Hi all,
I´ve completed a vb.net desktop app, and made a simple licensing system whereas a registration key obtained at purchase is used, the app checks a database if the key exists and is unused, and if so the app works for 180 days, then a new key is required. It is hardly uncrackable, but my software is quite specialised and I just want to prevent customers from buying one license and making copies for the entire office just because they discover they can.
Anyways, no one will be able to verify their key as long as the database containing the keys resides in my development computer. So, and here´s the problem: I checked out some cloud based MySql- database providers and they all require you to enter a list of IP-adresses of clients that should have access to the database (maybe even download software to every client computer). That makes sense if every client has their own database with their data in it, but I just want my piece of software to check for the key. And I don't want my OneClick-app to become a one-hour-to-install-app.
So, how can I set up a MySql-db somewhere that anyone can access it, and allow any connection that supplies the correct password (which is embedded in the code)? Or am I thinking about this the wrong way?
I´ve completed a vb.net desktop app, and made a simple licensing system whereas a registration key obtained at purchase is used, the app checks a database if the key exists and is unused, and if so the app works for 180 days, then a new key is required. It is hardly uncrackable, but my software is quite specialised and I just want to prevent customers from buying one license and making copies for the entire office just because they discover they can.
Anyways, no one will be able to verify their key as long as the database containing the keys resides in my development computer. So, and here´s the problem: I checked out some cloud based MySql- database providers and they all require you to enter a list of IP-adresses of clients that should have access to the database (maybe even download software to every client computer). That makes sense if every client has their own database with their data in it, but I just want my piece of software to check for the key. And I don't want my OneClick-app to become a one-hour-to-install-app.
So, how can I set up a MySql-db somewhere that anyone can access it, and allow any connection that supplies the correct password (which is embedded in the code)? Or am I thinking about this the wrong way?