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Licensing

Your Canvus server must have an up-to-date license. The license defines the scope of your deployment — for example, the maximum number of simultaneous Canvus clients and the expiry date.

Obtain an activation key from your MultiTaction representative before proceeding.

  1. Open https://your-server in a browser
  2. Sign in as an administrator
  3. Navigate to Admin area > Settings > License
  4. Enter your activation key and click Activate license

Note

The server must be connected to the internet for online activation.

Activate via environment variable

Set CANVUS_LICENSE_KEY in podman-compose.yml before first startup:

services:
  canvus:
    environment:
      CANVUS_LICENSE_KEY: XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX

The server activates automatically on startup.

Offline activation

If the server has no internet access:

  1. Open https://your-server in a browser
  2. Sign in as an administrator
  3. Navigate to Admin area > Settings > License
  4. Enter your activation key in Offline activation request and click Download request. The browser saves MT-Canvus-Server-offline-request.html.
  5. On a computer with internet access, open https://ls2026.multitaction.com/keys/<activation-key> (the request file links to it), sign in to the MultiTaction licence portal, click Offline Activation and upload the request file.
  6. Download the license file (.html) from the same page. Do not rename it; the extension must stay .html.
  7. Install it in the dashboard under Admin area > Settings > License > Upload a license file, or place it in /canvus-data/licenses/ and restart the containers: sudo podman-compose restart. Legacy .cslicense files are also accepted.

Servers older than 26.08.3

Earlier versions download the request as a JSON file that the licence portal does not accept. Send that file to your MultiTaction representative instead and install the returned license file as in step 7.

Legacy bare-metal installation

Online activation

Via dashboard: Same steps as above (navigate to Admin area > Settings > License).

Via command line:

# Ubuntu
sudo /opt/mt-canvus-server/bin/mt-canvus-server --activate <activation-key>

# Windows (as Administrator)
"C:\Program Files\MT Canvus Server\bin\mt-canvus-server" --activate <activation-key>

Offline activation

# Ubuntu — generates request file in user home directory
sudo /opt/mt-canvus-server/bin/mt-canvus-server --create-license-request <activation-key>

# Windows (as Administrator)
"C:\Program Files\MT Canvus Server\bin\mt-canvus-server" --create-license-request <activation-key>

The command writes MT-Canvus-Server-offline-request.html to the home directory (Ubuntu) or the Documents folder (Windows) of the account that ran it and prints the upload address. Upload the file at https://ls2026.multitaction.com/keys/<activation-key> (Offline Activation on the key page), download the license file (.html, keep the extension), place it in the license directory — see file-locations — and restart the service (sudo systemctl restart mt-canvus-server / Restart-Service mt-canvus-server). Alternatively upload the license file in the dashboard under Admin area > Settings > License.

Servers older than 26.08.3 write a JSON request (MT-Canvus-multisite-server.cslicensereq) that the portal does not accept; send that file to your MultiTaction representative instead.

License enforcement in container deployments

Starting with Canvus 26.4.0, license enforcement is active by default in the official Canvus Connect server container images. Earlier test builds shipped with enforcement disabled; from 26.4.0 onward, operators should treat a valid, up-to-date license as a prerequisite for running the server.

What this means in practice:

  • A valid license is required for normal operation. Without a current license, the server will refuse to accept incoming client connections. Existing canvases and data are not modified -- activating a license restores normal service.
  • Activation is a one-time step per deployment. Once activated (online, offline, or via the CANVUS_LICENSE_KEY environment variable), the license is stored on the persistent data volume and survives container restarts, image updates, and host reboots. See server-license for where the activated license is stored.
  • Expiry and renewal. Licenses include an expiry date. When a license approaches expiry, administrators are notified in the dashboard's Admin area > Settings > License page. Renewing is the same process as initial activation -- contact your MultiTaction representative for an updated activation key, then activate it using one of the methods described above.
  • Checking status. The current license state (activated, expiring soon, expired, invalid) is visible to administrators under Admin area > Settings > License in the dashboard.

For container-specific activation instructions -- including the CANVUS_LICENSE_KEY environment variable and dropping license files into the data volume for offline activation -- see the License activation section of install-container-linux.

Note

Non-container deployments (native Windows or Linux packages) are unaffected by this change; license enforcement has always been active in those builds. The 26.4.0 change applies only to the official container images.