Example PHP Activation Server

This is an example of creating a license activation server using PHP. This server allows you to utilize Keygen 100% behind-the-scenes, so your users will never interact with Keygen's API directly—only through this server.

This example application is not 100% production-ready, but it should get you 90% of the way there. You may need to add additional logging, error handling, integration with your payment provider, delivering license keys via email, etc.

Running the example

First up, configure a few environment variables:

# Keygen product token (don't share this!)
export KEYGEN_PRODUCT_TOKEN="YOUR_KEYGEN_PRODUCT_TOKEN"

# Your Keygen account ID
export KEYGEN_ACCOUNT_ID="YOUR_KEYGEN_ACCOUNT_ID"

# The Keygen policy to use when creating licenses for new users
export KEYGEN_POLICY_ID="YOUR_KEYGEN_POLICY_ID"

You can either run each line above within your terminal session before starting the app, or you can add the above contents to your ~/.bashrc file and then run source ~/.bashrc after saving the file.

Next, start a local PHP server:

php -S localhost:3000

Configuring a license policy

Visit your dashboard and create a new policy with the following attributes:

{
  requireFingerprintScope: true,
  maxMachines: 1,
  concurrent: false,
  floating: false,
  protected: true,
  strict: true
}

You can leave all other attributes to their defaults, but feel free to modify them if needed for your particular licensing model, e.g. change the maxMachines limit, set it to floating = true, etc.

Creating a license key

From a web browser, access http://localhost:3000/generate.php. You will need to provide an order query parameter for license creation to succeed. The response will contain the new license key in plaintext.

For example,

http://localhost:3000/generate.php?order=1

Note: in production, you should verify that the order ID actually exists and has not already been used to generate a new license key. Ideally, the generate.php page should only be accessed by your payment provider after a successful order.

Activating a machine

From a web browser, access http://localhost:3000/activate.php. You will need to provide a fingerprint query parameter, as well as a key query parameter for machine activation to succeed.

For example,

http://localhost:3000/activate.php?fingerprint=ab:cd:ef:gh&key=PhiZ-FXkl-fnEL-sIrN

The fingerprint query parameter is what will identify an individual machine to determine whether or not it is allowed to run your product.

Note: in production, you would perform this step from within your product.

Validating a license key

Once a user's license key has been activated, they can validate it by accessing http://localhost:3000/validate.php. You will need to provide a fingerprint query parameter, as well as a key query parameter for license validation to succeed. A valid license will return a HTTP status code of 200, while a failed validation will return 422, along with a reason for the failure.

For example,

http://localhost:3000/validate.php?fingerprint=ab:cd:ef:gh&key=PhiZ-FXkl-fnEL-sIrN

Note: in production, you would perform this step from within your product.

Questions?

Reach out at [email protected] if you have any questions or concerns!