A software license server is a centralized

computer software Software is a set of computer programs and associated documentation and data. This is in contrast to hardware, from which the system is built and which actually performs the work. At the lowest programming level, executable code consists ...

system which provides

access token In computer systems, an access token contains the security credentials for a login session and identifies the user, the user's groups, the user's privileges, and, in some cases, a particular application. In some instances, one may be asked to en ...

s, or

keys Key or The Key may refer to: Common meanings * Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm * Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock * Key (ma ...

, to client computers in order to enable licensed software to run on them. In 1989, Sassafras Software Inc developed their

trademark A trademark (also written trade mark or trade-mark) is a type of intellectual property consisting of a recognizable sign, design, or expression that identifies products or services from a particular source and distinguishes them from oth ...

ed KeyServer software license management tool. Since that time, other computing technology firms have adopted the phrase "key server" to be used interchangeably with "software license server." It is the job of a software license server to determine and control the number of copies of a program permitted to be used based on the license entitlements that an organization owns. Typically, an

end-user In product development, an end user (sometimes end-user) is a person who ultimately uses or is intended to ultimately use a product. The end user stands in contrast to users who support or maintain the product, such as sysops, system administrato ...

customer organization will install a software license server on a

host computer A network host is a computer or other device connected to a computer network. A host may work as a server offering information resources, services, and applications to users or other hosts on the network. Hosts are assigned at least one network a ...

to provide licensing services to an enterprise computing environment. Publisher-specific license servers are commonly provided by software publishers, or through third party providers, to manage software licensing for a specific software publisher's products. Publisher-specific license servers are more commonly used for industry specialized software products than for common software products due to the high value of the managed software products. The server component of a client–server application may also contain an internal license server.

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