Who is this article for?

  Users who encounter the error when signing in to the desktop client or WebUI.

  IT Administrator permissions are required to resolve the issue.

Each instance of the application server requires a license file.  If there is a problem with the file then you will see the error message "License file is not valid for the domain [...]" when starting the desktop client.

This article explains what causes the error and how to resolve it.

1. Issue

license.lic is an encrypted file that contains licensing information about the system, including:

• Number of users of each type.
• Windows domain where the application server resides.
  This is the Active Directory domain name or workgroup, not the DNS domain name for the server.

If the domain is specified incorrectly or if the file is corrupted then when you launch the desktop application, you will see an error.

The full text of the error, for an example domain called TESTNET, is:

message:   The service response contained response-level errors. See Errors for details.
[...]
LicenseError: License file is not valid for the domain TESTNET
LicenseError: Digital Signature not found in License
LicenseError: License is not digitally signed correctly.

The main causes are:

• Domain name specified in the license file does not match the Windows domain to which the server is joined.
  For example, if the server is joined to a Windows domain called YOURDOMAIN, the domain name embedded in the license file must be YOURDOMAIN.
• Domain name in the file has been set correctly, but the file itself is corrupt.

2. Solution

To resolve the issue, update the file with a valid copy. If the file has become corrupt in transit, replacing with a freshly-copied or sent version may work

The master copy held by us may be valid and can be checked by our Implementation Team. If the embedded domain name is wrong, it will be necessary for our Implementation Team to create a new version of the file

After replacing the license file on the server, restart the IIS application pool so that the change is recognised.

2.1. Reviewing the file in App Manager

During the installation process, it's normal to import the license file to the App Manager program folder. 

You can use the Check License button in the Tasks tab to compare the file in the App Manager program folder with the file in the \Service folder.

However, note that there is currently a bug in this function that affects the result (VIS_APP-398).  The table below shows the outcome of comparing valid and invalid files.  

To summarise, it's possible to have a valid file in the Service folder and an invalid file in the App Manager folder, and for App Manager to report that the files are identical and correct.