License

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This page explains VoIPmonitor channel licensing: what counts as a channel, what happens when limits are exceeded, and how to resolve license issues.

Understanding Channel Licensing

What is a Channel License?

A channel license limits concurrent calls processed by the VoIPmonitor GUI. Commercial licenses specify a channel cap (e.g., 100, 500, 1000 channels).

ℹ️ Note: Key distinction: A channel is a single, un-mergeable CDR leg—not necessarily one logical call. Complex scenarios (transfers, forking, re-invites) can create multiple CDR legs from one conversation.

What Counts as a Channel?

Scenario Channels Explanation
Simple call: A → B 1 One CDR leg
Call ending with 487 (Request Terminated) 0 Excluded from counting
Call transfer: A → B → C (creates 2 legs) 2 Each un-mergeable leg counts
Forking/parallel ring Multiple One per destination leg
Same call captured by 2 sensors 1 Deduplicated if last 6 digits match (±10s window)

Deduplication logic: The GUI deduplicates CDRs across sensors if the last 6 digits of caller and called numbers match within a ±10-second window. This means geo-redundant captures count as one channel.

Distributed Deployments

For multi-sensor architectures:

  • One license covers all sensors connecting to a single central GUI+DB
  • Channels are aggregated across all sensors, not multiplied per sensor
  • Same call captured by multiple sensors is deduplicated automatically

Example: Sensors in New York, London, and Tokyo connecting to Frankfurt GUI = ONE license sized for total concurrent calls across all sites.

For deployment details, see Client-Server Mode.

License Limit Exceeded

Timeline

Effects When Locked

Blocked Still Working
GUI access, Alerts, Reports, CSV exports Sniffer continues recording all CDRs (data is NOT lost)

Do I Need to Act Immediately After Receiving Alert Emails?

If you received multiple VoIPmonitor license alert emails after exceeding the limit once:

ℹ️ Note: No, you do NOT need to act immediately. A license upgrade is only necessary if the concurrent call limit is exceeded for 3 consecutive days.

💡 Tip: Receiving multiple emails from a single over-limit event is normal behavior and does not indicate a worsening problem. The system continues monitoring in the background during the grace period.

Resolving License Issues

Option 1: Upgrade License (Recommended)

  1. Log in to voipmonitor.org → Services → My services
  2. Click UPGRADE on your license → select new tier → complete checkout
  3. Download new key.php and install (see License Key Location)

Option 2: Self-Service Temporary Increase

For immediate relief without contacting support:

  1. GUI → Settings > License
  2. Click "Get License Key" button
  3. Receive 14-day temporary increase

💡 Tip: The license check considers only the last 3 weeks of call data. After clicking "Get License Key", daily over-limit alerts stop for 14 days.

Option 3: Contact Support

Support can:

  • Provide temporary channel limit increase
  • Investigate incorrect CDR counting
  • Issue emergency 30-day trial license (for expired licenses due to billing issues)

Option 4: Delete CDRs (Destructive)

⚠️ Warning: This deletes all existing CDRs. Only use as last resort. 

systemctl stop voipmonitor
mysql -u root -p voipmonitor -e "TRUNCATE TABLE cdr; TRUNCATE TABLE cdr_next_partition;"
systemctl start voipmonitor

To re-process from PCAP files afterward: 

voipmonitor --config-file /etc/voipmonitor.conf --readpcapdir /var/spool/voipmonitor

Trial Expiration

Before purchasing after trial expiration:

  1. Check if license already purchased: voipmonitor.org → Services → My services
  2. If purchased but not applied: Get key.php from order email and install it
  3. Only if no purchase exists: Buy via GUI (About > Buy License) or portal

HWID Mismatch Error

"license file key.php is for another hwid" occurs when hardware ID changed (migration, cloud instance recreation).

Solution: GUI → Settings > License → "Get License" button (auto-syncs with current HWID)

For frequent cloud instance recreation: Request domain-based licensing from support (binds to domain name instead of hardware ID).

"get hwid failed" Error

Problem: The GUI displays "get hwid failed" when attempting to update the license key.

Cause: The web server user cannot read or execute the Hardware ID binary.

Solution:

Test if the hwid binary works as the web server user: 

su - www-data -s /bin/bash -c '/var/www/html/bin/hwid-x86_64'

If this command fails with permission denied, fix the binary permissions: 

chmod +rx /var/www/html/bin/hwid-x86_64

ℹ️ Note: Replace www-data with your web server user (e.g., apache on RHEL/Rocky systems).

After License Renewal

  1. GUI → Settings > License
  2. Click "Change license key" to expand options
  3. Click "Get license key" to fetch updated license

Manual method: Paste full license key (all lines: Expires, easycallerid, hwid, id, maxcalls, upgradeexpire) into the license text field.

Monitoring Usage

Current Status

Check GUI footer or About/License page for active channels vs. license limit.

Historical Data

Tools > Concurrent Calls Stats shows maximum concurrent calls for last 14 days (averaged over 60-minute windows).

Notification Emails

To disable license notification emails:

  1. GUI → Settings > License
  2. Clear the email address field for license notifications
  3. Save changes

ℹ️ Note: This only disables license-related emails (warnings, overage, expiration, lock). Other alerts continue normally.

License Key Management

License Key Location

/var/www/html/voipmonitor/key.php

Transferring to New System

  1. Copy key.php from old system to new system
  2. Restart GUI service

For concurrent operation (old + new during migration, or test/dev environments):

  • Contact support to configure license for simultaneous multi-server use (preferred)
  • Or obtain 30-day trial license for temporary system

💡 Tip: For test/dev servers, contact support to reconfigure your existing license for multiple servers at no extra cost.

AWS/Cloud Considerations

Operation HWID Changes? Action Required
Stop & Start Usually No None
Reboot No None
Terminate & Launch New Yes New license key (use "Get License" button or contact support)
Auto-scaling Group Yes per instance Request domain-based licensing

AWS permission fix (for "Invalid or corrupted hwid" errors): 

chmod 644 /dev/root

Subscription Terms

Term Meaning
Formal End Date When your paid service period ends
Grace Period (20 days after) For automatic renewal processing only—NOT extended access after cancellation

⚠️ Warning: If you cancel, access ends on the Formal End Date, not the grace period end.

Emergency access: Contact support for 30-day emergency trial license while resolving billing issues.

Known Issue: Incorrect Channel Counting

⚠️ Warning: Known bug: Some calls are incorrectly counted as two channels. Confirmed and escalated to development team.

Symptoms:

  • License exceeded more frequently than expected
  • Tools > Concurrent Calls Stats shows higher peaks than actual call patterns

Workaround: Contact support for manual channel limit increase (no upgrade required).

See Also

How Legs Are Correlated

Scenario Channels Explanation
Simple call: A → B 1 One CDR leg
Call ending with 487 (Request Terminated) 0 Excluded from counting
Call transfer: A → B → C (creates 2 legs) 1+ Legs correlated if same call context
Forking/parallel ring Multiple One per destination leg
Same call captured by 2 sensors 1 Deduplicated if last 6 digits match (±10s window)

How legs are correlated for license counting: CDR legs are treated as a single channel when:

  • Legs start within 5 seconds of each other AND
  • Last 6 digits of BOTH caller AND called numbers match

This means a single logical call may create multiple CDR legs on the network (e.g., via SBC/B2BUA with generated new Call-IDs) but still count as one license channel.

Cross-sensor deduplication: When the same call is captured by multiple sensors, it's deduplicated if the last 6 digits of caller and called numbers match within a ±10-second window. Geo-redundant captures count as one channel.





AI Summary for RAG

Summary: VoIPmonitor uses channel licensing to limit concurrent calls processed by the GUI. Key concepts: (1) A channel = one un-mergeable CDR leg (transfers, forking, re-invites can create multiple legs from one call). Calls ending with 487 (Request Terminated) are excluded. (2) Distributed deployments: ONE license covers ALL sensors connecting to a single central GUI+DB. Deduplication occurs if last 6 digits of caller/called numbers match within ±10s window. (3) Exceeding limits: 3-day grace period, then lockdown process, GUI locks at day 14. Sniffer continues recording during lock. (4) Resolution options: Upgrade license, self-service 14-day temporary increase via "Get License Key" button (Settings > License), contact support for temporary increase or emergency trial, or delete CDRs (destructive). (5) Monitor usage via GUI footer or Tools > Concurrent Calls Stats (14-day history). (6) License transfer: Copy key.php to new system; contact support for concurrent multi-server use. (7) HWID mismatch: Use "Get License" button to re-sync; request domain-based licensing for frequent cloud instance recreation. (8) AWS: Stop/Start preserves HWID; Terminate/Launch changes it. Use chmod 644 /dev/root for permission issues. (9) Subscription terms: Formal End Date = service ends; Grace Period = renewal processing only. (10) Known bug: Some calls incorrectly counted as two channels—contact support for temporary limit increase.

Keywords: channel license, concurrent calls, license limit, GUI lock, grace period, 14 days lock, 3 consecutive days, unlock GUI, upgrade license, CDR leg, un-mergeable CDR, call transfer, forking, re-invite, distributed licensing, multi-server, multiple sensors, channel aggregation, deduplication, last 6 digits, license transfer, HWID mismatch, domain-based licensing, license renewal, formal end date, grace period end date, emergency trial license, Get License button, Get License Key button, key.php, Tools Concurrent Calls Stats, temporary license increase, 14-day temporary license, self-service license increase, incorrect channel counting, known bug, test server, dev server, AWS, EC2, cloud instances, hardware ID, chmod 644 /dev/root, license notification emails, disable license emails, 487 Request Terminated

Key Questions:

  • What is a channel in VoIPmonitor licensing?
  • Can one call consume multiple license channels?
  • What happens when I exceed the channel license limit?
  • How do I unlock my VoIPmonitor GUI after license lock?
  • How do I get a temporary license increase without contacting support?
  • How does licensing work for distributed/multi-server deployments?
  • Do I need a separate license for each sensor?
  • How do I check my channel usage vs license limit?
  • How do I transfer a license to a new system?
  • Can I use my existing license on a test or development server?
  • How do I fix "license file key.php is for another hwid" error?
  • What is domain-based licensing?
  • How do I refresh my license after renewal?
  • What happens to my VoIPmonitor license when I terminate an AWS EC2 instance?
  • How do I disable license notification emails?
  • Why is my license showing higher channel usage than expected?
  • Does the sniffer stop recording when the GUI is locked?
  • What is the difference between formal end date and grace period?
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