This page covers the key you type during installation, and what it does. It is short, because the whole design is built to make this the least important part of your evening.
Where it comes in
The setup shows a page where you type the key from your account page. With that key it asks the website which modules belong to your account, and offers exactly those.
Three ways it can arrive:
| How | When |
|---|---|
| You type it | The normal case. It is on your account page. |
| Handed to the setup on the command line | Unattended installation across several machines. |
| Already inside the installer | When the download was prepared for your account, so nobody has to type anything. |
Leaving it empty
Allowed. You then get only what was supplied with the installer itself, and nothing else changes.
When it does not work
Mistyped, no internet, withdrawn — you get a message and the installation continues with what was included.
That is deliberate: an installation is never allowed to strand on a licence server. A machine that cannot reach the website still ends up with a working program.
What it is not
It is not a check that runs while you broadcast. Once installed, the program and its modules work; nothing phones home before a service, and a network outage on Sunday morning changes nothing about what is on screen.
It is not what switches modules on. The key decides which modules are offered during installation. Switching them on and off afterwards is Settings → Modules, and needs nothing external.
Where to see it afterwards
Settings → Info → Installed for shows the account this installation belongs to, or no account known when it was installed without a key.
That same page has Check for module updates…, which uses the account to see what is available for you.