Can PMC Endpoint Manager be used in offline mode?

Can PMC Endpoint Manager be used in offline mode?

PMC offline activation mode is supported on PMC version 3.2.2 and higher (available on NComputing software download page and Azure Marketplace listing). This feature is useful for organizations that have firewall restrictions and/or external Internet limitations that will prevent PMC from contacting NComputing Management Portal via https connection.

To enable the PMC offline activation option, customers need to get in touch with NComputing Technical Support or their NComputing Sales Representative before proceeding.


Once the approval is received from NComputing staff, the following instructions provide guidance on how to perform PMC offline activations.


Offline mode – ability to activate and use PMC in environments without Internet access.


The offline activation mode is an option for customers whose PMC appliances are connected to restricted networks and cannot get in direct touch with NComputing Management Portal. When activating the PMC appliance or refreshing the licensing information in offline mode, the same information which PMC normally (in online mode) sends over the Internet will be exchanged in form of request and license files. 

The offline activation option is not enabled by default for NComputing customer accounts in NComputing Management Portal. To enable the offline option, please get in touch with NComputing Technical Support or with your NComputing Sales Representative before proceeding.


PMC activation in offline mode

To activate PMC in offline mode, proceed as following:
  1. After deploying a new PMC appliance, on the main activation page, click the Switch to offline activation link at the bottom of the page.
  2. On the offline PMC activation page, enter a name for the new PMC appliance and click the [Download request file] button.
  3. After downloading the offline activation request file from PMC, copy the file to a computer with unrestricted Internet access and logon to NComputing Management Portal (https://manage.ncomputing.com).
  4. In NComputing Management Portal, go to My PMC Installations, open the Offline Licensing page, and upload the request file there to create and download a PMC license file.
  5. Move back to the PMC GUI and click the Upload the license file to complete the offline activation process link at the bottom of the offline activation page.
  6. On the license file upload page, click the [Browse] button to select the PMC license file downloaded from NComputing Management Portal.
  7. Select the checkbox to confirm that you accept the NComputing End-User License Agreement and click the [Upload license file] button.
  8. If the license file downloaded from the Management Portal matches the request file created in step 2., PMC appliance will be activated, and the offline activation process will be completed.
Note: If you generated a new offline activation request file after downloading the license file from the Management Portal, you will have to repeat the procedure starting at step 4.


PMC license refresh in offline mode


In online mode, PMC contacts the NComputing Management Portal every day and automatically refreshes the license information. Manual license refresh is only necessary when the PMC administrator wants to accelerate the process after connecting new devices (for which PMC does not yet have the AMP information) or after purchasing or renewing the AMP licenses.


As in offline mode such automatic license refresh process cannot take place, the manual offline refresh will be usually necessary when:
  1. new devices have been connected, for which PMC does not yet have the AMP information and thus cannot determine their manageability or updateability
  2. new AMP licenses have been purchased to extend the number of manageable “vSpace” devices in NComputing Management Portal
  3. new AMP licenses have been purchased to extend the number of updatable “LEAFOS” and “RDP” devices in NComputing Management Portal

To perform a PMC license refresh in offline mode, proceed as following:

  1. In PMC GUI, go to Administration > Licensing page and click the [Download license update request file] button.
  2. After downloading the license update request file from PMC, copy the file to a computer with unrestricted Internet access and logon to NComputing Management Portal (https://manage.ncomputing.com).
  3. In NComputing Management Portal, go to My PMC Installations, open the Offline Licensing page, and upload the request file there to create and download a PMC license file.
  4. Move back to the PMC Administration > Licensing page.
  5. Click the [Browse] button to select the PMC license file downloaded from NComputing Management Portal.
  6. Click the [Upload license update file] button to complete the process
Note:  If you generated a new offline license update request file after downloading the license file from the Management Portal, you will have to repeat the procedure starting at step 3.

Offline activation/licensing mode limitations


In offline mode, some limitations apply to following product features:

    1. Revoking  LEAF OS licenses – the selected LEAF OS devices (if online) will immediately receive from PMC the requests to invalidate their licenses, but the NComputing Management Portal will only receive the invalidation requests upon next PMC license refresh, which is a manual process in offline mode.
    2. Marking devices as lost - the selected devices (if online) will immediately receive from PMC the requests to reset the configurations for factory defaults, LEAF OS devices will additionally receive the requests to invalidate their licenses, but the NComputing Management Portal will only receive the corresponding requests upon next PMC license refresh, which is a manual process in offline mode.
    3. Marking devices as found - as the devices previously marked as lost can only be unlocked by the Management Portal, unlocking the devices (marking them as found) will be impossible in offline environments. To mark the devices as found, not only an update of PMC license will be necessary, but the devices will also have to be connected to a network with Internet connectivity. 

    As in offline mode the PMC license refresh requires manual creation of license update request file and an upload of that file into Management Portal, it's advisable to perform the license refresh as soon as possible. Otherwise, if the devices with invalidated licenses or the devices marked as lost will be moved to a network with Internet connectivity, the Management Portal, based on the outdated information it will still have, will re-send to the devices the previous licenses, or will unlock the lost devices.