Licensing

Cenvero Stratum is licensed per node. A license is a digitally signed document that binds a plan and an expiry to a specific machine. The agent verifies it cryptographically on every boot and re-checks it continuously while running.

Plans

Stratum is licensed per node, billed on the term you choose (monthly or longer). The current plans, their features and rates are shown on the pricing page — plans are configured in the management panel, so this page never carries stale numbers. For large-scale, air-gapped or bespoke arrangements, contact sales.

The self-service plans have no minimum node count. Large fleets, air-gapped, or custom-SLA deployments are arranged as bespoke agreements with sales.

What a license includes

A license is for one product, and its plan decides what it includes. Every feature is written into the signed license.

Compute and Storage are in development, and the Suite with them: they are not sold online yet. See Compute for early access.

Clusters. A licence covers one node, and a cluster does not pool them: in a cluster every member has its own licence. Forming, joining or managing a cluster from a node needs a licence that includes clustering on that node. A licence never takes a running member out of its cluster. A member whose plan lost clustering, or whose licence is frozen, can still read its cluster status, list and revoke join codes, remove a member and leave (see Licences in a cluster).

Speed. Every plan has a speed ceiling, enforced on each node on the license. The tier names mean the same speed in every product: Core is 10 Gbps, Cloud 25 Gbps and Enterprise 100 Gbps per node. The free Lab plan is 1 Gbps and for non-commercial use only. The pricing page shows the plans on sale and their features.

Licenses are never issued automatically. You place an order — which immediately raises an invoice you can pay against — follow the payment instructions, and submit your payment proof; an admin verifies it, the invoice is marked paid, and your license is issued and appears in your account. There is no instant self-service issuance: every license is tied to a verified order.

Pre-release (beta/RC) licenses

Beta and release-candidate builds run on a separate pre-release track and require a special pre-release license. These are **issued directly by Cenvero** — there is no order or payment flow for them — with an expiry set when they are issued. Ask us if you want to run pre-release builds. A pre-release license does not renew automatically.

The gate is strict, both ways: a normal (stable) license can neither download nor run a beta/RC build, and a pre-release license runs only beta/RC builds — not stable. The channel is written into the signed license, so the agent enforces it offline and fails closed (refuses to operate) on a mismatch. See Upgrades → Release channels for the build/release side.

How a license is bound

When you activate, the agent derives a stable hardware ID that is unique to that physical server. Your license is cryptographically bound to it, so a license copied to a different machine simply will not work there. Stratum is licensed for bare-metal servers.

sudo cenvero-str-ctl license activate CNVR-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX
cenvero-str-ctl license status

plan         enterprise
serial       7F3A-21C9-...
issued_to    acme-corp
hardware_id  9b2c… (matches this host)
valid_until  2026-07-04T00:00:00Z
state        active   (27 days remaining)

Tamper-proof by design

Every license is cryptographically signed by Cenvero and verified by the agent independently, on each node, both at boot and continuously while running. A license that has been altered, forged, or is not genuinely Cenvero-issued is rejected — there is nothing on the node you can edit to extend or fake a license. Verification happens locally, so it works even when the node is offline.

Enforcement: warn → grace → freeze

Stratum never hard-stops your network. Existing endpoints, forwarding, DHCP, DNS, and the firewall keep working regardless of license state. Enforcement only governs changes, and it escalates gently:

In the Frozen state, commands that mutate state (creating networks, attaching endpoints, editing the firewall) return exit code 4. Read-only commands and the data plane are unaffected. In a cluster, removing a member, leaving and revoking a join code still work, so a node can always be taken out.

Revocation

A license can be revoked by Cenvero — for example after a refund or a terms violation. The agent checks revocation status periodically, and a node whose license has been revoked moves to Frozen (existing traffic keeps running; changes are blocked until the license is restored or replaced). Revocation is honoured even offline, and a revocation cannot be quietly undone by a tampered or spoofed server.

Offline and air-gapped nodes

Nodes do not need continuous connectivity. The signed license is cached locally, so an isolated node keeps running on its cached license. Air-gapped operation with offline activation is available for bespoke deployments — contact sales.

Renewing

# After renewing in the panel, pull the refreshed license
sudo cenvero-str-ctl license refresh

A node in Warning, Grace, or Frozen returns to Active the moment it receives a valid, longer-dated license.

Automatic renewal

With automatic renewal enabled and a funded wallet, a license renews on its own. In the week before expiry a renewal invoice is raised, and it is paid from your wallet if the balance covers it; otherwise you are reminded to pay it.

• A renewal you have already paid by hand is never charged again. If you submitted payment proof for a renewal, the wallet is left alone while that payment is being verified, and no reminder is sent for it.
• Renewal invoices show the per-node price: the line reads nodes × price per node = amount, and the total is the same as before.
• A license with no paid order behind it — for example one issued directly by Cenvero — cannot be priced automatically, so it does not renew by itself. Its page in your account says so; contact us to renew it.

Coupons and invoices

If you have a coupon code, enter it when you place your order — the discount is applied to the order total once the code is validated (it must be active, in date, within its usage limits, and applicable to your plan). Each code can be percentage- or fixed-amount.

An invoice is raised as soon as you place an order, so you always have a numbered document to pay against and to give your finance team. You will find it under Invoices in your account, marked awaiting payment, with a Pay button that takes you to the payment instructions for that order.

Once we verify your payment the same invoice is marked paid — there is one invoice per order, and it keeps its number throughout. You can download the PDF at any time, whether it is still outstanding or already settled.

Next steps

• Installation — activation during setup.
• Upgrades — keeping the agent current.