NetSupport Manager and NetSupport School licence keys are the files and codes through which NetSupport turns a purchase into a working, counted installation. NetSupport Manager is a remote control product with Control (technician) and Client (managed device) components. NetSupport School is a classroom management product with Tutor (teacher), Student and Tech Console (technician) components.[12][1] Both use the same licensing machinery: a serial number and authorisation code printed on a certificate, a licence file generated from them, and, for some components, activation against the hardware. For both products the EULA count is a device count, and the licence file enforces it as a maximum number of Clients or Students.[16]
Editions
NetSupport does not sell named editions of NetSupport Manager or NetSupport School. Licences differ by quantity, platform and key options instead:
| Licence | File | What it covers | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| NetSupport Manager | NSM.LIC | Licensee, serial number, total number of Clients, expiry date | [10][11] |
| NetSupport Manager Chrome OS only Client | Bought from a NetSupport reseller | Chrome OS Clients only | [12] |
| NetSupport School All Platforms | NSM.LIC | Windows Students, or a mixture of Windows, Google Chrome, macOS, Android and iOS | [1] |
| NetSupport School Non Windows | NSW.LIC | Google Chrome, macOS, Android and iOS Students | [1][4] |
| NetSupport School for Mac | NSA.lic | Mac Tutor and Student installations | [8] |
The NetSupport School installer asks the user to choose the licence type. “All Platforms” is for Students that are all Windows-based or a mixture of platforms. “Non Windows” is for Students that “are all using non-Windows devices (macOS, ChromeOS, Android or iOS)”.[4] Catalog proof: NetSupport School Google Chrome and tablet licence; NetSupport Manager Chrome OS only Client licence; NetSupport School licence files NSM.LIC and NSW.LIC.
Metrics
NetSupport School Student licence. NetSupport’s help is explicit: “NetSupport School is licensed by each machine that it is installed or used on. It is not licensed by concurrent usage. Therefore, if you have 100 machines on which you install or run a NetSupport School Student (Client) or Tutor (Control), you must buy a 100-user licence - even if the software is loaded from a Server.”[1] The Licence Manager field “Maximum Clients” is “the number of Student licences that you have purchased”.[1] Catalog proof: NetSupport School licensed per machine, not concurrent use.
NetSupport School non-Windows Student licence. “Each Google Chrome device that connects to the NetSupport Connectivity Server needs to be licensed”, and “Each Android or iOS tablet that connects to the NetSupport School Tutor needs to be licensed.” These licences “can be purchased independently of the main NetSupport School product” and are loaded as NSW.LIC.[2][3]
NetSupport Manager Client licence. The Control’s Help, About, License tab shows the licensee, serial number, “The total number of Clients that this licence allows you to run”, the licence expiry date and the product version.[10] The NetSupport Manager Mobile Control app for iOS and Android “is available for free download”; the Clients it connects to still need licences.[12] Catalog proof: Mobile Control app is a free download.
Counting / floors
Two files, two pools. When both NSM.LIC and NSW.LIC are present, NetSupport School enforces them separately. NetSupport’s example: with a ten-user NSM.LIC and a ten-user NSW.LIC, “With ten NetSupport School Students connected, the eleventh Google Chrome Student would be rejected.” With a single twenty-user NSM.LIC, “the software would limit to a maximum of twenty connections of regardless of whether they are from Google Chrome or standard NetSupport School Students.”[2] The tablet topic gives the same example.[3] Chromebook licences are registered on the Name and Connectivity Server by copying NSW.lic into the NetSupport School folder and restarting the Gateway32 service.[9] Catalog proof: Chrome Students consume NSM.LIC count without an NSW.LIC; Each Android or iOS tablet Student must be licensed.
Chrome OS Clients in NetSupport Manager. “The NetSupport Manager Client for Chrome OS can be used with your existing NetSupport licences already purchased (as long as you have sufficient unused licences), or additional Chrome OS only Client licences can be purchased from your NetSupport reseller.” Chrome OS support requires a NetSupport Connectivity Server on a Windows Server.[12] Catalog proof: Chrome OS Clients use existing or Chrome-only licences.
Connectivity Server enforcement. The Connectivity Server (Gateway) logs its maximum licensed connections at start-up. A Client that “would exceed the licensed number of Clients” is rejected with a “Licence exceed” event.[13] The log therefore records attempts beyond the licence. Catalog proof: Connectivity Server rejects Clients above the licensed number.
Expiry. For a purchased product the Expiry Date field is 0, “as there will not be an expiry date”. Only special evaluation keys carry a date.[1] Catalog proof: Purchased NetSupport School keys have no expiry date.
Serialisation and licence files
On purchase the customer receives a serial number and a licence (serialisation) certificate. The serial number, “combined with your company name and product-related information, is used to produce a unique software licence key”.[1] The key can be generated during installation by selecting Register, or afterwards with the NetSupport License Manager (PCILIC.EXE). The Licence Manager has General, Advanced, Defaults and Enforce tabs. The details “must be entered exactly as it appears on your licence certificate. The process is case sensitive”, and the authorisation code must match or generation fails.[7][1] Catalog proof: Licence details must match the licence certificate exactly.
The Advanced tab holds key options that are issued only on request. A Demand Load Key is “only provided where specialist requirements prevent the Student program from loading on start-up”. A Quiet Client key prevents the Student icon from displaying.[1]
The generated file can be distributed. NetSupport Manager/School Deploy has a “Deploy a licence file” action for machines that are already installed, for example “you have purchased additional licences and the licence file needs updating”.[14] For new installations, a valid NSM.LIC placed in the administrative installation folder is applied automatically. “If a licence file is not present in the folder when running the install, NetSupport Manager will be installed using the default Evaluation licence.”[12] On the Mac, NSA.lic can be copied over the evaluation licence file on each machine.[8] Licence files for registered keys can be downloaded from the My Support portal.[15][11] Catalog proof: Installation without a licence file defaults to the evaluation licence.
For licence management this means that a copied licence file carries the full licensed count to every machine. The count is enforced at connection time by the Control, Tutor or Connectivity Server, not by limiting installations. This is commentary; the EULA still requires the customer to keep installations within the number of licences obtained.[16]
Activation
Some components must be activated as well as licensed. “The first time the following NetSupport product components are launched, they require activation either online or by telephone to verify the authenticity of the licence key”: the NetSupport Manager Control, the NetSupport School Tutor, the NetSupport School Tech Console and the NetSupport Notify Notification Server. The NetSupport Manager Client, NetSupport School Student, NetSupport Notify Console and Agent, and NetSupport DNA do not require activation.[6] Catalog proof: Components that require product activation.
Activation calculates an activation ID from hardware values and checks it at each launch. Imaging and Sysprep can change those values, “invalidating the NetSupport activation ID and requiring the product to be reactivated”. Where online activation is not available on delivered images, NetSupport “can provide a pre-activation key specific to the NetSupport product licence”.[6] Catalog proof: Disk imaging can invalidate activation; Pre-activation key.
Licences applied to a NetSupport Connectivity Server appear in its Licenses tab. They activate automatically when an internet connection is available. Otherwise “An activation code is required. Contact NetSupport or your reseller for this.”[12][5]
Evaluations
- NetSupport Manager Evaluation kit. Fully functional except that “A maximum of ten Clients can be active on the network simultaneously” and that the Client and Control stop running after the expiry date. “Upon purchase, these restrictions are removed once serialisation has been completed.”[12] Catalog proof: NetSupport Manager evaluation limited to ten active Clients.
- NetSupport School 30-day evaluation. Entering EVAL in the licensee field installs a 30-day evaluation. Converting it later only requires a new licence key generated in the Licence Manager, not a reinstallation.[1]
Virtualization & partitioning
The NetSupport School rule counts machines “even if the software is loaded from a Server”.[1] The EULA’s multiplexing sentence requires licences for every distinct input to a pooling front end.[16] Hardware-bound activation means that cloned virtual machines can need reactivation or a pre-activation key.[6]
Out of scope
- Prices and the number of licences in a given order, which are quote-based.
- classroom.cloud, the cloud classroom management service. It is licensed separately; see NetSupport DNA, classroom.cloud and 247connect licensing.
- NetSupport School for Android and iOS Tutor apps, whose licence settings screens were not reviewed in detail.