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LaStore module · User guide

Quick start — up and running in four steps

This guide takes you from purchase to a running module. It is written for the beginning: you need no prior knowledge, and apart from one step everything happens inside your own FreeScout.

The four steps take about ten minutes together. After that you no longer have to think about it.

Four steps from purchase to a running module
Free the LaStore module itself needs no licence
One click install and license a module you bought
Autopilot fetches new versions on its own

First: two places worth telling apart

Two different things appear in this guide, and both have LaStore in their name. Keep them apart and the rest is easy.

The customer portal is an area on our website, at https://shop.letsautomate.ch/portal — you sign in there with your email address and a password. It is your administration: you see which licences you bought, how long support and updates run, and you can move a licence to another server. You do not enter licence keys here.

The LaStore module, by contrast, runs inside your own FreeScout, on your own server. After installation you find it under Manage → LaStore. That is the place for everything practical: entering licence keys, installing the modules you bought, fetching updates, switching on the automatic mode.

In short: on our website you administer, in your FreeScout you work.

1. Set up access to the customer portal

After your purchase you receive an email from us. It contains your licence keys, and it also contains a button labelled Set up customer portal access. Click it and choose a password. From then on you can sign in at https://shop.letsautomate.ch/portal at any time.

Please keep that email safe: the licence keys are only in there. For security reasons the customer portal does not show them a second time. If the email got lost or ended up in your spam folder, that is not a problem. Write to us and we will send it again. No new key is created — you get exactly the same ones as at purchase.

2. Install the LaStore module in FreeScout

The LaStore module is free and needs no key.

First download the package from our website: https://shop.letsautomate.ch/shop/lastore.zip

Unpack the file. Inside you find a folder named LaStore. Copy that folder into the Modules directory of your FreeScout installation — where your other modules already are, for example under /var/www/freescout/Modules. How you get files onto your web server depends on your host: over SFTP, through a file manager in your hosting account, or on the command line.

The rest happens inside your FreeScout. Open Manage → Modules there. The page lists every module that lies in the directory, and LaStore appears among them as soon as the folder is in the right place. One click on «Activate» is enough.

Once that is done you find LaStore in FreeScout under Manage → LaStore. That is the page the next two steps mean. You do not need to touch your web server again.

3. Activate the modules you bought, in FreeScout

In FreeScout open Manage → LaStore. You see an overview of every module we offer, each with its state: bought, installed, up to date.

Pick the module you bought and enter the licence key from the email. One click is enough. The module then checks the licence with us, downloads the package, verifies its signature and registers the new module with FreeScout. It is ready to use.

Each module you buy has its own key. They are all in the same email.

If you had already installed a module by hand, you find it in this overview under Already installed, no licence yet. Enter the key there. The current version is fetched along the way.

Two things worth knowing before you enter a key:

  • Activating ends your right of return and withdrawal. As long as you do not activate, you can withdraw within fourteen days.
  • One licence covers one active FreeScout installation. If you want to look at a module in a test environment first, activate it there and move the licence later. Two moves are included.

4. Switch on the automatic mode, in FreeScout

In FreeScout open Manage → LaStore again. At the top of the toolbar you find a switch labelled Autopilot: off. One click turns it on.

With the autopilot on, the module checks with us every night whether a new version of your modules exists. If so, it downloads it, verifies the signature and installs it. You do nothing and normally notice nothing.

With the autopilot off you still learn on the same page that something is waiting. You then decide yourself when to update.

What happenswithout the moduleAutopilot offAutopilot on
You learn about new versionsnoyes, dailyyes, daily
Installing happensby hand, package from the portalon a click in FreeScoutovernight, without you
The signature is verifiedonly if you check it yourselfyesyes

We recommend switching the autopilot on. Updates also carry security fixes, and a module that is never updated never gets them.

If something does not go as expected

The points below cover the most common cases. Usually the matter is settled in two minutes.

LaStore does not appear under Manage

Then the folder is not in the right place yet, or the module has not been activated. Check that the folder LaStore sits directly inside the Modules directory and not inside another subfolder — unpacking easily creates one level too many.

I clicked in FreeScout, but nothing happened

FreeScout shows success and failure as a brief message at the edge of the screen, and it disappears after a few seconds. If you missed it: the version number next to the module in the overview tells you whether the installation went through.

The key is not accepted

Make sure you copied it completely, with no spaces at the beginning or end. And that you are entering it on the right module: each key belongs to exactly one module.

Nothing works and you don't know why

Then it may be us. Whether our services are running is shown here: https://stats.uptimerobot.com/QW0q99IJbo — that page deliberately sits outside our own infrastructure, so it is reachable even when something of ours is down.

If that does not get you further, write to us. It helps if you say which module it concerns, which FreeScout version you use, and what you expected. Then we can usually answer straight away without having to ask back.

Moving to another server

You do this in the customer portal on our website, not in FreeScout.

A licence covers one active FreeScout installation at a time. Two moves are already included and you can carry them out yourself: release the old place in the customer portal, then enter the key in FreeScout on the new server.

If both moves are used up, that is no reason to buy again. Write to us and we release the licence; that does not count as a further move.

If an old server simply stops being used, the system releases the licence by itself after ninety days. A switched-off or deleted installation therefore does not block your licence for good.

Servers with no connection to the internet

If your server sits in a closed network, the LaStore module cannot reach our website. For that case there is the licence file. Here you work in both places, so in order:

  • In FreeScout under Manage → LaStore there is an entry labelled Identifier of this server. Note it down.
  • In the customer portal you enter that identifier for the licence in question. Any device with internet access will do. The portal turns it into a licence file to download.
  • Back in FreeScout you upload that file under Manage → LaStore. Your module is then licensed without your server ever having spoken to the outside.

One limitation: the identifier comes into being once your server has reported to us at least once. If it has never been online, FreeScout shows no identifier yet, and the page says so. Write to us in that case and we will find a way.

Worth knowing

You do not strictly need the LaStore module

The modules you buy also run without it. If you prefer, you download each module in the customer portal, copy the folder into Modules by hand and activate it in FreeScout. Without LaStore you lose one-click installation, and you are not told about new versions automatically.

A module you bought runs indefinitely

The period you see at purchase concerns support and updates, not use. When it runs out, your module keeps working unchanged; only new versions stop coming. The date is in the customer portal next to each licence under Support until.

The licence key belongs in FreeScout, not on our website

It is entered exclusively in your FreeScout, under Manage → LaStore. In the customer portal you administer the licence; you do not see the key itself again there.

Every package is verified before it is put in place

The LaStore module checks the signature of every file it installs. If it does not match, nothing is installed and your running installation stays untouched.

Not getting anywhere with this? Support

Good to know

Frequent questions

Everything you should know about our modules, licences, updates and support before you buy.

Why does my purchased FreeScout module show an expiry date?

With your purchase you get the module plus twelve months of support, security updates and new features. The expiry date shown refers to those included services — not to your right to use the module at all.

What happens when my licence expires?

The module you have installed keeps working. Once the licence has expired, though, no new security or feature updates arrive and the included support can no longer be used.

You decide for yourself whether to renew the licence or to keep using the installed module without further updates, at your own responsibility.

Others promise lifetime updates. Why don’t you?

Technologies, security requirements and dependencies keep changing. What works reliably today can be outdated or unsupported tomorrow. Good software therefore needs continuous care, testing and development.

Rather than tie you to a permanent subscription, we leave you the choice: renew your licence, or keep using the installed module without further updates, at your own responsibility.

Do I need your LaStore module?

No, but the LaStore module connects your FreeScout instance with the modules you bought, and it brings several advantages:

  • installation with one click
  • automatic detection of available updates
  • easy updating right inside FreeScout
  • verification of the package signature
  • protection against module packages altered or tampered with unnoticed

Our modules do not use the normal update process, because it is not secure. The LaStore module verifies each of our modules before updating. An attacker therefore cannot deliver forged, dangerous updates. Without this module the verification is up to you, and it is a manual process.

without LaStorewith LaStore, autopilot offwith LaStore, autopilot on
learns about new versionsnoyes, dailyyes, daily
installsby hand from the portalat the press of a buttonovernight, without you
verifiedby you, via shasum -a 256yesyes
Do I really get the complete source code?

Yes. Our modules are provided under the AGPL-3.0 licence. The module as delivered contains the complete source code, which you can inspect and adapt within the terms of that licence.

On how many FreeScout instances may I use the module?

One licence covers one active FreeScout instance. Two free server moves are included on top of that.

If an old server is no longer in use, the system releases its activation automatically after 90 days. An instance that is unreachable or already deleted is therefore not counted against your licence for good.

Can I return a module I bought?

You have a 14-day right of return. It ends as soon as you activate the module — not already when the licence key is delivered to you.

So activate the module only once you have finally decided to use it. For consumers in the EEA, the statutory provisions on the right of withdrawal for digital content apply in addition.

Who issues my invoice?

Payment is handled by Paddle. Paddle acts as Merchant of Record and therefore as the seller. That is why Paddle appears as the issuer of the invoice, and possibly also as the payee on your card or bank statement.

Does a module need other FreeScout modules?

That depends on the product. Some modules work entirely on their own and offer additional features when other modules are present. Others have hard dependencies.

The slot finder, for example, strictly needs the Calendar module, because the available appointments are worked out from the calendars kept there.

Required and optional dependencies are stated on each product page.

What can I do if something doesn’t work?

We test our modules carefully. Even so, a feature may not behave as expected in a particular environment.

Every module comes with a detailed guide. If that does not get you any further, you can open a support ticket. Describe the problem briefly and the steps you have already taken — we are glad to help.

Pay securely, worldwideYour payment is handled securely by Paddle. You can pay from anywhere in the world, comfortably in your own currency — proper invoicing included.
Open, auditable, adaptableThanks to AGPL-3.0 you get the complete source code. You can audit the software, adapt it yourself and keep running it independently.
Two server moves includedYour FreeScout instance is moving? You can transfer your licence to a new server up to twice, free of charge, and keep using the module there.
Install once, stay current by itselfWith our LaStore module for FreeScout you install what you bought with a single click. Available updates are checked and installed automatically.

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