Activation

License

To use Connect, you need a valid license. If you don’t have one, you can purchase it from the Connect website. To activate Connect product you need internet connection so it can connect to the license server. License key is bound to the machine where it is activated. This means you cannot copy the license file from one machine to another — it will not work, as the license is bound to the host it was activated on. It’s possible to buy a key for multiple machines, in that case you can activate the same license key on multiple machines. License key is valid for one year, after that you need to renew it.

Product activation

To activate your Connect product, follow these steps:

1. Initial Check (Optional):

When you first run connect without a license, you will see an error message indicating a missing license file:

$ connect
2025/07/01 11:59:40 ERROR Unable to verify the license: missing license file, please activate the product with connect license activate

2. Activate Your License

Use the connect license activate command and enter your license key when prompted. Replace 7B9D9A41-75A7-4E21-980A-1C899F7099AA with your actual license key.

$ connect license activate
Enter your license key: 7B9D9A41-75A7-4E21-980A-1C899F7099AA
License activated successfully.

3. Verify License Information (Optional)

You can verify the activated license details using the connect license show command:

$ connect license show
License key: 7B9D9A41-75A7-4E21-980A-1C899F7099AA
Expiry: 2026-05-07 00:00:00
License type: Basic
License email: [email protected]

Note

License information is stored in the license.key file in folder where the connect binary is located. Upon activation also .connect_secret_key file is created in the same folder, which is used for credential encryption.

4. Confirm Activation:

After successful activation, running connect will display the product’s usage information, confirming that it is ready for use:

$ connect

Robust, Reliable, Efficient file dispatcher

Usage:
  connect [command] [flags]

Commands:
  completion  Generate the autocompletion script for the specified shell
  genkey      Generate SSH key pair
  get         Gets single file or files from given folder matching provided file mask
  help        Help about any command
  license     Manage your license
  list        Lists files from remote storage server
  send        Sends single file or files from given folder matching provided file mask
  test        Tests connection to remote storage server

Flags:
      --godebug             Turns on debug mode
      --help                Prints help for the command
      --log-format string   Log output format: text|json (default "text")
      --no-color            Do not use colors in logs
      --quiet               Makes no output

Use "connect [command] --help" for more information about a command.

License Renewal

If your license is about to expire or has already expired, you can renew it by purchasing a license extension from the Connect website. After purchasing, Connect tool will automatically extend your license with the same license key.

License Transfer

If you need to transfer your license to a different machine, you must first deactivate it on the current machine and then activate it on the new one. To deactivate your license, follow the steps in the Deactivation guide.