Prepare before downloading the product ZIP
In your verified Orbit account, choose the correct organisation and obtain the installation preparation kit from its Product downloads page. The kit contains the licence SDK and helper, not PCMO application code. The paid product ZIP becomes available for a genuinely activated installation; you do not need that ZIP to generate its key.
Compare the kit's SHA-256 with Product downloads, then extract it into a private working directory on the intended host. Open the extracted emaila-orbit-installation-kit/ directory. Use PHP 8.2+ with cURL, JSON, POSIX and sodium, as the same Unix user that will run the website. Terminal access or host assistance is required.
From the extracted kit directory, replace EXACT_RELEASE_VERSION, the example domain and the absolute private-directory placeholder with your selected entitled release and host settings:
php prepare-installation.php prepare pcmo EXACT_RELEASE_VERSION pcmo.example.com /ABSOLUTE/PRIVATE/pcmo-licence
Use a new absolute directory outside PCMO and every public web root. Its parent directory must already exist; the kit creates the final directory with private permissions. Keep the generated private files on this host; copy only the displayed public key and canonical domain to Orbit.
Obtain the setup code
Open My licences for the same organisation. On the fulfilled entitlement for PCMO and the exact release, choose Activate an installation and provide the prepared public key and domain.
Copy the complete ORBITSETUP1 setup code from the activation receipt. A download or an unpaid invoice is not an activated installation. An updates-only entitlement does not replace the required base product entitlement.
Activate and verify on the host
From the same preparation-kit directory, use your actual private directory in:
php prepare-installation.php activate /ABSOLUTE/PRIVATE/pcmo-licence
php prepare-installation.php status /ABSOLUTE/PRIVATE/pcmo-licence
The activate command reads the complete setup code from standard input. Follow the kit's private input instructions; keep codes out of command arguments, URLs and shared logs. The status command checks the genuine authority permission online. Preserve the original key and directory if activation needs investigation.
After activation succeeds, return to Product downloads, select that active installation and download the bound PCMO release ZIP. Compare its SHA-256 with Product downloads before extracting it.
Reuse the same identity in PCMO
Before opening the installed application, configure web PHP and scheduled commands with ORBIT_LICENSE_CONFIG pointing to /ABSOLUTE/PRIVATE/pcmo-licence/config.json, using your actual directory. A terminal-only environment setting does not configure the web PHP process. Ask your host to configure both contexts and keep the same Unix ownership.
Continue with browser installation. Do not generate a replacement key in the product's licence page. Keep the prepared external directory, config/app.php and work records together in protected backups. Existing installations should retain their original identity and use their own reviewed licence-recovery flow.
Schedule the licence check
Run bin/licence-check.php every minute using the site's PHP executable and Unix user. For example, replace both paths in:
* * * * * /path/to/php /path/to/pcmo/bin/licence-check.php
In a hosting Cron Jobs form, put the five schedule fields in the schedule controls and only the command in its Command box. This job is separate from notification processing.
If activation fails, preserve the prepared key and follow licensing troubleshooting.