If a daemon complains about its licence, start by checking whether enforcement is even on. By default, the boot-time licence check is informational — daemons print a friendly warning and start anyway. So most licence messages you see are informational, not a reason a service is down. This page explains the three real failure modes, what causes each, and how to fix them from the customer portal.
Enforcement is informational by default. Licence problems show up as warnings, and the platform keeps running. They only block a daemon from booting when enforcement has been deliberately switched on. If a service won’t start, the cause is usually something else — see Daemon won’t start first.
The licence check has exactly three outcomes that need your attention. Each one prints a clear, human-readable message in the daemon’s logs.
| Symptom (message) | Cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Missing licence file | No licence has been installed on this host yet. | Install via the portal command so the file is created. |
| Fingerprint mismatch | The licence is bound to a different host. | Release the token in the portal, then redeem a fresh one here. |
| Revoked / invalidated token | The token was released or revoked and is on the revocation list. | Redeem a new token, or contact support. |
The daemon reports that it can’t find its licence file. This simply means no licence has been redeemed on this host yet. Fix it by running the install command from your account at portal.binions.io — that command redeems your token and writes the licence file into place. Re-run the daemon afterwards and the warning clears.
A licence is tied to the host it was redeemed on, identified by a host fingerprint. If that fingerprint changes, the daemon logs a message like “bound to host fingerprint …, current host …”. This is expected after any of the following:
To fix it, go to portal.binions.io, release the token from the old host, then redeem a fresh token on this host. Releasing frees the seat so it can be re-bound to the new fingerprint.
One licence, one host. Because the licence is bound to a host fingerprint, you can’t copy a redeemed licence between machines — always release in the portal and redeem again on the new host.
If a token has been released or revoked, it lands on the platform’s revocation list, and the daemon reports the token as invalid. Redeem a new token from the portal to continue, or contact support if you believe the token was revoked in error.
Binions doesn’t need a constant connection to stay licensed, and a freshly released token doesn’t take long to clear. Two timing details are worth knowing:
Tip. Moving to a new host? Release the old token first, give it up to an hour to clear the revocation list, then redeem a fresh token on the new host. The fingerprint mismatch resolves as soon as the new licence is in place.