User Guides

Step-by-step guides for common tasks and workflows in ShieldCipher.

License Key Activation

License keys control access to your protected applications. Here's how to activate them:

Creating License Keys

1. Log in to your customer portal
2. Navigate to Licenses
3. Click Create New License
4. Fill in the details:
   • Product: Select the product this license is for
   • Plan: Choose trial, perpetual, or subscription
   • Seats: Number of concurrent activations allowed
   • Expiry Date: When the license expires (optional for perpetual)
   • Customer Name: Name of the license holder
   • Customer Email: Email address for notifications
5. Click Create License
6. Copy the license key and share it with your customer

Activating a License

When a customer receives a license key, they activate it through the protected application:

1. The protected application prompts for a license key on first run
2. Customer enters the license key
3. The application connects to ShieldCipher API to validate the key
4. Device information is collected and bound to the license
5. A License Assertion Token (LAT) is issued and stored securely
6. The application is now activated and ready to use

Encoding and Downloading Packages

Protect your PHP code and make it available for download:

Package Encoding Workflow

1. Upload: Upload your ZIP file containing PHP source code
2. Lock: Encrypt the package in our secure vault
3. Encode: Apply protection using your chosen profile
4. Publish: Make the package available for download
5. Download: Customers download the protected version

Protection Profiles

Choose the right protection level for your needs:

• Basic: Standard protection suitable for most applications. Fast encoding, minimal overhead.
• Standard: Enhanced protection with additional security layers. Recommended for commercial software.
• Advanced: Maximum protection for sensitive applications. Best for enterprise software and high-value IP.

Download Rights Management

Control who can download which versions:

1. Go to Licenses → Select a license
2. Click Grant Download Right
3. Select the package version
4. Set expiration date (optional)
5. Add reason/notes for tracking
6. Click Grant

Customer Portal Overview

The customer portal provides a complete self-service interface for managing your ShieldCipher account:

Dashboard

Your dashboard shows:

• Statistics: Total products, licenses, packages, and activations
• Encoding Usage: Current month's encoding count and storage used
• Subscription Status: Current plan, trial days remaining, billing information
• Quick Actions: Create products, licenses, or upload packages

Products Management

Create and manage your products:

• Each product represents a software application you want to protect
• Products can have multiple versions
• Versions can be released to specific channels (stable, beta, alpha)
• Download policies control access windows and cutoff dates

License Management

Complete control over your licenses:

• Create individual or bulk licenses
• View all activations per license
• Revoke device activations remotely
• Grant download rights for specific versions
• Monitor license usage and expiry

Package Management

Upload, protect, and publish your code:

• Upload ZIP files up to your plan's limit
• Lock packages with encryption
• Encode with chosen protection profile
• Publish to product versions
• Track encoding history and build logs

Managing License Limits

Control how licenses are used and enforced:

Seat Management

Seats control concurrent activations:

• Set maximum seats when creating a license
• Each device activation uses one seat
• When seats are full, new activations are blocked
• Revoke activations to free up seats

Expiry Management

Control license validity periods:

• Trial Licenses: Set expiry date for time-limited access
• Subscription Licenses: Automatically renew or expire based on payment
• Perpetual Licenses: Never expire (unless manually revoked)

Domain and Device Binding

Restrict licenses to specific environments:

• Device Binding: License is tied to specific hardware/software fingerprint
• Domain Binding: License works only on specified domain(s)
• IP Binding: Restrict to specific IP addresses (via API keys)

Rolling Out Updates

Manage version updates and rollouts:

Version Management

1. Create a new version for your product
2. Upload and encode the new package
3. Publish the package to the version
4. Set release channel (stable, beta, alpha)
5. Configure download policy:
   • Access window (how long customers can download)
   • Cutoff date (when this version stops being available)
   • Channel restrictions (who can access which channel)

Update Notifications

Notify customers about updates:

• Use webhooks to notify your application when updates are available
• Customers can check for updates via API
• Download new versions through the customer portal

Best Practices

• Version Control: Always create new versions for updates, don't overwrite existing packages
• Testing: Test protected packages in staging before production deployment
• Backup: Keep original source code backups before encoding
• Documentation: Document license activation process for your customers
• Monitoring: Regularly check activation logs and security events