Does XoJo have the ability to read the MAC address of the current
machine to which it is current installed.
I would like to use this as an anchor for my software so that if
my software was copied it would only run on the initial machine to which it was Installed.
Please advise.
With MBS Plugins?
SystemInformationMBS has a property:
http://monkeybreadsoftware.net/module-systeminformationmbs.shtml
and NetworkInterfaceMBS provides MAC addresses, too:
http://monkeybreadsoftware.net/class-networkinterfacembs.shtml
You can get the MAC address from the network interface class. Keep in mind that they can be spoofed, and if users change interfaces (Ethernet at home, but wifi at the cafe) the addresses will be different.
Christian THx
Greg
if someone wants to alter their MAC Address , that’s fine, my software just won’t run if they do that.
[quote=319107:@David Cullins]Greg
if someone wants to alter their MAC Address , that’s fine, my software just won’t run if they do that.[/quote]
most people today have 2+ MAC addresses. My work Windows laptop has a Wireless one and a Wired one. The other model that I didnt take has 3, Wireless Cellular, and Wired. The Cellular is just like wireless but uses a built in cellular card to “be on the internet” when I dont have access on the other 2.
If you are tieing the serial number to a MAC address, pick one (not the active one) and always use that one. For instance the Wired one.
I also forgot to mention… in a pc, if the network card dies, users can buy a new one and plug it in. Poof! New MAC address… and if the old one is truly dead, they may not be able to retrieve it for you to prove their legitimate license.
[quote=319107:@David Cullins]Christian THx
Greg
if someone wants to alter their MAC Address , that’s fine, my software just won’t run if they do that.[/quote]
I think the was that they are not doing it on purpose! In the old days you had one network card installed and so the idea of the PC have a single MAC address was born…
Nowadays many laptops also have mini-expresscard for network and wireless which also are easy to replace.
[quote=319097:@David Cullins]Does XoJo have the ability to read the MAC address of the current
machine to which it is current installed.
I would like to use this as an anchor for my software so that if
my software was copied it would only run on the initial machine to which it was Installed.
Please advise.[/quote]
[quote=319107:@David Cullins]Christian THx
Greg
if someone wants to alter their MAC Address , that’s fine, my software just won’t run if they do that.[/quote]
Depending on the complexity and cost of your software, also bear in mind that creating a VM with a new mac address (for example, to match the required mac address for a serial number they have obtained illegally) is as trivial as point and click.
If you do go the route of locking to mac addresses, have some way for the user to request a new serial even though they dont know their old one (who keeps note of their old computers mac address when changing machines?). Then you need some way to deactivate the old serial as they could now me running it on two machines. Unless your app phones home, you have little way to control this.
A way around this is to UDP broadcast on the lan (similar to adobe products) to see if the serial is in use but this gets into a whole other set of issues 
It is also important to keep in mind the inconvenience you cause to genuine users of the software who use multiple networks on a daily basis.
Getting back to the root of the issue, in most cases you’ll probably find that most users won’t just give away your software if you are clear about the license, clear about the consequences (such as not being eligible for upgrades or getting lawyers involved) and obviously showing who it’s registered to in an about screen.
If your software is expensive enough to warrant this sort of protection (like some CAD systems which are several thousand dollars bet seat) you should think about using a hardware key.
until someone figures out that you can actually alter the MAC address reported to whatever you want
http://www.online-tech-tips.com/computer-tips/how-to-change-mac-address/
using the MAC address alone is not sufficient
https://developer.apple.com/library/content/technotes/tn1103/_index.html
https://www.nextofwindows.com/the-best-way-to-uniquely-identify-a-windows-machine
Generate a UUID from several aspects of the machine (or from an OS call) and use that
It’s more likely to be unique than the MAC address