JP2002157039A - License management method for maintenance support contract - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a license management method for maintenance support contract capable of limiting the use of a service only to owners of software within the license number of a maintenance support contract, and facilitating the acquirement/management of a software update program on a user side. SOLUTION: The software update program with license check function having a license key and maintenance support contact information is used to confirm that the license of the software to be supported for maintenance is fair, and the software update program is then executed.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a license management method at the time of a software maintenance support contract.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In the sale and maintenance of software, when a defect is found in previously sold software and a module of the software needs to be modified, the developer is installed on a computer on the user side. Update software to the modified module or create a software update to add
It can be downloaded by the user by distributing it free of charge or releasing it to the developer's home page free of charge. In many cases, a user obtains the software update program and executes the software update program on a computer on the user side to correct a defect.

In this case, when distributing a software update program, it is general that the user is not managed whether or not the user has a correct license (permission to use the software). Some software vendors distribute a user ID and a password to a user having a correct license in advance, so that only a licensed user can access a software update program distribution server prepared by a developer. And make software updates available.

On the other hand, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-8549
No. 9 discloses a method for managing licenses of programs and the like for each CPU as follows.

That is, according to Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 11-85499, in a data distribution system for programs and the like on an open network,
After receiving data of a program or the like, a serial number unique to the terminal device is read from a serial number storage device of the terminal device that processes the data of the program or the like, and the data of the program or the like is encrypted /
The decryption prevents the data such as the distributed program from being stolen / used by a third party after downloading the data.

As a result, in addition to the software defect correction, high-quality services such as version upgrade to the latest software and technical information support can be provided in addition to software use licenses and maintenance support licenses ( (Maintenance support license) is separately provided, and only the user having this maintenance support license can be permitted.

[0007]

According to the above-mentioned conventional license management method using a password, when a plurality of licenses are required for a maintenance support contract, the number of licenses in the maintenance support contract is not managed. A software update is applied to all maintenance-supported software, even though only a part of the contracted use license has a maintenance support license.
In other words, when managing licenses for maintenance support contracts,
Maintenance support contract license management was not considered.

In Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H11-85499, it is necessary to obtain a software update program to be executed on each computer having a maintenance support contract for the number of licenses. It is necessary to manage the program, and operability and management burden for a user having a plurality of maintenance support contract licenses have not been considered.

[0009] An object of the present invention is to limit the use of services based on a maintenance support contract to users having a plurality of maintenance support contracts and only to software users within the number of licenses. It is still another object of the present invention to provide a method for managing a license of a maintenance support contract that allows a plurality of computers to be updated by a single acquisition operation.

[0010]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a method for registering license information of software used by a user, and determining maintenance support contract information obtained from the maintenance support contract license information on the software. Means for generating a software update program with a license check function from a software update program for updating the software to the latest state, and an execution determination program for determining whether or not the software update program can be executed when there is a start request Having.

Further, when the software update program with the license check function is started on the user's computer, the user license information stored on the user's computer and the software update program with the license check function are stored. And a means for comparing with the maintenance support contract determination information.

Further, when the software update program with the license check function is activated, the executable / non-executable determination program determines the execution history information and the maintenance support contract stored in the software update program with the license check function. By comparing the information, it is determined whether or not execution of the software update program is possible. Only when the user has the license of the maintenance support contract, the execution determination program has means for permitting execution of the software update program.

[0013] This makes it possible for a corporate user who has a plurality of maintenance support licenses for the registered license information to sufficiently and easily manage the license of the maintenance support contract.

[0014]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a first embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, registered license information 10
Reference numeral 0 denotes a DB that manages software user information and a later-described license key 101 for the user at the developer. The maintenance support contract license information 105 is a DB that manages information on the maintenance support contract of the software user. Maintenance support contract determination information 1
10 includes a license key extracted from the registered license information 100 and a maintenance support contract license number 106 extracted from the maintenance support contract license information 105. A license key 101 is identification information for confirming that the user has a valid license for using the software.

The number of maintenance support contract licenses 106 is
This is the number of licenses for which the user has signed a maintenance support contract. The software updating means, for example, the software updating program 120 is a program for updating or adding a module already installed on the user's computer.

The executable / non-executable determining means, for example, the executable / non-executable determining program 130, when a program updating means with a license checking function, for example, a software updating program 150 with a license checking function is started on a computer on the user side, executes the computer. Make sure your users have the correct maintenance support license,
This program gives execution permission to the software update program 120 in the software update program with license check function 150 only when it is confirmed that the user has a valid maintenance support license. The software update program 150 with the license check function is used for the maintenance support contract determination information 11
0, a software update program 120, and an executable / non-executable determination program 130, and extracts the user-specific information from the registered license information 100 and the maintenance support contract license information 105 when requested by the user. The maintenance support contract determination information 110 created as described above is combined with the software update program 120 and the executable / non-executable determination program 130, and immediately distributed to the user. When the software update program 150 with the license check function distributed to the user is activated on the computer on the user side, the built-in software update program 120 updates or adds a module.

In FIG. 1, a memory 160 is a memory on a computer on the user side, and a software update program 150 having a license check function is started.
It shows a state loaded in the memory on the computer on the user side. Similarly, in FIG. 1, the user license key 170 stores / stores the same information as the license key 101 managed on the computer of the developer on the computer on the user side. Software 18
Reference numeral 0 denotes software subject to a maintenance support contract, which is stored in an auxiliary storage device on a computer on the user side.

Next, in this embodiment, when the user requests the distribution of the software update program 120, the developer registers the license registration information 1 at that time.
00, and the maintenance support contract determination information 110 is generated from the maintenance support contract license information 105, and the maintenance support contract determination information 110, the software update program 120, and the executable / non-executable determination program 130 are generated.
Will be described using a specific example.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a detailed example of the data of the registered license information 100. In this example, for each software, a user name having a license for use with the software, user information such as an address and a telephone number of the user, version information of the software, a license key 101, and a license key for the software are provided. Stored is a maintenance data reference address 102 indicating whether a maintenance support contract has been made and, if so, an address for referring to the data. For a user having an address for referring to the maintenance support contract data with this identification information, detailed information on the maintenance support contract is registered in the maintenance support contract license information 105. Note that the license key 101 is identification information indicating that the license is properly held for the software to be maintained, for example, a CD key. A CD key is a password assigned to each storage medium of software. When software is distributed on a storage medium such as a CD-ROM, a unique value is assigned to each storage medium. This CD
If you do not enter the correct key value, the installation will not proceed.

FIG. 3 shows maintenance support contract license information 1
It is a figure which shows the detailed example of the data of 05. In this example,
A DB that manages information about users registered as having a maintenance support contract at the maintenance support contract data reference address 102 of the registered license information 100 for each software. Using the user name as a key, information such as the maintenance support contract license number 106 and the start date and end date of the maintenance support contract are stored. The number of licenses in this maintenance support contract is determined for each user by the software update program 120 for a specific license key.
This is the number of permitted executions described below, which indicates the number of times that the execution is permitted.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the details of the software update program 150 with a license check function in FIG. FIG. 5 shows a flowchart of the procedure for creating this program.

In FIG. 4, a software update program 150 with a license check function includes a software update program 120 and an execution determination program 1.
Consists of 30. Further, the execution availability determination program 130
The license management table 200 is stored in the data area.

The license management table 200 includes, as data, a specific license key 101 and a software update program 1 for the license key 101.
The maintenance support contract determination information 110 having the permitted number of executions (= the number of maintenance support contract licenses 106) permitted to execute 20 is defined as one entry, and includes the number of licenses owned by the user.

The execution number counter 210 is used to store the software update program 15 with a license check function.
0 is the history information that counts / stores the number of times the software update program 120 has been executed since the software update program 150 with the license check function was distributed to the user's computer.

Referring now to FIG. When the user issues a request to issue the software update program 120, the license key 101 of the user is first extracted from the registered license information 100 (S110). Next, from the maintenance support contract license information 105, the number of maintenance support contract licenses 106 is set as the executable
0 extracts the number of permitted executions as information on the number of permitted executions of the software update program 120 (S120). Next, obtained in the process of S110 and S120,
The maintenance support contract determination information 110 is generated by combining the license key 101 and the number of maintenance support contract licenses 106 that is the permitted number of executions (S130). Next, the executable maintenance determination program 130 uses the generated maintenance support contract determination information 110 as the license management table 200.
Is stored in the data area of the object file (S140). Next, the execution number counter 210 is initialized and stored in the data area in the object file of the execution possibility determination program 130 (S150). Lastly, the software update program with license check function 150 is generated by linking the executable / non-executability determination program 130 storing the license management table 200 and the software update program 120 obtained in S150 with the linkage editor (S16).
0).

Next, the software update program 15 with the license check function generated by the above process
An example of the operation of the software update program 150 with a license check function after 0 is distributed to a user's computer using a means such as a wide area network will be described.

FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining the operation when the software update program 150 with the license check function distributed on the user's computer is activated on the user's computer in this embodiment. FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a flow of the operation.

As shown in FIG. 6, in this embodiment, a software update program 1 with a license check function is provided.
In 50, when managing the number of licenses when a maintenance support contract is made, first, the execution possibility determination program 130 acquires the user license information 170 stored in the computer on the user side. First, a user license key 170, which is information on the license key 101 stored / stored on the user's computer, is used as a search key.
The license management table 200 stored in the execution determination program 130 is searched, and if there is matching license key information, the computer determines that the computer has a correct license for use. Next, the software update program 120 in the executable
Are distributed and stored in the execution availability determination program 130 and the total number of executions obtained from the execution number counter 210 which counts / stores the number of times the software update program 120 has been executed on the computer on the user side. The total number of the maintenance support contract licenses 106 in the license management table 200, that is, the number of permitted executions is compared. If the total number of executions is equal to or less than the permitted number of executions, the computer is within the number of maintenance support licenses and the correct maintenance is performed. It is determined that the number of licenses in the support contract is applicable. As described above, when both the license for use and the license for maintenance support are confirmed to be correct, the software update program 120 is started, and the software 180 to be maintained and installed in the auxiliary storage device on the user side is updated. On the other hand, an update process is performed.

Here, the user license key 170
If, when the software update program with license check function 150 is started, if it can be obtained as input data to the executable / non-executable determination program 130,
The storage means and storage destination in the computer on the user side are not particularly limited. When the information of the CD key is used as the license key 101 as in this embodiment, the installer prompts the user to select whether or not to sign a maintenance support contract when installing the software, and desires to sign a maintenance support contract. Only in this case, the information of the CD key may be stored as a file in an auxiliary storage medium in the user's machine by encrypting the file, or when the user wishes to enter into a maintenance support contract after installation, A program for storing the user license key on the computer may be separately prepared and stored. The storage destination may be a file on the auxiliary storage medium.

Next, the flow of processing after the software update program 150 with the license check function is started will be described with reference to FIG. When the software update program file 150 with the license check function is started, the user license key 170 stored on the computer is acquired (S210). At this time, if the user license key 170 cannot be obtained (“not available”
Branch), it is determined that the license is not correctly held, an error is output (S270), and the update process is not permitted.

If the user license key 170 is acquired (branch to the “acquirable” side), the license stored in the software update program 150 with the license check function is used as a search key. Search the management table 200 (S
220). As a result, the license management table 20
If there is no license key information that matches 0 (branch to the 'mismatch' side), it is determined that the license for use of the software is not correctly possessed, an error is output (S270), and the update process is not permitted.

If the result of the search indicates that license key information matching the user license key 170 is found in the license management table 200 (hereinafter, a matching license key), the user having the computer correctly sets the license related to the use of the software. It is determined that it has, and the following processing is continued.

Next, information on the total number of executions is obtained from the execution number counter 210 (S230). Subsequently, the information on the total number of executions and the information in the license management table 200 stored in the software update program 150 with the license check function are obtained. The number of permitted executions corresponding to the matched license key is compared (S240). As a result, if the total number of executions is equal to or greater than the number 106 of maintenance support contract licenses, that is, the number of permitted executions (branch to the “total number of executed times> number of permitted executions”), it is determined that the license is not correctly possessed, and an error Output is performed (S270), and update processing is not permitted.

When the total number of executions is equal to or less than the permitted number of executions (branch to the "total number of executions ≦ number of licenses" side)
Starts the software update program 120 (S
250). Thereafter, 1 is added to the value of the execution number counter 210 (S260), and the execution ends.

As described above, according to this embodiment, the software update program 150 with the license check function is provided.
Is activated on the user's computer, the license update function-equipped software update program 15
0 is started, the license management table stored in the executable determination program 130, the user license key 170 stored in the user's computer, and the user's computer. The total number of executions of the software update program 120 since distribution was counted, and the stored execution number counter 210 was input, and it was determined whether the license for use of the software and the maintenance support of the software was correct. Only when the software update program 120 is started and the software is updated, the license management of a plurality of maintenance support contracts is realized.

Next, a second embodiment according to the present invention will be described. FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing a second embodiment of the present invention. In the computer of the developer of the developer in FIG. 8, the maintenance support contract determination information 110 shown in FIG.
And its configuration is different. Assume that the maintenance support contract determination information in this embodiment is 115. The maintenance support contract determination information 115 includes a license key 101 and computer identification information 107 extracted as license information from the registered license information 100, and a maintenance support contract object extracted from the maintenance support contract license information 105 in the license key 101. Maintenance support contract presence / absence information 10 for setting existence to a license key that matches
Consists of eight. The computer identification information 107 is information necessary when the license management is strict until the computer on which the software for which the license key 101 has been acquired is installed is uniquely specified. As the computer identification information, a serial number or a MAC address, which is unique information added to the CPU at the time of factory shipment, can be considered as an example. In the present embodiment, the computer identification information will be collectively referred to as the computer identification information.

In the computer on the user side in FIG. 8, the maintenance support contract determination information 1 shown in FIG.
15 and the execution possibility determination program 1
The difference is that the user computer identification information 190 is added to the user license key 170 as the license information to be input as 30.

Next, in this embodiment, when the user requests the distribution of the software update program 120, the developer registers the license registration information 1 at that time.
00, and the maintenance support contract determination information 110 is generated from the maintenance support contract license information 105, and the maintenance support contract determination information 110, the software update program 120, and the executable / non-executable determination program 130 are generated.
Will be described using a specific example.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a detailed example of the data of the registered license information 100 in FIG. The registered license information 100 includes, at the developer, information on the user who sold the software, a license key 101 relating to the use of the software for the user, and a computer for identifying the computer on which the user installs the software for which the license key has been acquired. Identification information 10
7 is a DB that manages the database 7. FIG. 9 is different from FIG. 2 of the first embodiment in that computer identification information 107 corresponding to the license key 101 is added.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a detailed example of the data of the maintenance support contract license information 105 in FIG. 8 in this embodiment. In this example, for each software,
The identification information indicating the presence or absence of a maintenance support contract in the registered license information 100. This is a DB that manages information on users who are registered as having a maintenance support contract. Maintenance support contract license key 1
09, information such as a start date and an end date of the maintenance support contract is stored. Only the license key that matches the maintenance support contract license key 109 is permitted to execute the software update program 120.

Next, when the developer creates a new software update program 120 and distributes it to the user, the software update program 1 with the license check function is used.
The details of 50 and its generation procedure will be described. FIG. 11 is a diagram showing details of the software update program 150 with a license check function in FIG. FIG.
FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a procedure for generating a software update program with a license check function 150 having the program shown in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 11, the software update program 150 with the license check function in the present embodiment includes a license key 101, a computer identification information 10
7. The maintenance support contract determination information 115 including the maintenance support contract presence / absence information 108 is composed of an executable / non-executable determination program 130 and a software update program 120 in which a plurality of license management tables 200 are stored in a data area. .

Next, referring to FIG. 12, a procedure for generating a software update program 150 having a license check function is described. 101 and computer identification information of the computer permitted to install the license key 101 (S310). Next, the maintenance support contract license key 109 is extracted from the maintenance support contract license information 105 (S32).
0). Next, the maintenance support presence / absence information 108 is set to exist for the license key 101 that matches the maintenance support contract license key 109 (S330). The license key 101, the computer identification information 107, and the maintenance support presence / absence information 108 are combined, and the license management table 20
0 is generated (S340). Next, the executable / non-executable determination program 130 executes the generated license management table 200.
Is stored in the data area of the object file (S350). Finally, the executable / non-executable determination program 1 in which the license management table 200 has been stored and obtained in S350
By linking the software update program 120 with the software update program 120 using a linkage editor, a software update program 150 with a license check function is generated (S360).

Next, the software update program 15 with the license check function generated by the above process
An example of the operation of the software update program 150 with a license check function after 0 is distributed to a user's computer using a means such as a wide area network will be described.

FIG. 13 is a diagram for explaining the operation when the software update program 150 with the license check function distributed on the user's computer is activated on the user's computer in this embodiment. FIG. 14 is a flowchart showing the flow of the processing of the operation.

As shown in FIG. 13, in this embodiment, when managing the number of licenses in the case of having a maintenance support contract, the software update program 150 with a license check function is first stored / accumulated on the computer on the user side. The license management table 200 stored in the executable / non-executable determination program 130 is searched using the user license key 170, which is information of the license key 101, as a search key. If there is a matching license key 101 and the user computer identification information 190 stored / stored on the user's computer matches the computer identification information 107 corresponding to the matching license key 101, a correct license is assigned. Judge to have. Further, if the maintenance support contract presence / absence information 108 of the license key 101 is available, it is determined that the user has the license of the correct maintenance support contract. In this case, the software update program 120 is started, and the update process is performed on the software 180 that is installed in the user's auxiliary storage device and that is subject to maintenance support.

Next, the flow of processing after the software update program 150 with the license check function is started will be described with reference to FIG. When the software update program file 150 with the license check function is started, the user license key 170 stored on the computer is acquired (S410). At this time, if the user license key 170 cannot be acquired (branch to the “acquisition not possible” side), it is determined that the license is not properly possessed, an error is output (S460), and the update process is not permitted.

If the user license key 170 has been obtained (branch to the “acquirable” side), the license stored in the software update program 150 with the license check function is used as a search key. Search the management table 200 (S
420). As a result, the license management table 20
If there is no license key information that matches 0 (branch to the “mismatch” side), it is determined that the license related to the use of the software is not correctly possessed, an error is output (S460), and the update process is not permitted.

If the result of the search indicates that license key information matching the user license key 170 is found in the license management table 200, the computer identification information 107 permitted by the license key 101 in the license management table 200 is changed to the user computer. It is determined whether it matches the identification information 190 (S430). If they do not match (branch to the “mismatch” side), the license key 101
It is determined that it does not have the correct license information, an error is output (S460), and the update process is not permitted.

When there is a match (branch to the 'match' side)
Refers to whether or not the maintenance support contract presence / absence information 108 of the license key 101 exists (S440). When there is no maintenance support contract information 108 ('No')
Side), determines that there is no maintenance support contract, outputs an error (S460), and does not permit update processing.

If there is maintenance support presence / absence information as a result of the reference (branch to the “present” side), the software update program 120 is executed and the execution ends.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the software update program 15 with the license check function is provided.
0 is activated on the user's computer, the software update program 1 with the license check function
The execution determination program 130 stored in the execution determination program 130 is started, and the license management table included in the execution determination program 130, the user license key 170 stored in the computer on the user side, and the user computer identification information 190 are stored. As an input, it is determined whether the license related to software maintenance support is correct, and only when it is determined that the license is correct, the software update program 120 is started and the software is updated, thereby realizing license management of a plurality of maintenance support contracts. .

[0054]

According to the present invention, when a license for a plurality of software and a license for a plurality of maintenance support contracts for the software are concluded, the number of licenses for the maintenance support contracted by the user is managed. If you have a maintenance support contract for only a part of the licenses related to use, you may not be able to manage the license properly. It is possible to provide a method of managing a license for a maintenance support contract, in which the use of the service is limited only to the user and the user can easily obtain / manage the software update program.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a system configuration of the present invention.

FIG. 2 shows registered license information 100 according to the first embodiment.
It is a figure which shows the detailed example of the concrete data of.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a detailed example of data of maintenance support contract license information 110 according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating details of data of a software update program with a license check function 150 according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a procedure for generating a software update program with a license check function 150 shown in FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an operation when the software update program with a license check function distributed to a user's computer is started according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating the flow of processing after the software update program with a license check function 150 distributed on the user's computer is activated according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a system configuration according to a second embodiment.

FIG. 9 shows registered license information 100 according to the second embodiment.
It is a figure which shows the detailed example of the concrete data of.

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a detailed example of specific data of maintenance support contract license information 105 according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating details of data of a software update program with a license check function 150 according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing a procedure for generating a software update program with a license check function 150 shown in FIG. 11;

FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating an operation when a software update program with a license check function distributed to a user's computer is started according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart illustrating the flow of processing after the software update program with a license check function 150 distributed on the user's computer is started in the second embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

100 ... registered license information, 101 ... license key, 102 ... maintenance data reference address, 105 ... maintenance support contract license information, 106 ... maintenance support contract license number, 110 ... maintenance support contract determination information, 1
20: software update program, 130: executable program, 140: memory of developer computer, 1
50: Software update program with license check function, 160: User computer memory, 170
... User license key, 180... Software subject to a maintenance support contract installed on the auxiliary storage device of the user computer, 200. License management table, 210.

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────の Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Satoshi Yoshikawa 5030 Totsuka-cho, Totsuka-ku, Yokohama-shi, Kanagawa Prefecture Within the Platform Solutions Development Division of Hitachi, Ltd. (72) Inventor Koichi Takeda Totsuka-cho, Totsuka-ku, Yokohama-shi, Kanagawa 5030 Address Hitachi Solution Platform Solution Development Headquarters (72) Inventor Jun Numanoi 5030 Totsukacho, Totsuka-ku, Yokohama-shi, Kanagawa Prefecture F-Terminator Hitachi Solution Platform Solution Development Headquarters 5B076 EA18 FB05

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. Software registration license information and maintenance support contract determination information obtained from the maintenance support contract license information related to the software, software updating means for updating the software to the latest state, and a start request to the software updating means A license management method for a maintenance support contract, comprising: generating a program updating means with a license confirmation function having an execution availability determination means for determining whether the execution is possible when there is an error. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein when the program updating unit with the license confirmation function is activated on the user's computer, the execution determination unit checks the user license information stored on the user's computer and the license check. Comparing the maintenance support contract determination information possessed by the function-equipped software update means with the execution support information and the maintenance support contract determination information stored in the software update program with the license check function. A license management method for the maintenance support contract, wherein if the user has the license for the maintenance support contract, and if so, the execution determination unit permits execution of the software update unit. .