The Activation Server provides an interface called PayPal KeyGen for integration with the PayPal payment gateway
service. This enables you to automate the whole process of selling and
licensing software, including accepting a payment, updating customer records,
generating an Activation Key, and sending an order confirmation email. The
PayPal KeyGen is available in the following
directory:
\ACTIVATIONSERVER\PRECOMPILEDWEB\MANAGER\PAYPAL_KEYGEN.ASPX
The PayPal KeyGen is compatible with the
PayPal IPN protocol and messages. PayPal IPN (Instant Payment Notification) is
a message service that basically sends out a notification when your PayPal
account receives a payment. When the PayPal KeyGen
receives an IPN message, it automatically performs the tasks to fulfill the
received order, which include the following:
·
Identify the purchased product that matches
the product ID received from PayPal. In the provided Activation Server, the
EcommerceProdID2 field in the Products table is assigned to interface with
PayPal.
·
Create an activation account (including
Activation Key) for the purchased product in the Activation Server.
·
Update the ecommerce and customer information
to the activation account such as seller, purchase ID, purchase date, name,
company, email, address, etc.
·
Send an order confirmation email containing
the Activation Key to the customer.
In terms of security, the PayPal KeyGen uses
the postback method to verify the IPN message if it
indeed comes from PayPal. The method works as follows:
·
When receiving an IPN message, the PayPal KeyGen sends the complete unaltered message back to PayPal.
·
PayPal verifies the postback
message and replies a single word back, which is either VERIFIED or INVALID.
You can test the integration with PayPal by using the PayPal Sandbox,
which is a testing environment provided by PayPal. You
can find more information and sign up for an account at http://developer.paypal.com.
See Also
·
Configuring
Activation Server for PayPal KeyGen
·
Order Confirmation Email
Template