Using emerglic for Emergency 7-Day Licences

What is emerglic?

The emerglic utility provides emergency 7-day temporary licences for Xi-Text and Xi-Batch when normal licensing fails. This allows the system to continue operating whilst arranging a permanent licence.

Use emerglic when:

• Licence codes corrupted after system restore
• Disc recovery operation invalidated validation
• Urgent production need before permanent licence available
• Testing or development environment setup
• Temporary replacement whilst awaiting new licence key

When Not to Use emerglic

Not for:

• Initial installation (use vwrite)
• Routine licence renewals (use vwrite)
• Permanent licensing (use vwrite)
• Extending trial licences (use vwrite)

emerglic is strictly for emergencies when normal licensing unavailable.

How emerglic Works

Duration:

7 days from installation

Warning messages:

Programs display warning about emergency licence:

WARNING: Running on emergency 7-day licence
Expires: 23/02/2026

Functionality:

All features work normally. Warning reminds you to obtain permanent licence.

Using emerglic

Location:

Xi-Text : /usr/spool/xi_distrib/Text/emerglic

Xi-Batch : Available with user-level binaries

Stop the scheduler first:

bash

# Xi-Text
sstop

# Xi-Batch
btquit -y

Run emerglic:

bash

# Xi-Text non-networked
/usr/spool/xi_distrib/Text/emerglic -L

# Xi-Text networked
/usr/spool/xi_distrib/Text/emerglic -N

# Xi-Batch non-networked
xb-emerglic -L

# Xi-Batch networked
xb-emerglic -N

Without arguments:

emerglic guesses requirement and prompts for confirmation:

bash

/usr/spool/xi_distrib/Text/emerglic

# Displays:
# Do you need a network licence? [Y/N]

Restart the scheduler:

bash

# Xi-Text
spstart

# Xi-Batch
btstart

Verification

Check emergency licence active:

bash

# Xi-Text
checklic

# Xi-Batch
xb-checklic

Output shows:

Licenced to: Emergency Licence
Serial is: 999
Start time: 16/02/2026
End time: 23/02/2026  
Validated for networks  # If -N used

Note the 7-day expiry date.

Emergency Scenarios

System Restore Corrupted Licence

Problem:

After restoring from backup, Xi-Text won't start:

$ spstart
Licence validation failed

Solution:

bash

# Apply emergency licence
sudo sstop
sudo /usr/spool/xi_distrib/Text/emerglic -N
sudo spstart

# Verify working
spq

# Contact support for permanent licence

Production Down, No Licence Key Available

Problem:

Production system needs immediate restart but permanent licence key not available (weekend, out of hours).

Solution:

bash

# Get system running with emergency licence
sudo btquit -y
sudo xb-emerglic -N
sudo btstart

# Arrange permanent licence during business hours

Licence File Corruption

Problem:

Licence file damaged or deleted.

Solution:

bash

# Use emerglic to restore operation
sudo sstop
sudo /usr/spool/xi_distrib/Text/emerglic -L
sudo spstart

# Request new permanent licence from support

After Installing Emergency Licence

Immediate actions:

1. Verify system operational
2. Document emergency licence installation
3. Note expiry date
4. Contact support for permanent licence

Before expiry:

1. Obtain permanent licence key from support
2. Schedule vwrite installation
3. Test permanent licence before emergency expires

Do not let it expire:

System stops working when emergency licence expires. Install permanent licence with several days margin.

Installing Permanent Licence

Before emergency licence expires:

bash

# Stop scheduler
sstop  # or btquit -y

# Install permanent licence
vwrite  # or xb-vwrite
# Follow prompts, enter validation key

# Restart
spstart  # or btstart

# Verify permanent licence
checklic  # or xb-checklic

Permanent licence replaces emergency licence.

Common Mistakes

Running while scheduler active:

bash

# Wrong
emerglic -N
# Error: Scheduler must be stopped

# Correct
sstop
emerglic -N
spstart

Using wrong product's emerglic:

If running both Xi-Text and Xi-Batch, use correct emerglic:

bash

# For Xi-Text
/usr/spool/xi_distrib/Text/emerglic -N

# For Xi-Batch  
xb-emerglic -N

Forgetting to restart scheduler:

emerglic only updates licence - scheduler must be restarted to use it.

Monitoring Emergency Licence

Check days remaining:

bash

checklic | grep "End time"
# End time: 23/02/2026

Calculate remaining days:

bash

#!/bin/bash
# check-emergency-days.sh

END_DATE=$(checklic | grep "End time" | cut -d: -f2- | xargs)

if [ "$END_DATE" != "No limit" ]; then
    echo "Emergency licence expires: $END_DATE"
    echo "Install permanent licence immediately"
else
    echo "Permanent licence installed"
fi

Set reminder:

bash

# Cron reminder 2 days before expiry
echo "Emergency Xi-Text licence expires soon" | mail -s "URGENT: Licence Expiring" admin@example.com

Extending Emergency Period

Cannot be extended.

emerglic always provides exactly 7 days. Running it again resets to 7 days from that point:

bash

# Day 5 of emergency licence
sstop
emerglic -N  # Resets to 7 days from now
spstart

Use sparingly:

Each reset requires stopping scheduler. Obtain permanent licence instead of repeated emerglic use.

Best Practices

Document usage:

Record when and why emergency licence used:

bash

echo "$(date): Emergency licence installed due to restore corruption" >> /var/log/xitext-licensing.log

Immediate support contact:

Contact support same day emergency licence installed.

Test permanent licence:

Before emergency expires, test permanent licence installation in development first if possible.

Backup licence information:

Keep validation keys and organisation details in secure, backed-up location.

Monitor expiry:

Set calendar reminders well before 7-day expiry.

Troubleshooting

emerglic not found:

bash

# Xi-Text
find /usr/spool -name emerglic

# Run from found location
/usr/spool/xi_distrib/Text/emerglic -N

Scheduler won't start after emerglic:

bash

# Check licence installed correctly
checklic

# Verify scheduler stopped cleanly
ps aux | grep spshed

# Check system log
tail -50 /usr/spool/spd/spshed_reps

Wrong licence type (network vs non-network):

bash

# Check what you need
# Network licence required for:
# - Multiple Unix hosts
# - Windows clients  
# - API access

# Re-run with correct flag
sstop
emerglic -N  # For networked
# or
emerglic -L  # For standalone
spstart

Summary

emerglic provides critical 7-day emergency licensing when normal licensing fails. Use it to restore immediate operation, then obtain permanent licence before expiry. Never rely on emerglic as long-term licensing solution - it exists purely for emergency situations whilst arranging proper licensing through vwrite.

Emergency workflow:

1. Stop scheduler
2. Run emerglic with appropriate flag (-L or -N)
3. Restart scheduler
4. Verify operation
5. Contact support immediately
6. Install permanent licence before 7 days expire

The 7-day period provides sufficient time to obtain and install permanent licensing whilst keeping production systems operational.