word, overall protection remains effective even if final code is editable. Since programmers can change every bit of code protection algorithm, license verification becomes difficult to detect. First, it’s possible to rename Auto PHP Licenser files into anything. It means protection functions can be stored in file like font-awesome.php or similar. Sometimes even this method is enough to keep wannabe-hackers away. Then, it’s possible to rename every function. As a result, script can verify license by calling a harmless function like establishMysqlConnection, displayCachedCss, or similar. Not many people will manually review such a innocent function to see what it does. Finally, script can display fake errors. For example, if license verification function was renamed into establishMysqlConnection, unlicensed copy will stop working with the help of such a simple code:

if (!establishMysqlConnection) {echo "Can't connect to database"; exit();}

Very few people will realize what’s going on here. Obviously, there are more creative ways to make script useless after license verification module is removed. Just take a closer look at documentation.

Yes, you surely can. Auto PHP Licenser comes with a powerful API, so you can issue new licenses automatically.

Once license key is generated by your ordering system, you call API’s licenses_add function with product ID and key itself as parameters. PHP licensing script processes this request and returns a confirmation. From now on, PHP license management software takes care of license installation, verification, etc.

If you use just a simple payment gateway instead of custom ordering system on your website, you can still issue licenses automatically. For example, if you use PayPal, it sends a callback with product ID and order number to your website. All you have to do is forward this callback to Auto PHP Licenser API with product ID and order number as license key. This is it.

Yes. You can modify any license at any time, without asking user to re-install protected script. Once you update license details via admin module, protected script will receive them within next automated license check. This way, you can remotely renew expired licenses, cancel existing licenses, update licensed IP address or domain, and so on.

We offer a wide range of support options: a detailed setup guide, step-by-step integration instructions, full documentation and clear examples of every PHP license management software function, online help section, a troubleshooter, answers to frequently asked questions, and 24/7 support forums.

Yes, installation package comes with two working scripts secured by Auto PHP Licenser.

Demo Script (Minimal) employs only essential Auto PHP Licenser features – license installation and verification – so beginner programmers can understand license manager script in seconds.

Demo Script (Full) employs almost every Auto PHP Licenser feature available, so developers can experience license manager script at its best.

Sure. If you prefer our team to setup code protection for you, just submit request to support forums for more details.

No matter how many different scripts you secure, it doesn’t cost an extra cent. Put simply, there are no additional fees or hidden charges to guard multiple applications.

None. Since you deploy admin module on your server, we have no access to your (or your clients’) data. The only thing we see is the installation URL of your web module. All the other data is stored in a database hosted on your server, which means your clients make callbacks right to your website, making it impossible for us or anyone else to track any type of your (or your clients’) activity.