Upgrading to Windows 10 Affects Softkeys

Olivier Willi   Thursday, 23rd June 2022

Softkey and Dongle Key Management for MultiDSLA and Opale Systems Applications on Windows 10 Pro

MultiDSLA and other Opale Systems applications can be installed and will run under Windows 10 Pro using softkey or dongle key management.

If you are running MultiDSLA or SVN only on the Windows 7 Pro or Windows 8/8.1 Professional PC then upgrade MultiDSLA to v5.1.3 or SVN v 2.7.4 from the Software Maintenance Portal before commencing the in-place operating system upgrade. The MultiDSLA softkey will survive the operating system upgrade.

The in-place upgrade from Windows 7 Pro or Windows 8/8.1 Professional to Windows 10 will damage the softkey of MultiDSLA installations prior to v5.1.3 and all other products. When the Opale Systems application starts, a key request will be generated and the original key will be removed. The dongle is unaffected.

Preserving Softkey Data during Windows 10 In-Place Upgrade for MultiDSLA and Opale Systems Applications

The immediate solution involves transferring the key information from the machine to be upgraded to a temporary installation and then restoring the key information back to the machine when Windows 10 has been installed and is working. Longer-term, a survivable softkey management process will be created, requiring an upgrade to all Opale Systems applications prior to the Windows 10 in-place upgrade.

The softkey data preservation process involving a target PC being upgraded from Windows 7 or 8/8.1 to Windows 10 and a temporary installation on another PC is described below.

Step 1. Before upgrading the target PC to Windows 10, create an installation of a Opale Systems product on a temporary PC running Windows 7 Pro, 8/8.1 Professional, Windows Server 2008, 2012.

Step 2. Start the Opale Systems application, take the key request string and authorise it on the target PC, using KeyManager.exe. Paste the authorised key on the temporary PC KeyManager window.

Step 3. Open KeyManager.exe on the temporary PC and create another key request if there are more applications on the target PC. Authorise it on the target PC, using KeyManager.exe. Paste the authorised key on the temporary PC KeyManager window. Repeat until there are no keys left on the target PC.

Step 4. Perform the in-place upgrade to Windows 10 Pro on the target PC.

Step 5. When the upgrade is complete, if SVN is starting automatically, or the MetricServer or VPP services are running on the target PC then a key request will be generated. Otherwise start the application on the target PC to see the key request. Authorise the key request from the temporary PC. Repeat the request/authorisation process until all keys have been returned to the target PC.

More information regarding the key transfer process can be found in the getting started guide for each product.