License Server User Guide

Version 2.1.2

Visual Components Product Family

VISUAL COMPONENTS LICENSE SERVER USER GUIDE

Contents
Introduction ...................................................................................................................................... 4
Installation & Setup........................................................................................................................... 4
Requirements ................................................................................................................................ 4
Installation Notes .......................................................................................................................... 5
Security.......................................................................................................................................... 5
Portal Accounts ............................................................................................................................. 6
Installation Instructions ................................................................................................................. 6
User Interface ................................................................................................................................... 7
Product Keys .................................................................................................................................. 8
Commands ................................................................................................................................................ 8
Columns .................................................................................................................................................... 9
Products ...................................................................................................................................... 10
Commands .............................................................................................................................................. 10
Columns .................................................................................................................................................. 11
Clients.......................................................................................................................................... 12
Commands .............................................................................................................................................. 12
Columns .................................................................................................................................................. 13
Groups ......................................................................................................................................... 14
Commands .............................................................................................................................................. 14
Columns .................................................................................................................................................. 15
Product Keys ................................................................................................................................... 16
Sharing ........................................................................................................................................ 16
Borrowing .................................................................................................................................... 17
Add a Product Key ........................................................................................................................... 17
Remove a Product Key .................................................................................................................... 18
Activate a Product Key .................................................................................................................... 19
Online Automatic Activation ....................................................................................................... 19
Offline Manual Activation............................................................................................................ 19
Deactivate a Product Key ................................................................................................................ 20
Online Automatic Deactivation ................................................................................................... 20
Offline Manual Deactivation........................................................................................................ 21
Renew a Product Key ...................................................................................................................... 22
Online Automatic Renewal .......................................................................................................... 22
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Offline Manual Renewal .............................................................................................................. 23

Adjust Renewal Period ................................................................................................................ 23
Verify Product Key Usage ................................................................................................................ 24
Add a Client Computer .................................................................................................................... 25
Edit Client Permissions .................................................................................................................... 26
Client Groups .................................................................................................................................. 27
Groups based access control ....................................................................................................... 27
Add a new group ......................................................................................................................... 28
Add group dialog properties ................................................................................................................... 29
Edit a group ................................................................................................................................. 29
Remove a group .......................................................................................................................... 29
Edit Borrowing Limit........................................................................................................................ 30
Receive Email Notifications ............................................................................................................. 31
Troubleshooting .............................................................................................................................. 32
Tracing ......................................................................................................................................... 32
Reloading..................................................................................................................................... 32
Common Cases ............................................................................................................................ 33

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Introduction
The Visual Components License Server can be used to manage licenses on a network for users of
all Visual Components products and compatible OEM products.

Installation & Setup

The installation of the license server is a straightforward process which will also upgrade an
existing installation.

Requirements
Before you install the license server, verify that you have local administrator rights to install the
license server on a computer. Your computer must be using one of the following operating
systems:

• Windows 10 Pro 64-bit

• Windows 11 Pro 64-bit
• Windows Server 2012 64-bit
• Windows Server 2012 R2 64-bit
• Windows Server 2016
• Windows Server 2019
• Windows Server 2022

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Installation Notes
• To run the license server on your computer, during installation some dependency files and
runtime libraries may be installed. If your computer has no Internet connection, the
"Dependencies" folder included in the application download package must be included in
the same folder as the license server installer.
• If your computer is using an older version of the license server, the installer can uninstall
that version and transfer its product keys to the new server.
• If an activated product key is transferred from license server v1 to v2, the key is first
deactivated and then reactivated on your computer.
• During installation, if the license server is unable to connect to the global Visual
Components license server note the following steps:
1. The installer will prompt you to manually upgrade product keys by generating an
upgrade request file.
2. You then need to use your product user account to upload the request file and
manually generate a license file. Refer to the Offline Manual Activation section.
3. Finally, after completing installation you can run the license server and then use the
Open license file command to upload the license file for upgrading transferred
product keys.
• After a product key has been activated on a computer using a newer version of the license
server, that computer can no longer use an older version of the license server.

Security
Online product key activation and deactivation synchronization uses HTTPS encrypted
communication to contact a global Visual Components license server.
For Visual Components 2014 or older product keys:

• https://portal.visualcomponents.net
For Visual Components 4.0 or higher product keys:

• https://license.visualcomponents.net
In some cases, your license server might communicate with both global servers directly, or they
communicate with one another to accommodate the request from your local server.
IMPORTANT! If online functionality is to be used, corporate firewalls and web proxies should not
block nor prevent the connection your license server has to the global Visual Components license
server(s).

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Portal Accounts
In some cases, you might need to sign into your portal account to handle licensing issues. For
example, you might need to manually deactivate or activate product keys and upgrade licenses to
work on a new license server.
For Visual Components 2014 or older product versions, go to:

• https://portal.visualcomponents.net
For Visual Components 4.0 or higher product versions, go to:

• https://license.visualcomponents.net

Installation Instructions
1. Download the installer for the license server from visualcomponents.com/downloads/.

2. Run the installer, and then follow the steps offered by the Wizard to complete installation.

3. After completing installation, run the Visual Components License Server Manager.

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User Interface
The workspace of the license server contains different views for managing licenses.
Ribbon. Commonly used commands.
Status Bar. Indicates the status of a license server.
Tabs. Different contexts and views of a license server.
List View. View of a license server database.

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Product Keys
The Product keys tab displays a view for handling keys.

Commands
• Start/Stop Local server Turns on/off the license server.
• Settings Displays the license server settings.
• Add Allows you to add a product key to server.
• Activate Activates a selected key.
• Deactivate Deactivates a selected key.
• Remove Removes a selected key from the server. You should not remove a key that has a
status of Activated. First, deactivate the key, and then remove it.
• Open license file Allows you to open a .dat file containing license information.
• View deactivation files Shows the Deactivations folder in File Explorer.
• Online/Offline Indicates if the license server is connected to the global Visual Components
license server.
• Synchronize Syncs the license server with the global Visual Components license server and
refreshes its database.

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Columns
• Product key The product key.
• Product The name of product that can be used with a key.
• Type The type of key. Full is a complete license. Evaluation is a trial license.
• Status The status of a key. Not activated and Activation expired cannot be used by client.
Activated can be used by a client.
• Licenses The number of licenses (seats) associated with a key.
Note: The reference to Licenses and seats here relates to the number of allowed
simultaneous users of the product.
• Renewal The date of the next activation renewal date of a key.
• Expiration The expiration date of a key.
• Remarks Information on state of a key.

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Products
The Products tab displays a view of product information including the amount of available licenses
and usage by clients.

Commands
• Start/Stop Local server Turns on/off the license server.
• Settings Displays the license server settings.
• Usage info Shows the usage of a selected product by clients including borrowed licenses
and their return dates.
• Open license file Allows you to open a .dat file containing license information.
• View deactivation files Shows the Deactivations folder in File Explorer.
• Online/Offline Indicates if a license server is connected to the global Visual Components
license server.
• Synchronize Syncs the license server with the global Visual Components license server and
refreshes its database.

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Columns
• Product The name of a product that has one or more keys on the server.
• Total Licenses The total number of licenses for a product on the server.
• Network Used The number of licenses for a product being used by clients.
• Network Available The number of licenses for a product that can be used by clients.
• Commuter Used The number of licenses for a product that being borrowed by clients.
• Commuter Available The number of licenses for a product that can be borrowed by clients.
• Remarks Information on the state of a product and its usage.

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Clients
The Clients tab displays a view about client computers of the license server.

Commands
• Start/Stop Local server Turns on/off the license server.
• Settings Displays the license server settings.
• Add Allows you to add a new client computer to a server. Generally, this is done before a
client connects to the server for the first time.
• Permissions Allows you to define the rights of a selected client to use licenses for products
supported by the server.
• Remove Removes a selected client from the server. You cannot remove a client that is
using a license, nor should you remove a client that is borrowing a license.
• Open license file Allows you to open a .dat file containing license information.
• View deactivation files Shows the Deactivations folder in File Explorer.
• Online/Offline Indicates if a license server is connected to the global Visual Components
license server.
• Synchronize Syncs the license server with the global Visual Components license server and
refreshes its database.

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Columns
• Computer The name of a client computer.
• Computer ID The id of a client computer.
• Groups The groups that the client belongs to.
• Usage If client is using a license, indicates the product of that license.
• Commuted If a client borrows a license, it indicates the product of that license.

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Groups
The Groups tab displays a view about client groups of the license server.

Commands
• Start/Stop Local server Turns on/off the license server.
• Settings Displays the license server settings.
• Add Allows you to add a new client group to server, set the clients into this group and
define the products that can be accessed by the clients in this group.
• Edit Allows you to edit the selected client group.
• Remove Removes a selected client group from the server.
• Open license file Allows you to open a .dat file containing license information.
• View deactivation files Shows the Deactivations folder in File Explorer.
• Online/Offline Indicates if a license server is connected to the global Visual Components
license server.
• Synchronize Syncs the license server with the global Visual Components license server and
refreshes its database.

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Columns
• Group The name of a client group.
• Clients The number of clients in the group.
• Reserved The number of reserved seats (licenses) for the clients in the group.
• Used The number of seats (licenses) taken by clients.
• Remarks Information on state of a client group.

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Product Keys
The license server supports both product and add-on keys.

• A product key allows you to use a Visual Components product.

• An add-on key allows you to use a plugin or additional services in a Visual Components
product.

In some cases, Visual Components or an OEM may license an add-on. In other cases, the concept
of licensing add-ons is resolved by upgrading a product key, thereby removing the need for having
an add-on key. In all cases, it depends on what product keys are managed by your server and the
products used by its clients.
A product key contains one or more floating licenses that can be shared online or borrowed by
users for offline use. A floating license is known as a seat, so a product key with 10 seats means
that up to 10 users can use that product key at a given time.
Note: The total amount of licenses (seats) is defined as part of the licence purchasing process.

LICENSE SERVER

PRODUCT KEY – 3 SEATS

FLOATING LICENSE AVAILABLE USER REQUESTING LICENSE

FLOATING LICENSE BORROWED USER USING LICENSE

FLOATING LICENSE IN USE USER RENTING LICENSE

Sharing
Sharing a license occurs when a user connects to a license server, and then uses an available
license with a Visual Components product. Once a user stops using a Visual Components product,
the license is reclaimed and becomes available for other users connected to the same license
server.

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Borrowing
Borrowing a license (seat) occurs when a user connects to a license server and checks out an
available license from the server for a certain number of days to use offline with a Visual
Components product, and then disconnects from the server. The borrowed license remains
unavailable on the server until the user reconnects to the server, and then returns or checks in the
license. Borrowing a license is also known as commuting. If a client needs to know how to borrow
a license from the server, refer to the Network License section of the Visual Components User
Guide.
Note: A network license product key can have multiple licenses (seats) and borrowing only uses
one of those licenses.

Add a Product Key

The license server allows you to add product keys containing floating licenses. The number of
licenses (seats) in a product key affects how many clients can use the product key at any given
time.
1. In the Product keys tab, click Add.

2. In the Add product key dialog, Enter product key box, type or paste the 16-digit product
key you want to add to the server, and then click Add.

3. Verify the product key you added is listed in the license server.

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Remove a Product Key

The license server allows you to remove any added product keys. In most cases, we recommend
that you deactivate a product key before removing it from a license server. That allows a key to be
added and used with a license server on another computer.
1. In the Product keys tab, select the listed product key you want to remove from the server
and click Remove.

2. On the Product keys tab, in the Product key group, click Remove.

3. If you are prompted to deactivate a selected license, do one of the following:

• To remove the license without deactivating it, click Yes.

• To deactivate the license before removing it, click No, and then deactivate the product
key before repeating step 1 of this workflow.

4. In the Remove product keys dialog, click Yes.

5. Verify the product key is not listed on the license server.

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Activate a Product Key

The license server allows you to activate an added product key.

Online Automatic Activation

Automatic product key activation requires a license server be connected to the global Visual
Components license server(s).
1. Click the Product keys tab and select the listed product key you want to activate on the
server.

2. In the Connection group, verify the license server is online and click Activate.

Note: If a selected product key is not activated, verify the product key has not expired and the
website for your portal account is not down or undergoing maintenance.

Offline Manual Activation

Manual product key activation requires you to generate an activation request file in a license
server, and then upload and activate that file using the portal website.
1. In the license server application, click the Product keys tab, and then select the listed
product key you want to activate on the server.

2. On the Product keys tab, click Activate, and then save the activation request file, but DO
NOT rename it.

3. Then open a web browser, and then go to the website associated with your product key
and portal account. Refer to the Portal Accounts section for the relevant links.

4. Log in to your portal account, and on the Welcome page or Ribbon of the website, click
Manual Licensing.

5. On the Manual Licensing page, upload the activation request file.

6. Click Confirm to generate an activated license file.

7. Click Download file to save the license file.

8. Then on your license server, in the Product keys tab, click Open license file, and open the
downloaded license file for your product key.

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Deactivate a Product Key

The license server allows you to deactivate an added product key. Before you deactivate a product
key, ensure that all floating (network) and borrowed (commuter) licenses for that product key are
not being used by clients of the server.

Online Automatic Deactivation

Automatic product key deactivation requires a license server to be connected to the global Visual
Components license server(s).
1. In the Product keys tab, select the listed product key you want to deactivate on the server.

2. On the Product keys tab, in the Connection group, verify the license server is online and
click Deactivate.

Note: If a selected product key is not deactivated, verify the product key has not expired and the
website for your portal account is not currently down or undergoing maintenance.

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Offline Manual Deactivation

Manual product key deactivation requires you to generate a deactivation request file in a license
server, and then upload that file using the portal website.
1. In the license server application, click the Product keys tab, and then select the listed
product key you want to deactivate on the server.

2. On the Product keys tab, in the Product key group, click Deactivate, and then save the
deactivation request file but DO NOT rename it.

3. Then open a web browser and go to the website associated with your product key and
portal account. Refer to the Portal Accounts section for the relevant links.

4. Log in to your portal account, and then on the Welcome page or Ribbon of the website,
click Manual Licensing.

5. On the Manual Licensing page, upload the deactivation request file.

6. Click Confirm to generate a deactivation permission file.

7. Click Download file to save the permission file.

8. Then on your license server, click the Product keys tab, and then in the License files group,
click Open license file, and then open the downloaded deactivation permission file for your
product key.

9. On the Product keys tab, in the Product key group, click Deactivate, and then click Yes to
deactivate the product key locally and generate a deactivated license file and then save the
file.

10. Then open a web browser and go to the website associated with your product key and
portal account. Refer to the Portal Accounts section for the relevant links.

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11. Log in to your portal account, and then on the Welcome page or Ribbon of the website,
click Manual Licensing.

12. On the Manual Licensing page, upload the deactivated license file.

13. Then click Confirm to unlock the license from the computer hosting the local license server.

Renew a Product Key

The license server allows you to renew added product keys at least 14 days before the activation
ends. Check the date from the Renewal column.

Online Automatic Renewal

The license server can try to renew a product key automatically if the renewal date of the key is
coming due within the renewal period of your server.
1. On the Ribbon click Settings.

2. In the License server settings dialog, Basic settings tab, Renewal field, select the
Automatically renew licenses online check box, and then click OK.

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Offline Manual Renewal

The license server can try to renew a product key automatically if the renewal date of the key is
coming due within the renewal period of your server.
1. In the license server application, select the product key you want to renew.

2. On the Product keys tab, click Renew, and then save the file but DO NOT rename it.

3. Then open a web browser and go to the website associated with your product key and
portal account. Refer to the Portal Accounts section for the relevant links.

4. Log in to your portal account, and then on the Welcome page or Ribbon of the website,
click Manual Licensing.

5. On the Manual Licensing page, upload the file generated from the local license server.

6. Click Confirm to generate a new license file from the portal account.

7. Click Download file to save the license file.

8. On your license server, click the Product keys tab, click Open license file, and then open
the downloaded license file for your product key.

Adjust Renewal Period

The default renewal period for a license server is 14 days. You can configure the server to use a
renewal period that is less than, but not greater than 14 days. This can be accomplished by editing
the config file of the computer hosting your license server.
1. Edit at least one setting on the license server.

2. In the file system of the computer in the following directory

C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v4.0.30319\Config
find and open the machine.config file in a text editor.

3. In your text editor, find <visualcomponents.licensor.localserver.2.0> and then for its child
element <licenseServerSetting> add an autoRenewLicensePeriod attribute that is assigned
the number of days before a license expires in which the server should try to renew that
license.
<visualcomponents.licensor.localserver.2.0>
<licenseServerSettings
fileUpdateInterval="15"
defaultFeatureClientGrantLicense="true"
maximumCommuterLicensePercentage="-1"
licenseFilePath="C:\ProgramData\Visual Components\Visual Components
License Server 2.0\lservrc.dat"

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autoRenewLicensePeriod="5" />
</visualcomponents.licensor.localserver.2.0>

4. Save any changes made to the file and restart your license server.

Verify Product Key Usage

The license server allows you to track and monitor the usage of licenses in a product key.
Note: Keys for older products will not provide detailed information about usage and check-out
history.
1. Click the Products tab, and then select the listed product you want to review on the server.

2. On the Products tab, in the Product group, click Usage info.

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Add a Client Computer

The license server allows you to add client computers that request licenses from the server to use
with products.
1. On the Clients tab, click Add.

2. In the Add client computer dialog, set the Computer name and Permissions fields, and
then click OK.

3. If Grant licenses to client is not checked, all the client’s permissions are overridden to
block the access for the client.

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Edit Client Permissions

The license server allows you to view the history of an added client computer and manage the
usage of product keys by that client.
1. In the Clients tab select the listed client that you want to review on the server and click
Permissions.

2. On the Clients tab, in the Client group, click Permissions.

3. In the Permissions dialog, edit the Computer name.

4. Set the Permissions and Groups fields. If Grant licenses to client is not checked, all the
client’s permissions are overridden to block the access for the client.

5. Click OK.

6. Verify the permissions of the selected client are updated in the server.

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Client Groups
Groups based access control
The license server allows you to manage access to available licenses on the server by client
grouping. To enable the group-based access management, the License server settings must have
the Access policy as Group based access control.

If Access policy is defined as Unrestricted access, all clients in the network could have access to
the licenses on the network license server, regardless of the settings defined by the grouping.

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Add a new group

You can add a new client group and define the products that the clients in that group can access.
You can also define the maximum amount of seats (licenses) for each product.

1. On the Groups tab, click Add.

2. In the Add group dialog, set the Name for the client group.

3. Select product(s) using the Select products drop-down list.

4. Define the number of Reserved seats and Max limit of seats for each product.

5. Set the Clients by selecting computers from the Available list, and then move them to
Included list by clicking left arrow (<). You can move all clients with double left arrow (<<).

6. Then click OK.

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Add group dialog properties

• Name: The name of the client group.
• Products: Available products with a license.
• Product: Product name.
• Seats: Available number of seats for the product
• Reserved: Reserved number seats for the clients in the group.
• Max limit: The max number of seats that is reserved for the clients in the group
• Clients: List of available clients that can be included in the group.
• IP address ranges: IP address range that can be added to the group.

Edit a group
1. Do one of the following:

a. On the Groups tab, double-click on a group to edit it.

or

b. On the Groups tab, select a group. Then in the Group group, click Edit.

2. In the <GroupName> - Settings dialog, edit the Name of the client group.

3. Select or deselect product(s) from the Select products drop-down list.

4. Define number of Reserved seats and Max limit of seats for each product.

5. Add the Clients by selecting computers from the Available list, and then moving them to
Included list by clicking left arrow (<).

6. Remove clients by selecting computers from the Included list, and then move them to
Available list by clicking right arrow (>).

7. Then click OK.

Remove a group
On the Groups tab, select a group and click Remove.

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Edit Borrowing Limit

The license sever allows you to limit the total amount of licenses that can be borrowed by clients
based on a percentage. That is, you can limit the amount of licenses that can be checked out from
the server at any given time. A limit of 0 percent prevents all clients from borrowing licenses,
whereas a limit of 100 percent enables all licenses to be checked out from the server.
1. On the ribbon, in the Local server group, click Settings.

2. In the License server settings dialog, Basic settings tab, Commuter limit field, select the
Enabled check box, and then set the Percent of total to be the percentage of total amount
of licenses on the server that you want to make available for borrowing, and then click OK.

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Receive Email Notifications

The license server allows you to receive emails about events, for example errors and warnings.
1. On the ribbon, in the Local server group, click Settings.

2. In the License server settings dialog, click the Email notification tab.

3. For Notifications, select the Send email for: check box, and then choose the type of event
that will trigger an email.

4. Complete the remaining fields, and then send and verify a test message, and then click OK.

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VISUAL COMPONENTS LICENSE SERVER USER GUIDE

Troubleshooting
The license server has some tools and workflows for troubleshooting issues.

Tracing
You can enable tracing to log the activity of the license server. The log file can then be used to
debug and diagnose errors.
1. On the ribbon, click Settings.

2. In the License server settings dialog, click the Troubleshooting tab.

3. For Error tracing, select the Enable detailed trace logging check box, and then make any
needed changes to the file path of the log file, and then click OK.

Reloading
You can reload the server to use the most recent set of license codes obtained from the global
Visual Components license server as well as those added by you. Reloading does not contact the
global server, but it might help to reload license data.
1. On the Ribbon, in the Local server group, click Settings.

2. In the License server settings dialog, click the Troubleshooting tab.

3. Click Reload licenses now.

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Common Cases
The following are recommended methods to handle potential issues with the license server.
Client cannot connect to the license server
1. Verify the client has the correct address of the license server.

2. Ensure there is no firewall or web proxy blocking the connection between the client and
the license server.

Client cannot use a license

In some cases, you may need to free up licenses by editing the permissions of a client or
requesting that a borrowed license be returned to the server. In other cases, you would need to
request more floating licenses (seats) from your license provider.
1. In the license server, go to the Clients tab, and then verify the client has permissions to use
a license with the product in question.

2. In the Products tab, verify the Network Available column shows an available license for
the client and product.

3. In the Product keys tab, verify that the status of the key is “Active”. If the status is “Not
activated”, select the key and click on the Activate button on the ribbon. If the status is
“Activation expired”, select the key and click on Renew.

State of product key cannot be changed

A common fix for this issue is to synchronize your license server with the global Visual
Components license server(s), and then restart your server. If the issue persists, the data of your
product key might be corrupted. In those cases, submit a support ticket. One outcome may involve
an administrator fixing or reissuing a key. Another outcome is that you might be sent a repair kit
and instructions for fixing the issue.
Client cannot check out a license
In some cases, you may need to free up licenses by editing the permissions of a client or
requesting a borrowed license be returned to the server. In other cases, you would need to
request more floating licenses (seats) from your license provider.
1. On the license server, go to the Products tab, and then verify the Commuter Available
column shows an available license for the client and product.

2. Check if an error has occurred in the connection between the client and your server. If
found, consider restarting the license server and advise the client to restart their software
product.

3. Synchronize your license server with the global Visual Components license server(s).

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VISUAL COMPONENTS LICENSE SERVER USER GUIDE

4. If the issue persists, go to the website for the portal account (see Portal Accounts)
associated with the license to verify the state of its product key.

Client cannot check in a license

In some cases, you may need to synchronize your license server or check the state of the product
key. In other cases, a client would need to manually remove the license from their computer, and
then request a different license from your server.
1. Verify the client is trying to check in a license listed on your server.

2. Verify the license has not expired or has past its due date.

Support
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