sysadm1n 2 Newbie Poster

Dear fellow members,

I'm developing a Perl program that can be used on Linux hosts to perform certain tasks. Planning to release a premimum version of the program that will be run on servers with public IP address for a low price. How can I setup a license system incorporated to the software?

I understand I have to setup the following:

1. A licensing server with a Database that contains user info, host IP - and what else is needed there?

2. setup a program that runs on the license server to show the staus of the license for a particular IP.

3. Do I need a license key for each user? If so, why do I need one and which module can be used to verify the license key - Crypt::RSA?

4. Now I need to call that script from my Perl program. As the program is currently open source, what is the best way to integrate the license system. If it needs to be closed source, what is best way to encrypt a perl program?

Any help or tips would be highly appreciated. Thank you in advance!