Install the SDK

The SoftActivate SDK is the free client library your application embeds. One SDK covers both halves: a native C++ library and a .NET assembly usable from C# and VB.NET.

The SDK is the client for the SoftActivate Web Services (SWS) platform - that is the sws/SWS stem you will meet in the code: sws.dll (native), SWS.dll (.NET, namespace SWS.Licensing) and the sws:: C++ API. The packages themselves carry the product name: the softactivate-sdk archives and the SoftActivate.Sdk NuGet package.

Downloads and packages

All artifacts are on the SDK download page, with a published SHA256SUMS.txt. Windows binaries are Authenticode-signed.

Filenames carry the release channel rather than the version (-beta today, no suffix at GA), so a download link never goes stale - the exact version is in the VERSION file inside every package and in the installer properties. Always use the newest build from the download page.

Where everything is

Each bin/<platform>/ folder in the package holds everything for that platform in one place - the prebuilt library, the built sample executables, the demo certificate, and on Windows the Licensing Demo:

bin/x64-windows/   sws.dll, sws.lib, quickstart_cpp.exe,
                   licensing_demo.exe
bin/x64-linux/     libsws.so, quickstart_cpp
bin/dotnet/        SWS.dll, quickstart_csharp.exe, quickstart_vbnet.exe,
                   SoftActivate.Sdk..nupkg

One note for products that ship a native application and a .NET tool together: sws.dll and SWS.dll cannot share one folder on Windows (filenames are case-insensitive) - keep the managed part in its own subfolder.

Native C++

The SDK exposes two public headers, softactivate/sws.h for transport and errors and softactivate/sws_licensing.h for the licensing domain, through a stable C-style interface with header-only C++ wrapper classes in the sws::licensing namespace. Installed builds export a CMake package:

find_package(sws CONFIG REQUIRED)
target_link_libraries(your_app PRIVATE sws::sws)

.NET (C# / VB.NET)

Add the NuGet package - the assembly inside is SWS.dll, the namespace you import is SWS.Licensing, and both languages consume the same assembly:

dotnet add package SoftActivate.Sdk

The configuration surface

Every integration, in every language, configures four things:

#include "softactivate/sws_licensing.h"

// create a licensing client pointed at the activation endpoint
auto client = sws::licensing::client::create(endpointUrl);

// your tenant's licensing domain - license certificate chains are
// validated against ca.<this domain>
client->set_metadata("trusted_domain", trustedDomain);

// your vendor id and the customer's license key (both live in the console)
client->set_vendor_id(vendorId);
client->set_license_key(customerLicenseKey);

// your product's Reference Id (console -> Products) - binds licenses to
// THIS product; a key sold for a different product is refused
client->set_product_id("YOUR_PRODUCT_ID");

using SWS.Licensing;

// create a licensing client pointed at the activation endpoint
var client = new LicensingClient(endpointUrl);

// your tenant's licensing domain - license certificate chains are
// validated against ca.<this domain>
client.TrustedDomain = trustedDomain;

// your vendor id and the customer's license key (both live in the console)
client.VendorId = vendorId;
client.LicenseKey = customerLicenseKey;

// your product's Reference Id (console -> Products) - binds licenses to
// THIS product; a key sold for a different product is refused
client.SetProductId("YOUR_PRODUCT_ID");

Imports SWS.Licensing

' create a licensing client pointed at the activation endpoint
Dim client As New LicensingClient(endpointUrl)

' your tenant's licensing domain - license certificate chains are
' validated against ca.<this domain>
client.TrustedDomain = trustedDomain

' your vendor id and the customer's license key (both live in the console)
client.VendorId = vendorId
client.LicenseKey = customerLicenseKey

' your product's Reference Id (console -> Products) - binds licenses to
' THIS product; a key sold for a different product is refused
client.SetProductId("YOUR_PRODUCT_ID")

Two optional knobs sit behind those four:

• trusted_domain (native metadata key / TrustedDomain in .NET): the domain the SDK trusts when validating licenses; defaults to the endpoint host. For the hosted service, set it to sws.softactivate.com (the endpoint host is the lm. service subdomain).
• Corporate TLS environments: natively, the ca_cert_file metadata key adds an extra TLS trust bundle (server verification always stays on); in .NET, pass your own HttpClient to the LicensingClient constructor instead.

Next: Quickstart: C++ or Quickstart: .NET.