How does Offline Activation works on Softwares

Question

Many latest softwares have an option to activate the product through offline method. But how does this exactly work ? Without the computer being connected to internet, how can the software generate a key and also know that the code given is the correct activation code. I am talking about examples like Adobe CC products and Autodesk Products.

Do they salt the keys with a value and then unsalt it to get specific information ?

I am just willing to know more about it. Online activation works by checking their servers for key, but offline :O

What is your programming problem? Are you trying to implement offline activation in your own product? — Raymond Chen, May 25 '15 at 13:41
No, i am interested in knowing how they work. Just curious about it. — kks21199, May 27 '15 at 07:44

score 1 · Accepted Answer · answered Nov 08 '17 at 03:41

The solution is simple. If a machine is offline, it need help from a machine with online access to help do the http request and relay the response back to the offline machine.

The offline software generate a request payload as plaintext.
The user copy this plaintext to a machine with online access and do a request to the company activation server.
The server return a response. Copy the response to the offline machine to complete the activation.

How does Offline Activation works on Softwares

1 Answers1