# The licence

An installation on your own server needs a **licence**. We send it as a file
`licence-<number>.json`; the installation's operator uploads it in the
interface.

## What the licence sets

- **Whom it belongs to and until when it is valid.**
- **How many mailboxes and assistants** can be created. A limit may be
  missing — then it says "no limit".
- **Downloading new releases**: the updater downloads new versions with the
  key from the licence. A machine without internet does not need it — it takes
  bundles copied into `updates/`.

## Uploading the licence

1. Open **Installation → Installation**, the **Licence** card at the bottom.
2. In the **Licence file** field, choose the file you received from us.
3. draften checks its signature. When it accepts the file, it shows "Licence …
   is uploaded and valid until …". A new licence replaces the old one and
   applies at once.

When it does not accept the file, it says why — that the signature does not
match, say, or that the licence has already expired. In that case, get in
touch with us.

The card then shows the customer, the licence number, until when it is valid
(with the label **valid**, **expires in N days** or **expired**), how many
mailboxes and assistants are created out of how many allowed, and who
uploaded the licence when.

## When the licence is missing or expires

- **The assistants stop processing mail.** The interface and all the data and
  settings stay.
- **No mailbox or assistant can be created.**
- Everyone signed in sees a bar across the whole application, "The licence
  expired on …: the assistants process no mail" (or "The installation has no
  licence…"). The operator has an **Upload a licence** link next to it; the
  others learn that the operator uploads a new licence.

As soon as you upload a valid licence, processing starts again at once —
nothing else to set.

!> Watch the expiry date — an approaching end shows as the label **expires in
N days** in the Licence card.

## When a limit runs out

When the limit of mailboxes or assistants is used up, draften creates no more
and says why: "The installation’s licence allows no more mailboxes: its limit
is used up." Ask us to extend the licence; the existing mailboxes and
assistants keep working.