Licensing

A ChargeLink licence is a signed .dlic file that DEVlink issues for the machine ID of one PC. ChargeLink checks it offline; there is no online activation service. Your commercial order and the issued file are authoritative; this page explains the mechanics.

Activation

chargelink license machine-id                     # this PC's machine ID (also shown on the setup's Licence page)
chargelink license request --out request.json     # an activation request file with the machine ID, to send to DEVlink
chargelink license install <FILE>.dlic            # verify the licence and install it into the licence home
chargelink license status                         # LIC_OK when a usable licence is installed

license request also takes --customer, --contact and --note, which are copied into the request. Send the request file, or just the machine ID, to DEVlink; you receive a .dlic file. The setup offers the same three steps on its Licence page, and ChargeLinkSetup-<VERSION>.exe /quiet /license=<FILE>.dlic installs a licence during a quiet installation (Install and Activate).

The licence home is %ProgramData%\DEVlink\ChargeLink\licenses. It is shared by every installed ChargeLink version and kept on uninstall. license install verifies the file first and refuses one that is not genuine; it also installs DEVlink revocation lists (.drl). To take a licence out of use:

chargelink license remove <LICENSE_ID>            # moves the file to removed\ in the licence home; never deletes it

Every licence command takes --json for scripts. The licence commands do not use --runtime-root or --artifact-root.

What a licence contains

• Licence ID and customer, for example DL-2026-....
• Binding: the machine ID of the PC. A licence for another machine ID reports LIC_WRONG_MACHINE.
• Model: subscription, perpetual, evaluation, academic or nfr.
• Validity: a start date and, except for a perpetual licence, an end date with a grace period after it.
• Maintenance: an optional end of maintenance. A ChargeLink version released after it reports LIC_MAINTENANCE_EXPIRED; the versions released before it, and their security updates, stay usable.
• Grants per product: the edition (engineering, professional or enterprise), packages, features and limits. One licence file can also grant other DEVlink products, for example ChargeLink Admin.

Changing any part of the file invalidates its signature. Several licences may be installed; their grants add up, and a licence that replaces an earlier one hides it.

Licence states

license status prints the overall state, the machine ID, the licence home, every installed licence with its own state, and the edition, features and packages that the usable licences grant. With --json, the overall state is in code and the grant in entitlement.

This version accepts machine-bound licences. Without a usable licence, a licensed command stops before it creates anything, with exit code 20 and CL-LICENSE-001; the message names the command and the reason. In this version, any usable ChargeLink licence enables every licensed command; license status shows the edition, packages and features it grants.

Which commands need a licence

Licensed, with or without --dry-run:

• protocol sessions: evse start, evcc start, evcc activate-profile, the CHAdeMO sessions dc-can chademo evse and dc-can chademo ev, and the CHAdeMO case matrix (CHAdeMO runbook);
• simulations: sim runs, test run, ats run, hil virtual-run and dc-can virtual-run, and the loopback self-tests;
• conformance package execution: conformance package run and conformance package execute;
• the servers: ui serve, integration serve, veristand operator-bridge and studio evcc-simulator serve.

Free, without a licence:

• every license command, --version and help;
• environment and installation checks: env doctor, ports check, dc-can chademo kvaser-check;
• profiles: profile list, profile show, profile validate, profile connectors;
• integration checks: integration capabilities, integration compatibility, integration health, and signals list, read and write;
• session control: evse and evcc status, stop and list-state, and runtime list, inspect, locks and recover;
• preflight and TLS material: evse live-preflight, evse tls-listener-preflight, evse tls-material-init, evse tls-pki-doctor;
• inspection of existing evidence: artifacts, evidence, trace, report and diagnostics commands, and protocol inspect, decode, validate and timeline;
• catalogues, policies and plans: the package and suite catalogues, test plan, test cases list, test status, test report, the PICS/PIXIT and campaign generation steps of a package, and the policy and plan commands.

When in doubt, run the command: a licensed command without a usable licence stops at once with exit code 20, before it opens a port or writes a file.

Licences from earlier versions

A .cllic file of the earlier licence format grants nothing in this version; license status lists it as legacy. Ask DEVlink for a .dlic licence. The earlier commands license activate, license deactivate, license verify, license request-offline and license entitlements still answer for compatibility, print a deprecation note and do not enable licensed commands. Use license install, license remove, license request and license status.

What the licence does and does not do

• It enables product functionality on one PC.
• It does not represent accredited certification, standards-body approval or a support SLA by itself; the SLA is in your agreement.

Editions in the enterprise plane

The gRPC EnterpriseService defines editions engineering, professional, enterprise and factory with feature sets and limits (remote agents, factory stations). They describe the enterprise reference model and are listed with ListEditions; the edition you hold is the one in your licence, shown by license status.