Does WND Terminal need internet access to check its license?

No. The license is checked on the computer, and nothing is sent to WND Software.

What happens when a paid license expires?

WND Terminal keeps working. IT admins see a reminder 30 days after it expires, and all users see a banner after 60 days. Paste the new key or replace the file to renew.

What happens when a trial ends?

A trial license lasts 30 days. After that, WND Terminal can't connect until you add a paid license.

Are people blocked if we use more seats than we own?

No. The license usage dashboard shows how many seats you're over, and nobody is blocked.

License WND Terminal: Key, File and Expiry

Method	Windows	Mac
License key setting (easiest)	Group Policy License key, registry value `License`	`License` in the configuration profile
License file on each computer	`C:\ProgramData\WND Software\WND Terminal\`	`/Library/Application Support/WND Terminal/`
License file on a share	Group Policy License file, registry value `LicenseFile`	`LicenseFile` in the configuration profile
One computer by hand	Add a license in the app	Add a license in the app

policy.json takes License and LicenseFile too.

Get your license

Download it from Your license on the downloads page of the WND customer portal. Trial users get one on the trial page. The key is the line starting with wnd1. under Your license, and the file is wnd-terminal.license.

Use the license key

Paste the whole line, starting with wnd1., exactly as shown. There’s no file to copy, which is why this is the easiest way to license every computer. In Group Policy the setting is called License key. On a Mac, set License in your configuration profile. In policy.json it looks like this.

{
  "License": "wnd1.your-license-key"
}

When you renew, paste the new key in the same place.

Use the license file

Copy it to C:\ProgramData\WND Software\WND Terminal\ on each PC, or /Library/Application Support/WND Terminal/ on each Mac.
Or put it on a share every computer can read, such as \\fileserver\WNDTerminal$\wnd-terminal.license, and set LicenseFile to that path.
To license a single computer, open WND Terminal, choose Add a license and select the file.

Trials, expiry and renewal

Situation	What happens
No license	WND Terminal opens but can’t connect.
Trial license	Lasts 30 days. After that, WND Terminal can’t connect until you add a paid license.
Paid license expired	WND Terminal keeps working.
30 days after a paid license expires	IT admins see a reminder in the About screen and the License usage dashboard.
60 days after a paid license expires	All users see a banner. WND Terminal still connects.

To renew, paste the new key or replace the file.

No phone-home

WND Terminal checks the license on the computer and doesn’t need internet access for it. There’s no remote kill switch, and nothing about your usage is sent to WND Software.

License usage dashboard

Press Ctrl+K and choose “License usage”. The dashboard shows who used WND Terminal in the last 30, 60 and 90 days, by person and department, with seats used, seats not used in 90 days, active hours and people active each day. If more people used it in the last 90 days than your license covers, it shows how many seats you’re over. Nobody is blocked.

Each copy of WND Terminal logs its sessions on the computer. The log holds the computer login, the computer, the connection, start and end, active time and how many Enter and PF keys were sent. It never holds what was on the screen or typed. RecordUsage = false turns it off.
Set UsageFolder to a share such as \\fileserver\WNDUsage$. Give everyone “create files / write data” and “create folders / append data” on it, and read access only to the people who run the dashboard. Each person and computer gets a subfolder named login@COMPUTER. A laptop that was away catches up the next time it reaches the share.
Optionally, set PeopleFile to a CSV export of your directory, so people who never used the app are listed too. Any CSV with a login column (SamAccountName, UserName, User, Login, UPN or e-mail) works. Without one, set Department per organizational unit.
Set LicensedSeats so the dashboard can show unused seats.
Open the dashboard on any PC that can read the share. “Copy for Excel” and “Save CSV” export the people list.

This PowerShell command writes a people file from Active Directory.

Get-ADUser -Filter * -Properties DisplayName,Department |
  Select SamAccountName,DisplayName,Department |
  Export-Csv \\fileserver\WNDUsage$\people.csv -NoTypeInformation

Fifth Third Bank found 3,300 of 7,400 licensed seats unused in 90 days this way. Read the Fifth Third story.

License WND Terminal