GETTING STARTED
Your first transfer, step by step.
Written for someone who has never used Kionel and does not want to read a manual. Nothing here needs an IT department, an installation or a network change. If a step does not match what you see, stop and tell us — that is a fault in these instructions, not in you.
1. What you received when you paid
- kionel-license.json — your licence file. It says which organisation may use Kionel, for how many sites and devices, and until when. Keep it like a document, not a password.
- Your licence key (subscriptions only) — a long line of letters and numbers shown once on the delivery page. Each year, when the subscription renews, you download the new licence file with it. Put it in your password manager now.
- kionel-public-key.json — the verification key. You do not need it for daily work; you need it if an auditor wants to check a record independently, years later.
Lost the licence file? Open the delivery page again in the same browser, or enter your licence key there. Lost both? Write to us with your order number.
2. What you need
- Two devices. The one holding the file (the isolated instrument PC, a laptop) and one with a working camera (a laptop, a tablet, a phone, a document camera).
- A browser on each: Chrome, Edge or Safari, reasonably recent.
- They must see each other. The camera of one has to see the screen of the other. No cable, no network, no Bluetooth.
The devices do not need to be online for the transfer itself. They do need to open the page once, so keep that in mind for a machine that never touches the internet: open it, then use it offline.
3. Load your licence (once per sending device)
- On the device that will send files, open kionel.com and press Try the transfer demo (or go to the transfer page directly).
- Find the line near the top that says Checking licence… and the button Load licence file.
- Press it and pick the
kionel-license.jsonfile you downloaded. - The line should now read: Licence: your organisation · … · valid until …
That is the whole installation. The file stays in that browser on that device; it is never sent anywhere. Use a different browser or a different computer and you load it again there.
The receiving device does not need a licence. Only the side that sends your own files does.
4. Your first transfer
Do this once with a harmless test file before you use it for real work.
- On the receiving device: open kionel.com, press Receive. A square code appears on its screen.
- On the sending device: press Send, then Choose file and pick your file. Fill in the work order or sample ID if your workflow uses one — it is signed together with the file.
- Point the sending device's camera at the receiving screen so the square code is inside the picture. It reads it by itself; there is no button.
- The sending device now shows its own code. Turn it so the receiving device's camera can see it.
- Both screens now show six digits and five small symbols. Check with your own eyes that they are identical. This is the step that stops anyone sitting in the middle. If they differ, stop and start again.
- Press Codes match on both devices.
- The sending screen fills with changing codes; keep the receiving camera pointed at it. The progress bar moves. A long transfer can be paused and resumed.
- When it finishes, the receiving device offers your file and a delivery receipt. The sending device offers a dispatch record.
5. What to keep afterwards
The file itself goes wherever your files normally go. The two small JSON records are the point of the product: they are the proof that this file, with this hash, went from this device to that one, signed by both.
Store them the way you store any other quality record — next to the result, in the folder or system your procedure names. They are small and they never expire.
Years later, anyone can check them without us: the offline verifier and your kionel-public-key.json are enough. We publish that verifier under a permissive licence precisely so that this stays true if Kionel disappears.
6. Each year: renewing
A subscription renews automatically. After it renews, open the delivery page, paste your licence key and download the new licence file, then load it on your sending devices exactly as in step 3.
If a licence expires, the software warns you for fourteen days and then stops starting new transfers. Nothing you already produced is locked, ever: your files stay yours and every record stays verifiable.
When something looks wrong
| What you see | What it means |
|---|---|
| "Demo mode: only the sample file…" | No licence is loaded in this browser. Go back to step 3. |
| "The licence file could not be read" | Wrong file. It must be the kionel-license.json we delivered, not the public key file. |
| "expired … you are in demo mode" | The term ended. Renew, then load the new file. |
| "Device clock is behind…" | This computer's clock is set earlier than the last time the software ran. Fix the clock; licence checks use the later time. |
| The camera does not open | The browser asks for camera permission the first time — allow it. The page must be on https. |
| The codes on the two screens differ | Stop. Close both sides and start again. Do not continue. |
| Reading is slow or stalls | More light, less glare, hold steadier, move closer. On a phone, pick the rear camera. Very dense codes need a sharper view; choose a lower QR version. |
Still stuck
Write to us through the contact form with what you saw on screen. Do not send us your file or your data — we do not need it and we do not want it.