Technical information
INSTALLATION AND ADMINISTRATION GUIDE
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Time-limited evaluation license (i.e. "date"): Evaluation license that expires on a given date.
Regular production license (i.e. "real"): Time-unlimited production license.
Licensed devices
The VSI-FAX license controls the numbers ports used by modems and fax board devices on the server. If your
license allows you to use a certain number of ports (for example, 24), you cannot exceed this number otherwise the
VSI-FAX Fax Server will stop.
If you have a licensing problem, this might be because you are using too many ports with the current license. For
more information, refer to Troubleshooting licensing problems due to the number of devices used
Licensed user
VSI-FAX uses a pure client/server architecture. Even users logged directly into the fax server are in fact
communicating with the fax server via a network connection; this network connection just happens to have the same
IP address as the server. If you send a fax from a different IP address than the fax server (i.e., you do not telnet,
rlogin, or use the keyboard at the fax server), you must be registered as a licensed user on the server to do so.
VSI-FAX uses scalable user licensing. Each license specifies a certain number of licensed users (e.g. 10). For
example, you can buy a five-user license initially and upgrade to a 25-user license or to an unlimited user license
later.
Serial number and activation key
All VSI-FAX licenses are comprised of two elements: a Serial Number and an encrypted Activation Key. You must
have both pieces of information in order to install and run VSI-FAX Server. They are provided when you buy licenses
from Esker.
Note
Maintenance keys have been removed in version 6.0 ; you need to contact your Esker Sales Representative to
obtain a new license when you want to upgrade your fax server to a newer version.
You should contact Esker directly to obtain a new license when you need more features or more capacity on your
production server (e.g., more remote clients, more devices, or more virtual servers.). Once you have the new
license, you can reactivate the licence from the command shell or from VSI-FAX Server Administration. For more
information, see See Reactivating VSI-FAX Server license
.
Profiles
Profiles provide centralized management of fax user settings and privileges
Master
Profile
The master profile is created during fax server installation. Depending on how you use it, the master
profile can provide completely centralized control over a user's fax settings and privileges.
User
Profiles
Unless a user profile exists for a fax user, all fax settings and privileges are centrally controlled from the
master profile. If you want to grant certain users greater flexibility or privileges, create a user profile for
them.
Inheritance If a user profile exists for a fax user, each time they accesses the fax server (e.g., send a fax or
explicitly log into the fax server for some other reason), their user profile is dynamically created at that
moment by merging the inheritable settings from the master profile with persistent user preferences
stored in their user profile. If the user explicitly logs in to the fax server, these settings remain in effect
until the user logs off.
Important
Do not delete the master profile under any circumstances.
If you want to use the settings from your user profile, you must specify it when sending the fax. To send a single fax
request using your profile settings, include this on your vfx command line:
vfx ... -t udf="yes"