blicense

node-js-licensefile + express + stripe

---

About

• This NodeJS/Express Application accepts payment for, and generates a node-js-licensefile compatible software license
• It provides a text download of the generated license with invoice details, stores the results in a database, and emails a copy to the customer
• It can apply discounts for each additional month the duration of the software license is for, encouraging users to invest in your product
• Optional single tax rate for sales in your region - For example, GST can be added for Australian buyers only if you are operating from Australia and must charge tax there
• It's great for selling licenses for electron apps using node-js-licensefile for validating licenses
• It's intended to be run behind a reverse-proxy which would add it's own HTTPS - and as such DOES NOT SUPPORT HTTPS
• You should really run this behind a HTTPS reverse proxy or add HTTPS support yourself, otherwise it won't be secure

Screenshot

• 

Requirements

• MySQL Server
• SMTP Email Host
• Account and API keys with Stripe.com payments processor
• Server running NodeJS > 8 to host this code
• Reverse http proxy - Apache, Nginx etc.

App Behaviour

• Startup
  • Database will automatically migrate, creating a licenses table
  • If the database cannot connect on start, it will retry indefinitely, logging each failure
• General
  • Logo will display if process.env.LOGO=true
  • Http Errors will be sanitized when process.env.NODE_ENV=production
• Route /
  • Displays main payment form
  • Will display process.env.DESCRIPTION under optional logo
  • process.env.PRODUCT_PAGE_LINK, process.env.TERMS_PAGE_LINK buttons appear below the pricing table
  • Tax will be added to total if the users country matches process.env.STRIPE_GST_COUNTRY
  • Pricing table populated from process.env. vars, tax/discount pricing table rows will be hidden if 0
  • Both validation and Stripe payment errors will appear above the Submit Payment button
  • Total is re-calculated on form value change
  • Discount will be automatically applied to total, discounting the total for each additional month added
  • Will reset the session on validation errors
  • Contains the stripe payment element
• Route /charge
  • The form action for the payment form, performs the charge and generates the license
  • Validates submitted data
  • If accessed via GET, will redirect to /
  • Redirects back to / on validation failure
  • Redirects to /completed on success
  • Creates stripe customer, charge
  • Creates license and invoice and saves in DB, emails to user
  • Doesn't halt on email send failure, but logs it so the user still gets their license in-browser
• Route /completed
  • Displays on payment completion and license generation success
  • Will redirect to / if no completion data present (ie. user has navigated directly to /completed)
  • Text from PROCESS.ENV.COMPLETED will appear under optional logo
  • On completion of transaction will display the invoice/license as it was emailed to the user, and a button to download a file copy
  • Resets the session

Installation / Deployment Instructions

• Clone the blicense repo
• run npm install
• Copy the .env.example file to .env
  • Fill out the new .env file with your app settings
  • Stripe can be used with a restricted API key which only needs to be able to read Disputes, and Write to both Charges and Customers
  • Create ./views/static/logo.png, or set LOGO=false in your .env file
• Ensure directories ./logs ./sessions will be writable by the NodeJS process
• Set Up nodejs-license-file
  • Follow the instructions at https://www.npmjs.com/package/nodejs-license-file
  • The license template should be created at ./license_tamplate.txt rather than in-code - see ./license_template.txt.example
  • The private key created following the nodejs-license-file instructions should be stored at ./license_private_key.pem
  • Your licensed application will have to then parse and verify the generated license file itself using the public key as per the nodejs-license-file instructions
• Set up your application to run automatically
  • https://www.digitalocean.com/community/tutorials/how-to-set-up-a-node-js-application-for-production-on-ubuntu-18-04
• Set up your HTTPS proxy to secure the app and present it to the world
  • Apache https://www.digitalocean.com/community/tutorials/how-to-use-apache-http-server-as-reverse-proxy-using-mod_proxy-extension
  • Nginx https://www.digitalocean.com/community/tutorials/how-to-configure-nginx-with-ssl-as-a-reverse-proxy-for-jenkins

Warranty

• No warranty expressed or implied. I assume no liaibility or responsibility for any damage this software causes. Use at your own risk.

Future

• Free trial licenses, restricted by email
• Download link (unique?) on completion, mention on index that the download link and license will be provided post payment
• Product activation

License

• https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

Author

• bmorton.com