Offline licence A licence the software can check without phoning home.
Short answer. An offline licence is a licence that software can verify without contacting the vendor’s servers, so it keeps working on a network with no internet. The usual method is a cryptographically signed licence file: the vendor signs it with a private key, and the software checks the signature with a public key built into it. Keygen’s documentation describes this as a way to do offline verification and activation, and notes that such files carry a time-to-live that must be respected, with 30 days as its recommended default. For an air-gapped office the questions are what happens when the file expires, how a new one is delivered, and whether the licence is perpetual.
01
How an offline licence works
Keygen, a licensing service, documents the common pattern. NIST’s digital signature standard explains the cryptography underneath: signing uses a private key, and verification uses the matching public key, which anyone may hold.
The vendor creates a licence file for your organisation, sometimes tied to a particular machine.
The file is signed with the vendor’s private key.
The software contains the matching public key. Keygen says to hard-code it in the application, not keep it in external files or the environment, so that a bad actor cannot swap in their own key.
You receive the file by email, download or USB stick.
The software checks the signature locally, then reads the file: what you may use, and until when.
As the end approaches, you obtain a new file.
02
Online, periodic or offline
These are common patterns, not a description of any one product.
Method
Needs the internet?
What can lock you out
Online check at each start
Yes, every time
A dropped connection, or the vendor’s server being down
Periodic check-in
Every few days or weeks
Missing a check-in window
Signed licence file with a time-to-live
Only to fetch a new file when the old one expires
An expired file and no way to receive a new one
Perpetual signed licence file
No
Nothing on a schedule; a hardware change if the file is tied to one machine
03
What can go wrong
The file expires while the site is air-gapped, and nobody has a new one.
The system clock is wrong, so the file looks expired or not yet valid.
A hardware repair changes the machine identity the file was tied to.
The vendor stops issuing files because it has closed or changed its terms.
The vendor’s signing key is lost or leaked, so it cannot safely issue or withdraw files.
The whole product stops at expiry, instead of degrading gracefully.
04
Terms to look for
A perpetual right to run the delivered version, kept separate from the right to updates.
What the product does at expiry: keep running, go read-only or stop.
How a replacement file reaches a site with no internet, and how quickly.
What happens to licence files when hardware is replaced.
How updates are delivered and verified offline. See offline model updates.
What happens if the vendor closes: a final perpetual file, escrow or a published exit plan.
05
Where ANVE stands
ANVE’s security page (/security) says every order includes a perpetual licence for the software delivered with the unit, and that the box keeps working if ANVEAI shuts down. It also says updates are installed on site today, signed update packages applied offline by USB are not on ANVE yet, and ANVE does not update itself over the internet. ANVE is pre-release. Our air-gapped AI page covers the wider offline picture, and a demo call to put the questions above is free.
06
Questions people ask
Can AI software really run with no internet?
Yes. Once the models and software are on the machine, answering needs no connection. What needs a route in are licences, updates and anything that looks things up online.
What is a time-to-live on a licence?
How long a licence file is valid before the software expects a new one. Keygen recommends starting at 30 days, so that changes such as a renewal or a suspension reach the software within a known time.
Is an offline licence less secure?
Not inherently, because it uses the same kind of digital signature as an online check. The trade-off is slower withdrawal: a signed file stays valid until it expires.
Does an offline licence tie the software to one machine?
Some do and some tie it to the organisation. Keygen describes licence files and machine files as separate kinds. Ask which you get, and what happens after a hardware replacement.
Is ANVE’s licence perpetual?
According to ANVE’s published security page, every order includes a perpetual licence for the software delivered with the unit. ANVE is pre-release, so ask to see the terms in the order before a paid pilot.
07
What is not real yet
No sealed ANVE unit exists; every image of the appliance on this site is a labelled render. The software runs today on a development machine. No customers yet, no certifications, no delivery date, and the final price is not announced.
Reservations are ₹999 in India or US$12 elsewhere, refundable in full until you confirm an order in writing (terms). Offices that cannot use cloud AI can apply to be one of ten design partners.
