Documentation › Administration
Licensing
Steward IT Census is sold with a perpetual license: you pay once and own it. There are no subscriptions.
Editions and pricing#
| Free edition | Up to 50 assets, every feature included, no time limit (the help desk includes 1 technician and certificate renewal 1 server; more with add-ons) |
| Perpetual license | $1 per asset, one-time |
| Minimum purchase | 500 assets ($500), then in blocks of 50 (550, 600, 650…) |
| Growing later | Add-on keys in blocks of 50 assets, stacked on your license |
| Updates | The first year is included; each further year is $50 for the whole license, whatever its size and add-ons |
Use the price calculator on Configuration › License.
Add-ons#
Two features are paid add-ons, also one-time. Each comes with a free allowance so you can try it, and add-on keys work with the free edition too:
| Add-on | Free | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Certificate renewal | 1 server, plus Let's Encrypt's test service on any number of servers | $50 per server, or $500 for unlimited servers (servers you already bought count towards unlimited) |
| Help desk technicians | 1 technician | $100 per technician; end users in the portal are always free |
Configuration › License shows each add-on, how many your license covers and how many are in use. Servers whose certificates Census renews are assets like any other and count towards your asset total too.
What counts as an asset#
Every active asset counts: computers, servers, printers, switches, phones, and connected devices such as monitors and USB printers. Monitors that report no identification (EDID) data don't count. Archived assets don't count, so archive retired devices to free up licenses. Agents, users, software titles and AD objects are not counted.
When the limit is reached, existing assets keep being updated normally, but new devices are not added. Scan history and the license banner show how many were skipped.
Activating a license key#
- Before you buy, open Configuration › License on your Census server and copy its Server ID (for example
K7QM-2XRA-PL4D-9TBE). A license key is issued for one server: give this ID when you buy a license or an add-on. - After purchase you receive a key that starts with
SITC1. - Go to Configuration › License, paste the key and click Activate.
Activation is fully offline. Nothing is sent from your network, and the key is verified on your server. Add-on keys are activated the same way and add to your base license. The page shows each key's licensee, asset count, add-ons, issue date, the server it's for and its status. A key issued for another server is refused when you activate it: check that you gave the ID of this server, or contact Steward IT.
Updates#
A license key covers all versions released while its updates period is active; most keys have no end date and cover every version. If your key shows an Updates until date, it doesn't cover versions released after that date: keep using the version you have (everything keeps working, with no time limit), or renew updates before installing a newer one. A newer version that your key doesn't cover runs as the free edition until you add the renewed key.
Renewing updates gets you one new key that covers all your assets and add-ons with the new end date ($50 per year). Add it under Configuration › License: it replaces your earlier keys, which then show replaced by key … and no longer count (you can remove them). A renewal always continues from the end of your previous updates period, so time since it ended is included: updates that ended on September 1, 2027 and are renewed on September 1, 2028 for a year ahead run to September 1, 2029, which is two years ($100).
Reinstalling and moving to a new server#
Reinstalling or upgrading Census, or restoring a backup on the same server, keeps your license as it is, with nothing to do.
Moving Census to a different server needs a replacement key from Steward IT. When Census detects that its license belongs to another server, a red banner at the top of every page says that the license is registered to another server, and the key keeps working for 30 days. After that the banner stays until the replacement key is added, and Census runs as the free edition (50 assets; existing assets keep updating, new devices aren't added). Send this server's Server ID (Configuration › License) to Steward IT; you receive one new key with everything you've bought, which replaces the old ones. Please uninstall Census from the old server: a license is for one installation.
Keys issued before Census 0.67 show any under For server and keep working on any server. Keys issued for one server need Census 0.67 or later.