JP2014006587A - License management device, license management method and program - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a license management method capable of reducing a load related to installation and management of an upgrade edition of software.SOLUTION: A management device for managing application licenses comprises: means to receive a first identifier which is an identifier of an application which a user has provided an instruction to install and license information inputted in response to the installation instruction; means to check whether or not the first and second identifiers are associated with the same group information when the first identifier does not match the second identifier which is an application identifier identified from the license information; and means which does not issue a license for installing the application specified by the user if the first and second identifiers are not associated with the same group information, and issues a license for installing the application specified by the user if the identifiers are associated with the same group information.

Description

  The present invention relates to a license management apparatus, a license management method, and a program.

  Conventionally, unauthorized use of software has been prevented by software license management. As one of the license management methods, there is a management method that enables installation by distributing a license number for using the software when the software is purchased and inputting the license number when installing the software.

  On the other hand, the software will be released in an upgraded version due to the addition of new functions and bug fixes. When such upgrades are released, upgrades due to the addition of new features may be charged. In the case of a fee, you cannot install the upgraded version of software with the license number of the software you purchased first. In this case, the upgrade software can be installed by purchasing the upgrade software and inputting the license number of the additionally purchased software.

  In order to easily install separately purchased software, there is a technique in which upgrade information for the installed software is displayed to the user, and upgrade to a version selected by the user exists (for example, Patent Document 1).

JP 2009-104433 A

  However, in Patent Document 1, since another license number is newly issued for additionally purchased software, the user has to manage a plurality of license numbers. Moreover, in patent document 1, it was necessary to install the software purchased initially, and to upgrade to an update program after that. Therefore, in order to use the software with the added new function, there has been a problem that installation work must be performed a plurality of times.

  In addition, in the business of purchasing software separately for upgrade, there is a problem that there are actually few users who purchase additional software. Therefore, instead of purchasing software separately, there is a need to purchase a low-cost maintenance service, and to execute a business model in which normal paid software released within the maintenance period of the maintenance service can be upgraded free of charge. There is also. However, Patent Document 1 does not solve such a problem.

  The present invention solves the above-described problems, and provides a license management method that reduces the burden of installing and managing upgraded software.

  In order to solve the above problems, the present invention has the following configuration. That is, a license management apparatus that manages the license of an application, the storage means storing each identifier assigned to each application in association with the group information to which the application belongs, and the identifier of the application that the user has instructed to install. Receiving means for receiving license information input in response to the installation instruction, the first identifier, and a second identifier that is an identifier of an application identified from the license information; The first identifier and the second identifier are associated with the same group information and the first identifier and the second identifier are associated with the same group information. Confirmed by the confirmation means that it is not stored If the confirmation means confirms that the first and second identifiers are stored in association with the same group information without issuing a license for installing the application designated by the user, Issuing means for issuing a license for installing an application designated by the user.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to eliminate the trouble of a user managing licenses for a plurality of different versions of software, and to provide license management that does not illegally use a maintenance service for making upgrade software for a fee. it can.

The figure which shows the network structural example. The figure which shows the hardware structural example. The figure which shows the example of a software structure. The figure which shows the example of a table. The figure which shows the example of data. The figure which shows the example of a license authentication screen. The flowchart explaining the process at the time of starting a software. The flowchart explaining the process at the time of pressing a license authentication button. The flowchart explaining the process at the time of receiving a license issue request.

  Hereinafter, embodiments for carrying out the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

[System configuration]
FIG. 1 shows a network configuration of a license management system to which the present invention is applied. A license server 101 which is a license management apparatus and an information processing apparatus 102 are connected via the Internet 103. In the example of FIG. 1, three information processing apparatuses 102 are connected, but any number may be used as long as the number is one or more. Further, although one license server 101 is shown, the present invention is not limited to this configuration, and it may be configured by a plurality of devices and share processing.

  FIG. 2 shows a hardware configuration of the license server 101 and the information processing apparatus 102 according to the present embodiment. The display unit 201 displays windows, icons, messages, menus, and other user interface information. The operation unit 202 receives input from an end user using a keyboard, a mouse, or the like.

  The CPU 203 controls each process on the apparatus, and executes various programs and controls each part. The hard disk 204 is a storage unit that stores programs and data related to each process of the apparatus. A memory 205 is a volatile storage unit that can electrically store temporary data related to each process of the apparatus and can be rewritten. A network I / F 206 connects to a LAN (Local Area Network) and the Internet via a network and exchanges information with an external device. The system bus 207 is connected to each part constituting the apparatus and exchanges data between the parts.

Software configuration
FIG. 3 shows a software configuration according to the present embodiment. A license server 301 shown in FIG. 3A corresponds to the license server 101 shown in FIG. In the present embodiment, each unit of the license server 301 is realized by the CPU 203 of the license server 101 loading and executing a program stored in the hard disk 204 of the license server 101 on the memory 205.

  The product information holding unit 302 holds product information on the hard disk 204 of the license server 101. The product information is information associated with each software including a product name when the software (application) is commercialized. The license information holding unit 303 holds the license information on the hard disk 204 of the license server 101. The license information is information including a license number issued when a product is purchased and usage status. The license number is a number assigned to each commercialized software. The group information holding unit 304 holds group information on the hard disk 204 of the license server 101. The group information is information including products that belong to the group. Each information used in the present embodiment will be described later in detail with reference to FIGS.

  The license issuance request receiving unit 305 receives a license issuance request from the outside via the network I / F 206 of the license server 101. The license issuance determination unit 306 determines whether a license can be issued for the license number and the PC identifier included in the received license issuance request. The PC identifier is information for uniquely identifying the information processing apparatus 102 in which software is installed. The PC identifier may be any information as long as it is a unique value. For example, the PC identifier may be a value generated in the UUID format by the information processing apparatus 102, an identifier generated from the hardware of the information processing apparatus 102, or the like. A combination thereof may be used.

  In this determination, for example, if the received license number is an unused license number, the license issuance determination unit 306 permits the issuance of the license to the target PC identifier. In addition, when the received license number is a used license number, the license issuance determination unit 306 permits license issuance if the received PC identifier is the same as the issued PC identifier, and a different PC identifier. If so, license issuance is not permitted.

  The license issuing unit 307 issues a license for installing software. The license according to the present embodiment includes information for controlling so that software can be installed only in the information processing apparatus 102 associated with a specific PC identifier. The license also includes information for controlling so that it can be applied only to software associated with a specific content ID. The content ID will be described later. In the present embodiment, control is performed so as to permit the use of only the software associated with the specified content ID using the license including the information.

  An information processing device 331 illustrated in FIG. 3B corresponds to the information processing device 102 illustrated in FIG. In the present embodiment, each unit of the information processing apparatus 331 is realized by the CPU 203 of the information processing apparatus 102 loading and executing a program stored in the hard disk 204 of the information processing apparatus 102 on the memory 205. .

  The software information holding unit 332 holds software information on the hard disk 204 of the information processing apparatus 102. The software information is information regarding software installed in each information processing apparatus in the present embodiment, and details will be described later. The PC identifier obtaining unit 333 obtains a PC identifier for uniquely identifying each information processing apparatus 102 from the information processing apparatus 102. The license authentication screen display unit 334 displays a later-described license authentication screen 601 on the display unit 201 of the information processing apparatus 102.

  The license issuance request transmission unit 335 transmits a license issuance request to the license server 101 via the network I / F 206 of the information processing apparatus 102. The content display unit 336 displays various contents provided by software on the display unit 201 of the information processing apparatus 102. Content refers to a user interface for using functions provided by software.

  The software activation unit 337 is activated when the software is executed. The processing of the software activation unit 337 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. The license authentication means 338 performs software license authentication processing. The processing of the license authentication means 338 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

[Table structure]
FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of a table stored in the hard disk 204 of the license server 101 and the information processing apparatus 102.

  FIG. 4A is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of a product information table 401 stored in the product information holding unit 302. Each record of the product information table 401 is added when product information is registered in the license server 101. The product ID column 402 is a column that stores a product ID that uniquely identifies a product. The product name column 403 is a column for storing product names. The content ID column 404 is a column that stores a content ID that is an identifier for uniquely identifying commercialized software. The maintenance contract column 405 is a column for storing presence / absence of a maintenance contract. The maintenance period column 406 is a column for storing a maintenance period. The release date column 407 is a column for storing date information as a release date when the product is actually made available to the user. The upgrade permission column 408 is a column for storing information indicating whether or not upgrade to this product is possible.

  FIG. 4B is a diagram showing a configuration example of the license information table 421 stored in the license information holding unit 303. Each record of the license information table 421 is added when the license server 101 issues a license number for the product. A record storing the license number and the product ID of the issued product is added to the added record. The license number column 422 is a column for storing a license number issued when a product is purchased. The product ID column 423 is a column for storing the product ID of a product that can be used by a license number. The use start date column 424 is a column for storing the use start date when the license authentication is started and the use of the software is started. The used PC column 425 is a column for storing a PC identifier for which license authentication has been performed.

  In the present embodiment, information stored in the maintenance period column 406 and the release date column 407 in FIG. 4A and the use start date column 424 in FIG. 4B is handled as period information related to the maintenance contract.

  FIG. 4C is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of the group information table 441 stored in the group information holding unit 304. Each record in the group information table 441 is added when a group is set for a product registered in the license server 101. The group ID column 442 is a column that stores a group ID for uniquely identifying group information. The group name column 443 is a column for storing a group name. The belonging product ID column 444 is a column for storing the product ID of the product belonging to the group information.

  In the example of FIG. 4A, records with product IDs “P001”, “P004”, and “P007” are products of the same type (function) as the software “document management application”. Are registered with different values in the content ID column 404. This is because the “document management application” can set the content ID to be different for each version so that the version cannot be upgraded unless a paid maintenance contract is concluded.

  The relationship between whether or not each product can be updated is set in the belonging product ID column 444 managed in the group information table 441 in FIG. For example, since the products with the product IDs “P001”, “P004”, and “P007” are set in the belonging product ID column 444 with the same group ID “G001”, they can be updated.

  The value in the maintenance period column 406 of the record with the product ID “P001” in FIG. 4A is “365”. This indicates that 365 days after the license is issued is a maintenance period. For example, when the user who purchased the product “P001” issues a license to “2012/5/1”, the maintenance period is set to “2013/5/1” with the next day as the starting date. When the maintenance period is up to 2013/5/1, the value of the publication date column 407 of the product with the product ID “P004” is “2012/7/1”, so the product with “P004” can be updated. However, since the value of the publication date column 407 of the product with the product ID “P007” is “2013/10/1”, the product with the “P007” cannot be updated in the maintenance period.

  On the other hand, the records of the product IDs “P003” and “P008” in FIG. 4A are the same type of products as the software “output management application”, and the “output management application” has the same content ID regardless of the version. . This can be set so that the “output management application” can be upgraded without charge regardless of the maintenance period by making the content ID the same for all products.

  Further, group information may be defined so that software is upgraded to a specific version when a plurality of versions are released.

  FIG. 4D is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of software information tables 461 and 468 stored in the software information holding unit 332 of the information processing device 331. The software information table 461 is a file held by the software, and is stored in the hard disk 204 of the information processing apparatus 102 when the software is installed. The software information table 461 is an example of software information in a state where license authentication is not performed. On the other hand, the software information table 468 is an example of software information in a state where the license authentication has already been completed.

  The content ID column 462 is a column for storing the content ID of software. The license authentication column 463 is a column for storing presence / absence of license authentication. The product ID column 464 is a column that stores a product ID. The product name column 465 is a column for storing product names. The license number column 466 is a column for storing a license number. The maintenance end date column 467 is a column for storing the maintenance end date.

  Note that the configuration of the table illustrated in FIG. 4 is an example, and may further include a column in which other information is defined.

[Data example]
FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of data exchanged between the license server 101 and the information processing apparatus 102.

  FIG. 5A is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of the license issuance request 501 transmitted by the license issuance request transmission unit 335 of the information processing apparatus 331. The content ID data portion 502 is a data portion that stores a content ID. The license number data part 503 is a data part for storing a license number. The PC identifier data portion 504 is a data portion that stores a PC identifier.

  FIG. 5B is a diagram illustrating an example of license issuance responses 521 and 528 returned as a response to the license issuance request 501 by the license issuance request receiving unit 305 of the license server 301. The license issuance response 521 is an example of a license issuance response that is returned when the license issuance is successful. On the other hand, the license issuance response 528 is an example of a license issuance response returned when the license issuance fails.

  The processing result data part 522 is a data part for storing the success / failure of the license issuing process. The license number data part 523 is a data part for storing a license number. The product ID data part 524 is a data part for storing the product ID. The product name data part 525 is a data part for storing the product name. The license data part 526 is a data part for storing a license necessary for using the software. The maintenance end date data part 527 is a data part for storing the maintenance end date for the software.

[Authentication screen]
FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of the license authentication screen 601 displayed by the license authentication screen display unit 334 of the information processing device 331. This display screen is displayed via a browser, for example. The license number input field 602 is a text field for inputting a license number. The authentication button 603 is a button for transmitting a license issuance request for license authentication to the license server 301.

[Processing flow]
(Software startup processing)
FIG. 7 is a flowchart executed by the software activation unit 337 when an instruction to activate the software stored in the hard disk 204 of the information processing apparatus 102 is given. Note that the software activated here may be stored in the hard disk 204 via a portable medium, or may be acquired from an external server (not shown) via the Internet 103.

  In step S <b> 701, the software activation unit 337 acquires software information corresponding to the software instructed to be activated from the software information holding unit 332. In S702, the software activation unit 337 confirms whether the value in the license authentication column 463 of the software information acquired in S701 is “authenticated”. If it is “authenticated” (YES in S702), the process proceeds to S703, and if it is not authenticated (NO in S702), the process proceeds to S704.

  In S703, the software activation unit 337 activates the software using the content display unit 336, and displays the content provided by the software. In step S <b> 704, the software activation unit 337 displays the license authentication screen 601 using the license authentication screen display unit 334. If the license is unauthenticated, the software instructed to start is not installed. After the processing of S703 or S704, this processing flow ends.

(License authentication processing)
FIG. 8 is a flowchart executed by the license authentication unit 338 when the authentication button 603 is pressed on the license authentication screen 601 in S703.

  In step S801, the license authentication unit 338 acquires the license number input by the user in the license number input field 602 in the license authentication screen 601 illustrated in FIG. In S802, the license authentication unit 338 acquires the content ID from the content ID column 462 of the software information acquired in S701. In step S803, the license authentication unit 338 acquires the PC identifier using the PC identifier acquisition unit 333.

  In S804, the license authentication unit 338 creates a license issuance request 501 and transmits the license issuance request 501 to the license server 101 using the license issuance request transmission unit 335.

  The license issue request 501 to be transmitted stores the license number, content ID, and PC identifier acquired in S801 to S803. In step S805, the license authentication unit 338 receives a license issuance response as a response to the license issuance request 501. Here, when the authentication process on the license server 301 side is successful, the received license issuance response includes information as shown in the license issuance response 521 in FIG. On the other hand, if the authentication processing on the license server 301 side has failed, the received license issuance response includes only a part of information as shown in the license issuance response 528 in FIG. It becomes.

  In S806, the license authentication unit 338 acquires the value of the processing result data part 522 of the license issuance response acquired in S805, and determines whether the license authentication on the license server 301 side is successful. If the value of the processing result data portion 522 is “SUCCESS”, it is determined that the license authentication is successful (YES in S806), and the process proceeds to S807. On the other hand, if the value of the processing result data portion 522 is “FAILURE”, it is determined that the license authentication has failed (NO in S806), and the process proceeds to S811.

  In S807, the license authentication unit 338 acquires the license data part 526 of the license issuance response 521 acquired in S805, and performs an installation process for making the software usable. In step S808, the license authentication unit 338 acquires the license number, the product ID, the product name, and the maintenance end date from the license issuance response 521 acquired in step S805, and corresponds to each piece of software information held in the software information holding unit 332. Update the value.

  In S809, the license authentication unit 338 changes the value in the license authentication column 463 of the software information held by the software information holding unit 332 to “authenticated”. In S810, the license authentication unit 338 activates the installed software, and displays the content provided by the software using the content display unit 336.

  In S811, the license authentication unit 338 displays a license authentication error screen notifying that the license authentication has failed. After the processing of S810 or S811, this processing flow ends.

(License issuance process)
FIG. 9 is a flowchart executed by the CPU 203 of the license server 101 when the license issuance request receiving unit 305 of the license server 101 receives the license issuance request.

  In step S <b> 901, the license issuance request reception unit 305 receives the license issuance request 501 from the information processing apparatus 102. In step S902, the license issuance request receiving unit 305 acquires a license number from the license issuance request 501 acquired in step S901. In step S903, the license issuance request reception unit 305 acquires a content ID (first identifier) from the license issuance request 501 acquired in step S901.

  In S904, the license issuance request receiving unit 305 acquires the license information including the license number acquired in S902 from the license information table 421 (FIG. 4B) of the license information holding unit 303. In step S905, the license issuance request receiving unit 305 acquires the product ID of the license information acquired in step S904. In S906, the license issuance request receiving unit 305 acquires product information including the product ID acquired in S905 from the product information table 401 (FIG. 4A) of the product information holding unit 302. In S907, the license issuance request receiving unit 305 acquires a content ID (second identifier) from the product information acquired in S906.

  In step S908, the license issuance request reception unit 305 determines whether the content ID acquired in step S907 matches the content ID acquired in step S903. If the content IDs match (YES in S908), the process proceeds to S924. If they do not match (NO in S908), the process proceeds to S909. In step S909, the license issuance request receiving unit 305 determines whether the value of the maintenance contract column of the product information acquired in step S906 is “true”. If the value of the maintenance contract column is “true” (YES in S909), the process proceeds to S910, and if not (NO in S909), the process proceeds to S923.

  In S910, the license issuance request receiving unit 305 refers to the group information table 441 (FIG. 4C) of the group information holding unit 304, and there is group information including the product ID acquired in S905 as the belonging product ID. It is determined whether or not. If group information exists (YES in S910), the process proceeds to S911. If group information does not exist (NO in S910), the process proceeds to S923.

  In step S911, the license issuance request reception unit 305 acquires the group information found in step S910. In S912, the license issuance request receiving unit 305 acquires the belonging product ID of the group information acquired in S911, refers to the product information table 401, and acquires a list of product information that matches the belonging product ID.

  In S913, the license issuance request receiving unit 305 determines whether or not the content ID acquired in S903 is included in the product information list acquired in S912. If the content ID is included (YES in S913), the process proceeds to S914. If not included (NO in S913), the process proceeds to S923.

  In S914, the license issuance request receiving unit 305 acquires the product information that matches in S913 from the product information list. In S915, the license issuance request receiving unit 305 acquires the maintenance period from the value in the maintenance period column from the product information acquired in S914. In S916, the license issuance request reception unit 305 acquires the release date from the value of the release date column from the product information acquired in S914.

  In step S917, the license issuance request reception unit 305 acquires the value of the upgrade permission column from the product information acquired in step S914, and determines whether the value is “true”. If the value of the upgrade permission column is “true” (YES in S917), the process proceeds to S918, and if different (NO in S917), the process proceeds to S923.

  In S918, the license issuance request receiving unit 305 acquires the current date, and determines whether or not the current date is after the publication date acquired in S916. If it is a date after the release date (YES in S918), the process proceeds to S919, and if different (NO in S918), the process proceeds to S923.

  In S919, the license issuance request receiving unit 305 determines whether or not a value is stored on the use start date of the license information acquired in S905. If a value is stored (YES in S919), the process proceeds to S920, and if different (NO in S919), the process proceeds to S922.

  In S920, the license issuance request receiving unit 305 acquires the value stored in the use start date of the license information acquired in S905 as the use start date. In step S921, the license issuance request reception unit 305 determines whether the date obtained by adding the use start date acquired in step S920 and the maintenance period acquired in step S915 is before the date of publication date acquired in step S916. If it is a date before the release date (YES in S921), the process proceeds to S924, and if different (NO in S921), the process proceeds to S923.

  In S922, the license issuance request receiving unit 305 stores the current date as the value of the use start date column of the license information acquired in S904. In step S923, the license issuance request reception unit 305 creates a license issuance response 528 for notifying license issuance failure, and returns it to the information processing apparatus 102 as a response. The license issuance request receiving unit 305 stores “FAILURE” as the value of the processing result data part 522 in the license issuance response 528 to be created.

  In step S924, the license issuance request receiving unit 305 determines whether or not the license issuance determination unit 306 may issue a license. The determination by the license issuance determination unit 306 in this embodiment is performed by the method described above with reference to FIG. If a license may be issued (YES in S924), the process proceeds to S925, and if different (NO in S924), the process proceeds to S923.

  In S925, the license issuance request receiving unit 305 uses the license issuance unit 307 to issue a license. The license issuing unit 307 issues a license necessary for installing the software that holds the content ID acquired in S903.

  In S926, the license issuance request receiving unit 305 stores the PC identifier received in the license issuance request acquired in S901 in the license information table 421 as the use PC value of the license information acquired in S904. In S927, the license issuance request receiving unit 305 creates a license issuance response 521 for notifying the success of the license issuance, and returns it to the information processing apparatus 102 as a response. The license issuance request receiving unit 305 stores “SUCCESS” as the value of the processing result data part 522 in the license issuance response 521 to be created. In addition, the license issuance request receiving unit 305 licenses the license number acquired in S902 as the value of the license number column, and the product ID and product name of the product information acquired in S906 as the values of the product ID and product name column, respectively. Stored in the issue response 521. Further, the license issuance request receiving unit 305 stores the license issued in S925 in the license issuance response 521 as the value of the license column. Further, the license issuance request receiving unit 305 stores the date obtained by adding the use start date acquired in S920 and the maintenance period acquired in S915 in the license issuance response 521 as the value of the maintenance end date column.

  After the processing of S923S or S927, this processing flow ends.

  As described above, even if software is updated, software that belongs to the same group and that has been released during the maintenance period from the start date of use of the license is software that uses a single license number. Can be installed. This makes it possible to use software that satisfies the condition with only one license number. Even when a plurality of versions of software are upgraded within the maintenance period, the software to be installed can be installed in one operation. In addition, software released within the maintenance period can be provided without being used illegally.

<Other embodiments>
The present invention can also be realized by executing the following processing. That is, software (program) that realizes the functions of the above-described embodiments is supplied to a system or apparatus via a network or various storage media, and a computer (or CPU, MPU, or the like) of the system or apparatus reads the program. It is a process to be executed.

Claims (8)

A license management device that manages application licenses,
Storage means for storing each identifier assigned to each application in association with group information to which the application belongs;
Receiving means for receiving a first identifier, which is an identifier of an application that the user has instructed to install, and license information input in response to the installation instruction;
If the first identifier and the second identifier that is the identifier of the application specified from the license information do not match, whether or not the first and second identifiers are stored in association with the same group information A confirmation means for confirming,
If it is confirmed by the confirmation means that the first and second identifiers are not stored in association with the same group information, a license for installing the application designated by the user is not issued,
Issuing means for issuing a license for installing the application instructed by the user when the confirmation means confirms that the first and second identifiers are stored in association with the same group information; A license management apparatus. The storage means further stores period information in association with the license information,
The issuing means confirms by the confirmation means that the first and second identifiers are stored in association with the same group information, and the user installs an application within the period indicated by the period information. The license management apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a license for installing the application is issued when an instruction is issued. The storage means further stores period information in association with the license information, assigns and stores date information to each application,
The issuing means confirms by the confirmation means that the first and second identifiers are stored in association with the same group information, and the date information of the application instructed to be installed by the user is the period The license management apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a license for installing the application is issued when the period is indicated by the information. The storage means further stores information of the information processing device,
The receiving means further receives information of an information processing apparatus for installing an application,
The issuing means confirms by the confirmation means that the first and second identifiers are stored in association with the same group information, and information on the information processing apparatus stored in the storage means The license management apparatus according to claim 1, wherein when the information of the information processing apparatus received by the receiving unit matches, a license for installing the application is issued.   The license management apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the application is assigned a different identifier for each version.   6. The license management apparatus according to claim 5, wherein applications of the same type and different versions are associated with the same group information. A license management method for managing application licenses,
A storage step in which the storage means stores each identifier assigned to each application in association with group information to which the application belongs;
A receiving step in which a receiving unit receives a first identifier that is an identifier of an application that the user has instructed to install; and license information that is input in response to the installation instruction;
When the confirmation means does not match the first identifier and the second identifier that is the identifier of the application specified from the license information, the first and second identifiers are stored in association with the same group information. A confirmation process for confirming whether or not
When the issuing means confirms in the confirmation step that the first and second identifiers are not stored in association with the same group information, the issuing means issues a license for installing the application designated by the user. Without
An issuance step of issuing a license for installing an application instructed by the user when the confirmation step confirms that the first and second identifiers are stored in association with the same group information; A license management method comprising: The computer that manages the application license
Storage means for storing each identifier assigned to each application in association with group information to which the application belongs,
Receiving means for receiving a first identifier that is an identifier of an application that the user has instructed to install, and license information that is input in response to the installation instruction;
If the first identifier and the second identifier that is the identifier of the application specified from the license information do not match, whether or not the first and second identifiers are stored in association with the same group information Confirmation means to confirm,
If it is confirmed by the confirmation means that the first and second identifiers are not stored in association with the same group information, a license for installing the application designated by the user is not issued,
When the confirmation unit confirms that the first and second identifiers are stored in association with the same group information, the first and second identifiers function as an issuing unit that issues a license for installing the application designated by the user. Program for.

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