Buttons lets you move a license between machines as your hardware changes: assign it where it's needed, release it when it's not, and get it back in one click if a machine's local setup ever gets reset. This page covers assigning a license to a machine, moving one between machines, recovering a license after a reset, and what to do if a licensed machine is gone for good.
Open Settings → License and select Sign in, using the Bitfocus account that owns the license.
Under Assigned Licenses, each of your available licenses shows its seat count, renewal date, and validity window. Select Assign on the one you want.
Assigning doesn't apply immediately: it stages the change and opens a preview showing the resulting surface count for this machine. Review it, then select Confirm.
A machine is being replaced, and its license needs to move to the new one instead of sitting on hardware that's being retired.
On the old machine, open Settings → License, sign in, and select Release License on the license you want to free up.
This is also staged rather than immediate. If the old machine has more surfaces attached than the license would allow after release, Confirm stays disabled and Buttons tells you how many surfaces to disable first: release those surfaces' connections before continuing.
Select Confirm to release the license back to your account's pool.
On the new machine, follow Assign a license to this machine above using the same license.
If a machine's local database was wiped or Buttons was reinstalled, your account may still hold that machine's license assignment even though the machine no longer shows it as active.
Open Settings → License and sign in with the account that holds the license.
If your account has a license assigned to this machine that isn't installed locally, a banner appears telling you how many licenses are in that state.
Select Recover to reapply them without releasing and reassigning from scratch.
If a licensed machine is broken or lost and you can't sign in to release it yourself, email support@bitfocus.io (or open a support request) from the address associated with the Bitfocus account that holds the license, and include the machine's hostname. Support can return the license to your account's pool from their side.
The machine has more surfaces attached than the remaining license allows. Disconnect or disable enough surfaces first, then try again.
A license row shows a lock icon instead of an action.
The license is owned by a different Bitfocus account than the one you're signed in with. Sign in with the account that owns it.
You're not sure whether a machine already has a license, or expected one to still be there.
Check Settings → License: if there's no active Current Base License, sign in with the account that should hold it and look for a recovery banner before assigning a new one.
