Indeed, it is quite confusing if you would take a look how the supposed license files attached to emails are arriving. Although it is actually quite simple …
« license »
The name of a full QF-Test license file is « license ». As QF-Test was developed under Linux originally there was no apparently reason to add an extension to the filename.
Why we should? Linux doesn’t interpret the extensions.
Looking at Windows we have a totally different behavior. Windows is using the fie extensions to determine the type of the file (Linux is cleverer in that case). For that reason, each administrator in a Windows environment is configuring the computer in the company that the file explorer will always show the file extensions (so that you don’t open attachments like « order.pdf » and then it turns out that the attachment was named « order.pdf.exe » instead and was a malware).
But I’m digressing…
So under Windows files without an extension are not allowed at all (in fact they are possible despite of that).
And there is now the e-mail client, which in its emergency with a file « license » seals in its opinion a suitable extension. Outlook likes to attach a neutral « .dat ». Thunderbird looks into the content and finds that it is an ASCII text file, so it appends a « .txt » to the file. Other email clients can make other decisions here, but will never attach a « .new » or « .server ».
So you only need to know that all QF-Test license files attached, which are not named « license.new » or « license.server », are full QF-Test license files which should be saved as « license ».
« license.new ». What’s about that?
This is a license update or license upgrade file. Such files need a fitting full license file to create a file « license » locally.
The old file will be renamed to « license.old » by the way and may be deleted. If you wouldn’t do this, next time a file « license.old2 » will appear and so on.
Thus this file never can be used for QF-Test at a new installed machine. Instead the, ideally, once created file « license » must be used.
Therefore you should provide the resultant file « license » after an update or upgrade process always to your affected colleagues.
Special case « license.server »
This file is in this sense a special case as it is a full license file, but only for the QF-Test license server (in case you would use it instead of the standard license mechanism). But the QF-Test installations which are communicating with that license server are using a file « license », too. The file « license » contains the information how to address the license server in that case.
My license file still seems not to be valid
In such rare cases that your license file still seems no to be valid although you have checked to possible reasons explained above we will help you, of course. In such a case write an email to service@qftest.com and tell us, what you already have tried and what happened in detail, please.