Lawo Flex - Managing Credits

This topic provides more information about how to manage the available credits.

It is assumed that you understand how to assign credits (using the portal) and activate resources (in HOME).

Credit Assignments (in the portal)

Once a HOME system is connected to your Lawo Flex account, you can manage its available credits from the licensing portal. This is done by clicking on the label of the HOME system (in the Systems page).

Here you will see the online status of the HOME system and a list of credits that have been assigned.

Credit Validity

Once credits are transferred to the HOME system, they have a default validity period of 30 days. At the end this period, HOME must "check-in" with your Lawo Flex account to obtain a new copy of the credits.

• If the HOME system is online, then this happens automatically (via the cloud).
• If the HOME system is disconnected from the licensing cloud, then the credit refresh must be performed manually.

The "Valid" column shows the validity period of the credits. By default, this is set to 30 days. It may be less than 30 days if:

• Auto Revoke has been used to specify an end date.
• The credits were assigned from a cancelled subscription, in which case the end date will be the same as the subscription cancellation date

Credit Availability (in HOME)

The number of available credits can be checked from HOME's Licenses page as follows.

• Open a HOME Web UI session.
• Select the Licenses page and Credits tab.
• Use the Credit Total, Credits in Use and Credits Remaining values to check the current status.
• The timeline shows the current and predicted usage. The bars are color-coded as follows:
  • Blue = credits are valid and usage is ok; no action required.
  • Light grey = credits will automatically refresh; no action required.
  • Pink = credit usage is (or will be) exceeded; please take note of the alerts at the bottom of the page.
  • Yellow (can appear if the HOME system is disconnected) = credits require manual refresh before their validity expires.
• If any actions are required, then these appear as alerts at the bottom of the page.
• The Refresh Now button can be used to refresh the validity of the credits (as described below).

How to interpret the information is best explained by looking at some examples. In each case, the examples show how the credits assigned to the HOME system (via the portal) correspond to the Licenses page in HOME.

Credits Available, Usage OK

In the example above, there are 56 credits in use and 4 credits remaining.

In the timeline:

• The blue bars show that the credits are valid for 30 days and the current usage is ok.
• The light grey bars show the date when the credit validity expires. At this point, the credits will automatically refresh and so no action is required. 

Below the timeline:

• The text confirms the current validity of the credits.
• The Refresh Now button can be used to refresh the validity of the credits to their maximum validity (e.g. for another 30 days).
• There are no alerts (as no action is required).

Current Usage Exceeds Future Credits

In the next example, there are 90 credits assigned to the HOME system, where 30 are set to automatically revoke after 7 days.

In the timeline:

• The blue bars show that the system has enough valid credits to meet the usage until the end of day on April 8th.
• The pink bars show that from the start of day on April 9th, the credit usage will be exceeded.
• By hovering over one of the bars in the timeline, you can check the credits available and current usage on a specific date: in our example, to see what will happen at the start of day on April 9th.

Below the timeline:

• The text confirms that additional credits need to be added to the system.
• The Open Licensing Portal button can be used to open the portal in the new browser tab.
• The yellow alert confirms that some action is required, but that there is time left to do this. In our example, the credits expire in 8 days.

Current Credits are Exceeded

In the last example, some credits have been revoked and so the current usage now exceeds the number of available credits. This is indicated by several red alerts (in HOME), including the Exceeding Credits alert that appears at the top right of all pages.

In the timeline:

• The pink bars show that the current credits are exceeded, and that from April 9th they will reduce further.

Below the timeline:

• The text confirms that additional credits need to be added to the system.
• The Open Licensing Portal button can be used to open the portal in the new browser tab.
• The red alert confirms that immediate action is required to resolve the current usage issue.
• The yellow alert relates to the future expiry of credits in 8 days time.

Important: If the current usage exceeds the valid credits, then the licensed resources continue to run. This allows productions to be completed. The change only becomes relevant once a resource with expired credits is stopped, or the entire system / app server is shutdown. In this instance, the app will not start up again as there are not enough valid credits. 

You can check which app(s) are affected by returning to the "Devices" page in HOME. Any affected app(s) are shown as Unlicensed in the "Status" column. In our example, the Multiviewer 1 app.

Resolving Issues with Credits

If either a red or yellow alert message appears in HOME, then some action must be taken. You can either top-up the number of credits (from the licensing portal) OR reduce the credit usage (in HOME).

In the licensing portal, there are two options:

• Top-up the number of credits (by activating a new Lawo Flex subscription). See Lawo Flex - Activate the Subscription(s).
• Revoke (and re-assign) some existing credits from another HOME system. See Lawo Flex - Revoke Credits from HOME and Lawo Flex - Assign Credits to HOME.

Alternatively, you can reduce the credit usage by disabling one of the existing resources in HOME. For example, stopping another app or licensed function.

Refresh Credits (if HOME is online)

The Refresh Now button can be used to refresh the validity of the credits to their maximum validity (e.g. for another 30 days). This can be useful if the HOME system will be disconnected from the licensing cloud for a short while.

Providing the HOME system is online, the refresh takes place immediately (and you will see a confirmation message at the bottom of the page). The bar chart and text information update accordingly (to extend the date on which the next "check-in" must take place).

Refresh Credits (if HOME is disconnected)

If the HOME system is disconnected from the licensing cloud, then the Licenses page will look slightly different. 

The yellow bars in the timeline and text information inform that a manual refresh is required. In this instance, the Refresh Now button opens a dialog with instructions. 

Follow the on-screen instructions to refresh the credits manually. This involves downloading the latest credits to a file on your computer and uploading the file into HOME (as explained earlier).

Once the upload is complete, the bar chart and text information update accordingly (to extend the date on which the next "check-in" must take place).