As I mentioned in an earlier post, Autodesk 2010 standalone licensed products now include a new Online License Transfer Utility (LTU). This is the new method for transferring your standalone license activation to another system and replaces the Portable License Utility (PLU). Here is a list of the most commonly asked questions regarding Online License Transfer (OLT):
Q: How often may I use the License Transfer Utility?
A: There is no limit on how many times you can export and import your license.
Q: When you export the license to someone, can you put a time limit like you can in network versions when borrowing.
A: No, it is not possible to set a time limit for an exported license. Once an exported license has been imported to another machine, it remains there until exported again.
Q: My company has a multi-seat standalone license, can we use the License Transfer Utility?
A: Yes. You may have up to your license seat count in exported state at any time.
Q: I have a single seat of a product installed and activated on two machines (home and work). Can I export a license from each of those machines?
A: No. You cannot have more licenses exported than you actually own.
Q: What is a Private Export and why would I choose it?
A: A privately exported license may only be imported using the same login name and password as was used to export the license. Additionally, the product serial number must match between the source and target computers. Private exports assure that your license will not be transferred to another person. A privately exported license automatically becomes public if not imported within 14 days.
Q: What is a Public Export and why would I choose it?
A: A publicly exported license may be imported to any computer with the same program and serial number as yours by any person who has an Autodesk Login name and password. Use this option when you want to send your license to another person in your company.
Q: Can I use License Transfer Utility to export licenses from a network product?
A: No. The LTU is only for export and import of standalone licenses. Network licenses continue to use the license borrowing feature.
Q: What would happen if the person who exported a license privately leaves the company prior to importing the license?
A: Privately exported licenses will automatically convert to public export status if they are not imported within 14 days of export. This is a fixed time period and cannot be adjusted.
Q: I don’t want my users to export licenses, can I prevent this?
A: You may choose not to install the License Transfer Utility. You may also omit the License Transfer Utility from deployments. If you are running Windows you can also remove the License Transfer Utility by choosing to modify your installation in Control Panel
Q: Is there an off line method of transferring my license?
A: No. An internet connection is required to export or import a license. There is no alternative for transferring standalone licenses.
Q: What port used by the OLT for transfer communication
A: Port 443 (SSL). It’s the same port as Register Today.
Subscribe
Thanks for the Q&A. But let's assume we have two licenses in our company of an Autodesk Product with two different serial numbers. We want to export/import them between computers. Should we install two versions of the same product on each computer (with different serial numbers) in order to meet the requirement of serial number matching in source/destination computers? Don't you think it's a bit sick?
Autodesk becomes a real pain in... when it comes to licensing. You make it more difficult to legal owners dispite your program being pirated straight away anyway.
Posted by: legal_autodesk_product_user | April 17, 2009 at 03:01 AM
This is great info. Thanks for posting.
Posted by: R.K. McSwain | April 17, 2009 at 05:59 AM
legal_autodesk_product_user: I don't understand why you would want to do what you are describing in the first place? If you have two licenses of the same product – each installed on a different machine – there is no point in exporting the license from one machine and importing to the other. The products are the same and the licenses are already activated on each machine.
The situation where you would want to do this is if you owned a single license of a product and needed to be able to run that product from multiple machines.
Posted by: Tom Stoeckel | April 17, 2009 at 08:23 AM
I'm sorry, I didn't express myself clearly.
You're right, with only two machines and two licenses it's obvious that you don't need to exchange the licenses. The problem is that we have more than two computers and two licenses of software needed quite often on different computers. That is why we transfer licenses.
The easiest way would be (and it was before Autodesk acquired this specific software) a HASP USB stick or similar to move licenses. It was easy and simple. Now it's frustrating and time consuming. Well done Autodesk!
Please, don't tell me about the network license, as this nice possibility cost almost a quarter of the software initial price (per license of course). In my country you call it a ripoff.
What I don't understand is the policy of Autodesk regarding licensing. If somebody wants to use your software illegally, they would do it and wouldn't even care about your protection. Unfortunately legal owners are left with these silly activations, broken licenses because of the Portable License Utility malfunction, contacting EMEA each time something happens etc.
Let's hope one day some bright mind in Autodesk will figure out that this is not the right way...
Posted by: legal_autodesk_product_user | April 17, 2009 at 11:49 AM
Tom,
Thanks for the Q and A. But it has left me feeling depressed.
I really feel that transferring licenses should not depend on having an Internet connection. The USB stick is far more reliable and convenient.
In my office Internet connections are restricted to fixed times so license transfer requires special authorization from the IT admin. As it is we CAD guys are seen as a hassle by IT. The previous Portable License Utility may not have been perfect but it did an excellent job and reliably.
The Online transfer thing could have been an alternative if licenses need to be transferred to remote sites where sending a stick is an issue.
I seriously think Autodesk should consider reinstating PLU as the Network only transfer does seem to be a Autodesk control issue.
Posted by: Plessey | April 20, 2009 at 09:26 PM