Some Camunda 7 features (e.g. enterprise plugins) require a license key. The license will be provided as a string by the Camunda support team. The license mechanism has no impact on the engine or other runtime components. The following section explains the various methods by which a Camunda license can be added to the Process Engine.

Deployment Scenarios and the License Key

A Camunda license key should be applied per database.

In a clustered scenario, where multiple engines on multiple nodes access a single database, the license only needs to be activated once. When activated, a license is valid until the expiration date or until you have deleted your database. The license key is valid for an unlimited amount of engines.

In a multi tenancy scenario, the license check will be performed for each engine with an own database. Thus, you will be prompted to enter the license key separately for each engine.

License Key Pickup Methods

Through the Admin Webapp UI

Any environment setup that uses the enterprise Camunda Admin webapp, can use the provided License key page to enter a valid license key. Please see the dedicated Admin webapp docs section for more details.

Through the Java API

This method can be used in any environment setup. The license key can be set via the Java API by calling:

managementService.setLicenseKey(String licenseKey);

The managementService also offers methods to get and delete the license key from the database. The license key is stored in the ACT_GE_BYTEARRAY table. A reference to the license entry can be found in the ACT_GE_PROPERTY table (camunda-license-key-id).

Through the Home Directory

Another possibility is to put a file with the license key on the path ${user.home}/.camunda/license.txt. This is another method that can be applied in any environment setup. The license key will be automatically loaded in the database table unless a valid license key is already present.

With the Camunda Spring Boot Starter & Camunda Run

Camunda Run, and other Spring Boot applications that use the Camunda Spring Boot Starter, can be provided with license keys in two additional ways:

• provide a URL to a license file via a custom Spring Property.
• provide the license key in a file called camunda-license.txt which is on the classpath of the application.

Note: For these two properties to be available, the Camunda Run EE edition must be used, or the Spring Boot application must use the camunda-bpm-spring-boot-starter-webapp-ee module.

<dependency>
  <groupId>org.camunda.bpm.springboot</groupId>
  <artifactId>camunda-bpm-spring-boot-starter-webapp-ee</artifactId>
</dependency>

License compatibility

There are two different types of licenses for Camunda 7. While the original format is only valid for Camunda 7, the second format can be valid for multiple Camunda products (like Camunda 7, Cawemo or Optimize). Such unified licenses are supported from the versions listed below onwards. Since 7.12.0 all versions (including major/minor releases) support unified license keys.

Camunda Engine version	Spring Boot Starter version
7.9.19+	3.0.8+
7.10.13+	3.1.8+ 3.2.9+
7.11.7+	3.3.6+
7.12.x	3.4.x
7.13.0+	7.13.0+

License content

This section defines what is a valid license key that will be accepted by the Process Engine. This description is valid for all License pickup methods.

A valid license key content should include the following:

1. The header section: --------------- BEGIN CAMUNDA BPM LICENSE KEY ---------------

2. The encrypted license key.

3. The unencrypted customer, expiry date and product data.

4. The footer section:

   ---------------  END CAMUNDA BPM LICENSE KEY  ---------------
   

Note that omitting one of these sections will result in an error, and you will have to re-enter your license key in the correct format.