Post-installation license activation
GOO Web Server is free, perpetual software designed for mission-critical Windows estates. Every installation begins with an evaluation period and can be activated with a free perpetual license at any time — both online and in fully air-gapped offline environments.
1. Evaluation and grace period
Immediately upon installation, GOO Web Server operates in a full-featured 7-day evaluation grace period (GRACE_ACTIVE). No account creation, payment information, or internet connection is required to evaluate the stack.
Completing the free activation grants a perpetual license bound to your machine. After activation, the software operates indefinitely without expiration, telemetry requirements, or forced subscriptions.
If the 7-day grace period elapses before activation, GOO Web Server Manager and all diagnostic/configuration consoles remain fully accessible, but server process start is temporarily paused until a free license is entered or imported.
2. Online activation (connected servers)
For servers with outbound HTTPS access to webserver.goosm.com, activation can be completed in under two minutes:
Open GOO Web Server Manager. The dashboard displays your unique machine identifier (e.g., GWS-XXXXXXXX-XXXX-XXXX).
In Manager, click Activate Free, or navigate directly to the License Portal. If opened from Manager, your Installation ID is automatically attached.
Sign in or create a free account. Submit your machine identifier. The portal will issue an instant key matching the format:
GWS-FREE-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXXPaste the key into the activation field in Manager and click Activate. Manager connects over HTTPS to verify the key, downloads the cryptographically signed license document, and writes it to encrypted local storage.
3. Offline / air-gapped activation
For isolated production environments, defense facilities, banking datacenters, or secure corporate enclaves where servers have zero internet connectivity, GOO Web Server provides a 100% offline cryptographic registration exchange using .gwr and .gwl envelopes.
On the offline server, open GOO Web Server Manager, navigate to the License tab, and click Export Registration Request (.gwr). Save the generated file:
GOO-WebServer-Registration.gwr.
Copy the .gwr file to an authorized external workstation using your organization's approved removable media or secure transfer protocols.
Sign in to your account at webserver.goosm.com/account. Under the Offline registration panel, select and upload the .gwr file.
The portal validates the cryptographic request, binds the device to your account, generates an ECDSA P-256 signed license envelope, and prompts you to download GOO-WebServer-License.gwl.
Transfer the .gwl file back to the server. In GOO Web Server Manager, click Import License (.gwl) and choose the file. Manager verifies the cryptographic signature offline against embedded INOSAS trust anchors and unlocks perpetual operation instantly.
The .gwr export is a version-2 hybrid encrypted envelope protected with AES-256-GCM and RSA-3072 OAEP. The payload includes only product, OS architecture, and installation public keys. It never contains database passwords, website source code, TLS certificates, application secrets, or user credentials.
4. Local storage & offline resilience
All registration and license states are stored locally on the server under the protected ProgramData root:
C:\ProgramData\INOSAS\GOOWS\licenseKey security attributes of the GOO Web Server licensing architecture:
- Windows DPAPI Protection: Machine keys and sensitive token materials are encrypted using Windows Data Protection API (
LocalMachinescope). - Zero Periodic Call-Homes: The offline server is not required to connect to the internet to retain activation. An offline license does not expire.
- Fault-Tolerant Resilience: On connected servers, internet dropouts, DNS failures, or API server maintenance will never interrupt running web or database services.
Related deployment documentation
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