Activation normally makes one online call, and some computers are never allowed to make it: an air-gapped edit bay, a server in a locked rack, a facility where nothing routes out. Hiberden activates those computers with a USB stick. The computer being activated never needs internet, and once it is licensed, day-to-day use never needs a connection either.
You need three things: the activation key from your purchase email (it looks like HIBA-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX), a USB stick, and any other computer with internet access. That other computer can be anything, anywhere: a laptop at home works fine.
The four steps
- On the offline computer, open Settings, then License, and click No internet on this computer? Then click Save activation request and save the file to your USB stick. The app writes a small text file called
hiberden-activation-request.txt. - Take the stick to any computer with internet and go to hiberden.app/activate.
- Upload the request file (or paste its contents), enter the activation key from your purchase email, and click Get license file. Save the downloaded license file to the stick.
- Back on the offline computer, open Settings, then License, click No internet on this computer?, then Install license file, and pick the file from the stick. Done. The License tab shows Licensed, and nothing ever needs internet again.
The same flow from the command line
On a headless server, the command-line tools do the same thing:
hiberden license request --out req.txt
Carry req.txt through the same web step at hiberden.app/activate, then install the license file you get back:
hiberden license install license.txt
hiberden license status confirms the result. If the machine does have internet, hiberden license activate HIBA-... activates directly, no files involved.
The license file works on one computer only
An honest note on what the license file is: it is tied to the computer whose activation request created it, and it is useless on any other computer. That makes it safe to keep, copy, or email; a copy of it cannot activate anything else. If you install a license file that was made for a different computer, Hiberden says so plainly and installs nothing.
The one-machine rule is the same as online activation: a license is active on one computer at a time. If the activation page tells you the license is already active on another machine, email support@hiberden.app to move it. See Moving to a new machine.
If something goes wrong
- If the page cannot read what you uploaded or pasted, open
hiberden-activation-request.txton the stick, copy the whole contents, and paste them in as is. The page says clearly when it cannot read a request; it never guesses. - If the key is rejected, copy it straight from the purchase email rather than retyping it.
- Anything else: support@hiberden.app.