Offline and air-gapped Engine licensing

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Use this page when a Mini DBA Engine cannot reach the Mini DBA licensing service, including fully air-gapped networks. An offline licence is a signed, machine-bound license.xml file. The Engine validates it locally; it does not need Internet access after the file is installed.

Choose the right licence mode

Situation	Licence mode	What the Engine needs
The Engine can reach the licensing service directly or through an approved proxy	Online	Periodic outbound HTTPS validation.
The Engine cannot reach the licensing service	Offline	A signed `license.xml` issued for that Engine's machine code.

An online licence contains ValidationMode set to Online. It cannot be used as the first licence on an air-gapped Engine because it must be confirmed by the licensing service. If the API cannot be reached before the licence has been confirmed, the Engine reports no usable licensed connections.

An offline licence contains ValidationMode set to Offline. Do not edit either mode in the XML yourself: the signed licence would become invalid. Ask Mini DBA support to issue a replacement instead.

Collect the machine code

Install and start the Engine on its final host.
Open the connected Console Settings page, select the Engine, and open its details. The machine code is also available from the Engine or Console About information where shown.
Copy the machine code exactly. It is case-sensitive and identifies the Engine host.
Send Mini DBA support the machine code, required monitored-server count, agreed trial or licence duration, and the customer name and contact details.

The machine code is bound to the host. A licence created for one Engine host cannot be reused after moving the Engine to a different machine; collect the new machine code and request a reissue.

Issue an offline licence

This step is performed by authorised Mini DBA licensing staff, using the protected offline-licence administration workflow. The request must use:

the exact customer machine code;
Engine as the product;
the agreed monitored-server allowance and duration; and
customer, company, support, and contact details.

The returned licenseXml is the complete signed licence. Before sending it to the customer, verify that it contains:

<Feature name="ValidationMode">Offline</Feature>

and that its MonitoredInstances value is the allowance agreed with the customer. Never send an API token, signing key, signing passphrase, or a connection string to the customer.

Install the signed licence

Stop the Mini DBA Engine.
Back up any existing license.xml from the Engine application-data folder.
Copy the signed file supplied by Mini DBA support to the applicable license.xml path, replacing the existing file.
Start the Engine.
In Console Settings, open that Engine's details and confirm the expected licence status, expiry, and SQL Connections allowance.

Deployment	Offline licence path
Linux service or container	`/var/lib/minidba-engine/license.xml` in the Engine persistent data volume
Windows service	`C:\ProgramData\MiniDBA Engine\license.xml`
Azure App Service	`%HOME%\site\data\minidba-engine\license.xml`

The file must contain signed XML only. Do not put an activation serial in license.xml. An activation.key is a separate one-time bootstrap file for online activation and is not needed to install an issued offline licence.

For a Linux container, copy the file into the host directory mounted at /var/lib/minidba-engine, not into the container image filesystem. This keeps the licence through a container replacement or upgrade.

Deleting license.xml does not create a new trial. Trial state is recorded by the licensing service, and deleting an offline licence would only remove the issued local entitlement.

Troubleshoot offline licensing

Symptom	Cause and action
SQL Connections shows `0` on an air-gapped Engine	The installed licence is likely online or has not been locally accepted. Check the licence details and ask Mini DBA support to issue a new signed offline licence for the exact machine code.
The licence file is rejected	Confirm the file was not edited, truncated, or copied to the wrong application-data folder. Re-copy the original signed file and restart the Engine.
The licence works on one host but not another	Offline licences are machine-bound. Obtain the machine code from the new host and request a reissue.
The Engine can access the Internet but online validation fails	Check outbound HTTPS and, where required, configure Web Proxy Settings.

Use Service Log for the Engine-side validation message. When contacting support, include the Engine name, machine code, validation message, and time of the failure; do not include secrets.