Mini DBA Engine licensing controls how many database server connections an engine can monitor. The console shows license state, connection usage, expiry, licensee information, activation status, and errors for each connected engine.
License types shown in the Console
The top bar and Settings page can show license states such as:
- Community License, which exposes the community server allowance when applicable.
- Demo or trial license, used for evaluation.
- Licensed engine, with the number of licensed server connections.
- Validation or error states when the engine cannot validate its license.
License counts are applied by the engine. When a license limit is reached, additional monitored database servers cannot be started as licensed runtime servers until capacity is available or the license is upgraded.
How licensing affects monitoring
The Mini DBA Engine enforces the number of monitored database server connections allowed by its license. The console can show configured servers, but the engine determines which runtime servers are licensed and actively monitored. If the license allows five monitored server connections, it allows five, not five plus a community allowance. Community behavior is a fallback state for engines without usable licensed server connections where applicable.
Community Edition includes live monitoring and diagnostic functionality but does not provide alerting. A Community engine does not expose live or historical alert records through the Console, WCF/API, or MCP, and it does not send email, Slack, Teams, PagerDuty, Jira, or other alert notifications. A trial or licensed engine is required to evaluate or use alerting.
When an Engine trial expires, the Engine automatically transitions to Community Edition. It retains the one-server Community allowance and live diagnostics, while alert evaluation, alert history, alert configuration, and notifications stop. Mini DBA-provided AI tokens also require at least one connected licensed Engine; a Console connected only to the transitioned Community Engine can still use a configured Bring Your Own AI provider.
Distributed Engine editions are determined by their validated licence, trial, or Community fallback state. Internal development builds may use a local-only debug entitlement for testing; that bypass is not included in Release builds.
In the Console, selecting the Alerts node for a server monitored by a Community Edition engine displays an explanation instead of opening an empty alerts screen. Direct links to that server's alerts page show the same guidance.
This matters when planning a monitoring rollout. Count each SQL Server, Azure SQL logical server or database target, PostgreSQL server, MySQL or MariaDB server, and Oracle server according to how the engine reports license usage in Settings. If a server is added but does not collect data, check whether the engine has reached its licensed connection limit.
Where license information appears
License information appears in several places:
- The console top bar can show the active engine license display name.
- The Settings engine table shows License, SQL Connections, and License End per engine.
- The engine details modal shows license created date, expiry, status, messages, errors, licensee, license code, demo state, and community state.
- The About page can show product version and licensee information.
In multi-engine deployments, always check the specific engine that owns the monitored server. Each engine has its own license state and its own licensed connection limit.
Community Edition in a multi-Engine Console
A Console can use one configured Community Edition engine. Licensed engines are always exempt from this rule, so any number of licensed engines can remain connected alongside the one permitted Community engine.
The permitted Community engine is the first Community engine in the configured engine order. A second or subsequent Community engine is retained in Settings but is shown as Disabled. The Console checks the engine's live licence state before subscribing, does not connect to a disabled engine, and does not include that engine's servers or alerts in Enterprise View. Disconnecting the permitted Community engine or turning off Auto Connect does not transfer the allowance; remove the earlier Community engine or license the disabled engine instead. Use Recheck licence after upgrading an engine.
The Console also rechecks connected engine licence state. If a previously licensed engine falls back to Community Edition and another Community engine already owns the allowance, the newly ineligible connection is closed and its cached server and alert data is removed from all-engine views.
Mini DBA-provided daily AI tokens are available when the Console has at least one connected licensed engine. If every connected engine is Community Edition, AI remains available only through a user-configured Bring Your Own AI provider. Connecting one licensed engine enables the daily Mini DBA token allowance for Console users even when the Console also has a permitted Community engine.
View Engine license status
- Open Settings.
- Find the Mini DBA Engine row.
- Review License, SQL Connections, License End, and Last Connected.
- Select the row to open the engine details modal.
- Review License, License Created, License Status, Demo License, Licensee, License Message, License Error, and License Code.
Activate an Engine license
- Open Settings.
- Connect to the Mini DBA Engine you want to license.
- Select the engine row to open details.
- In the License section, enter the activation serial.
- Select Activate.
- Wait for Mini DBA to validate the serial and refresh engine license status.
Activation is performed against the selected connected engine through the Mini DBA service connection. After a successful activation, Mini DBA reloads monitored server state so the updated license limit is applied.
Deactivate an Engine license
Use license deactivation when moving a license away from an engine instance or preparing an engine for replacement.
- Open Settings.
- Connect to the engine instance whose license should be deactivated.
- Select the engine row to open details.
- In the License section, select Deactivate License.
- Confirm the deactivation prompt.
- Wait for the engine to report the updated license status.
Deactivation is sent to the connected Mini DBA Engine. The engine updates its license state and reloads monitored servers according to the new license limit.
When to deactivate a license
Deactivate a license before moving it to another engine host, rebuilding a monitoring server, replacing a machine, or retiring an engine instance. Deactivation tells the licensing service that the current engine should no longer hold that activation. After deactivation, the engine may fall back to demo, trial, community, or unlicensed behavior depending on the license state returned by the engine.
Only deactivate from the engine that currently holds the license. In a multi-engine console, select the correct engine row, confirm the endpoint and display name, then use the engine details modal.
License files and activation keys
The engine license file is stored as signed XML in the engine app data folder. A one-time activation bootstrap key can be supplied in the same folder as activation.key.
| Deployment | License file | Activation key file |
|---|---|---|
| Linux service or container | /var/lib/minidba-engine/license.xml |
/var/lib/minidba-engine/activation.key |
| Windows service | C:\ProgramData\MiniDBA Engine\license.xml |
C:\ProgramData\MiniDBA Engine\activation.key |
| Azure App Service | %HOME%\site\data\minidba-engine\license.xml |
%HOME%\site\data\minidba-engine\activation.key |
The license XML file should contain signed license XML only. Do not place a plain serial key in license.xml. If the engine starts without a license file and an activation.key exists, the engine can activate the serial into license.xml and remove the consumed activation key.
Online and offline considerations
Online engine licenses are expected to validate through the Mini DBA licensing service. If the engine is behind a corporate proxy, configure Web Proxy Settings before testing activation. If outbound access is blocked, license validation may fail even when the serial is correct.
Offline or air-gapped licensing should be handled through the supported offline license process for the product edition. Offline licenses are normally machine-bound, so collect the machine code from the engine or About page and follow the license issue workflow provided by Mini DBA support.
Troubleshooting licensing
- If activation fails, confirm the engine is connected and the serial key was entered correctly.
- If the console cannot deactivate a license, confirm you are connected as an administrator-level engine user and the engine has a license code.
- If server counts look wrong, reconnect to the engine and refresh the Servers page.
- If the engine cannot validate online, check web proxy settings and outbound connectivity.
- If the engine reports a license error, open Service Log for supporting messages.
Licensing FAQ
Can one Console use several licensed engines?
Yes. Add each engine in Settings. Each connected engine reports its own license, expiry, and licensed server count.
Does deleting license.XML restart a trial?
No. Trial state is tracked by the licensing service. Removing a local license file does not create unlimited new trials.
Can I activate a license without restarting the Engine?
Yes. The Settings engine details modal can activate the selected engine license through the connected Mini DBA Engine service. After activation, the engine refreshes license state and reloads monitored servers according to the new limit.
Can I deactivate a license from the Console?
Yes. Select the connected engine in Settings, open the engine details modal, choose Deactivate License, and confirm. The deactivation request is sent to that engine.