Licenses (explained)

Before you start the installation, you can learn about licenses in this topic.

If you are installing XProtect Essential+, you can run the system with eight device licenses for free. Automatic license activation is enabled and hardware devices will be activated as you add them to the system.

Only when you upgrade to a more advanced XProtect product, the rest of this topic is relevant.

When you purchase your software and licenses, you get:

  • An order confirmation and a software license file named after your SLC (Software License Code) and with the .lic extension received per email
  • A Milestone Care coverage

To get started, download the software from our website (https://www.milestonesys.com/downloads/). When you install the software, you are asked to provide a valid license file (.lic).

License types

There are several license types in the XProtect licensing system.

Base licenses

As a minimum, you have a base license for one of the XProtect VMS products. You may also have one or more base licenses for XProtect extensions.

Device licenses

As a minimum, you have several device licenses. Generally, you need one device license per hardware device with a camera that you want to add to your system. But this can differ from one hardware device to another and depending on the hardware device being a Milestone supported hardware device or not. For more information, see Supported hardware devices and Unsupported hardware devices.

If you want to use the video push feature in XProtect Mobile, you also need one device license per mobile device or tablet that should be able to push video to your system.

Device licenses are not required for speakers, microphones, or input and output devices attached to your cameras.

Supported hardware devices

Generally, you need one device license per hardware device with a camera that you want to add to your system. But a few supported hardware devices require more than one device license. You can see how many device licenses your hardware devices require, in the list of supported hardware on the Milestone website (https://www.milestonesys.com/support/tools-and-references/supported-devices/).

For video encoders with up to 16 channels, you need only one device license per video encoder IP address. A video encoder can have one or more IP addresses.

However, if the video encoder has more than 16 channels, one device license per activated camera on the video encoder is required - also for the first 16 activated cameras.

Unsupported hardware devices

An unsupported hardware device requires one device license per activated camera using a video channel.

Unsupported hardware devices do not appear in the list of supported hardware on the Milestone website (https://www.milestonesys.com/support/tools-and-references/supported-devices/).

Camera licenses for Milestone Interconnect™

To run Milestone Interconnect, you need Milestone Interconnect camera licenses on your central site to view video from hardware devices on remote sites. The number of required Milestone Interconnect camera licenses depends on the number of hardware devices on the remote sites that you want to receive data from. Only XProtect Corporate can act as a central site.

Licenses for XProtect extensions

Most XProtect extensions require additional license types. The software license file also includes information about your extension licenses. Some extensions have their own separate software license files. You can find more information about extension licenses here:

  • XProtect Access (see XProtect Access licenses)
  • XProtect LPR (see XProtect LPR licenses)
  • XProtect Transact (see Before you start)

  • XProtect Smart Wall requires the following video wall-related licenses:

    • A base license for XProtect Smart Wall that covers an unrestricted number of monitors displaying video on a video wall

    Use of XProtect Smart Wall is only supported in these products:

    • XProtect Corporate - a base license for XProtect Smart Wall is included in the base license

    • XProtect Expert - purchase a base license for XProtect Smart Wall separately

  • XProtect Incident Manager requires the following licenses:

    • A base license that covers the full use of XProtect Incident Manager

    Use of XProtect Incident Manager is only supported in the following VMS products and versions:

    • XProtect Corporate 2022 R2 and later: a base license for XProtect Incident Manager is included

    • XProtect Expert, XProtect Professional+, and XProtect Express+ 2022 R3 and later: purchase a base license for XProtect Incident Manager separately

License activation

When you have installed XProtect VMS, it initially runs on licenses that require activation before a certain period of time has passed. This period of time is called the grace period. Milestone recommends that you activate your licenses before you make the final adjustments to your devices' setup.

If you do not activate your licenses before the grace period expires, all recording servers and cameras without activated licenses stop sending data to the XProtect VMS.

You can find an overview of all your licenses for all installations with your Software License Code (SLC) in the Management Client by going to Basics > License Information.

To activate your licenses:

  • For online activation, log in to the Software Registration page with your My Milestone account on the Milestone website (https://online.milestonesys.com/)

  • For offline activation, you must export a license request (.lrq) file in the Management Client and then log in to the Software Registration page and upload the .lrq file

    Once you have uploaded the .lrq file, Milestone emails you an activated .lic file for import