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Network License Manager.

Keep your floating licences on one machine and let ACTCAD hand them out across the network as people need them. Set-up, start to finish.

A network floating licence is not tied to one computer. It sits on a server, and any machine on your network borrows a seat when someone opens ACTCAD and returns it when they close it. Buy four seats for a team of ten, and the four people working at any moment are the ones holding them.

You will need: a PC that stays on while people work, with ACTCAD installed — it need not be a dedicated server; your licence keys, emailed to you at purchase; and every client able to reach that machine over the LAN.

1. Activate your licences

On the server, once.

  1. Open the ACTCAD installation directory and run ACTCAD_Network_License_Manager.exe.

    ACTCAD installation folder with ACTCAD_Network_License_Manager.exe highlighted

  2. In the main window, click Activate License.

    The Network License Manager main window, Activate License highlighted

  3. The License Activation dialog opens.

    The empty ACTCAD License Activation dialog

  4. Paste in every licence key, one per line, with no extra spaces around any of them. Click Activate.

    Licence keys pasted into the dialog, Activate highlighted

  5. A confirmation appears once activation completes.

    Dialog reading Activation Completed Successfully

2. Start the server

On the server.

  1. Click Start Server.

    The Network License Manager, Start Server highlighted

  2. The table fills with each product and its Available, In Use and Free to Use counts. These update themselves as people open and close ACTCAD, so this window is also your live view of the pool.

    Licence table showing version, available, in use and free to use counts

3. Point a machine at the server

Once per machine that will run ACTCAD.

  1. On the server, run ipconfig /all in Command Prompt and copy the IPv4 Address.

    Command Prompt showing ipconfig /all with the IPv4 address highlighted

  2. On the client, create serverip.txt in the bin folder of the ACTCAD installation. Paste in the address and save. That address is all the file should contain.

    A text file named serverip.txt containing an IPv4 address

  3. Launch ACTCAD. The About box confirms it is using the licence server.

    The ACTCAD About dialog showing Support ID: Using NLS

  4. Back on the server, In Use moves to 1 and the PC holding the seat is named.

    Licence table with In Use at 001 and the client PC named below

4. Set up the other PCs

Every remaining client.

Each machine is set up exactly as in step 3: create serverip.txt holding the server's IPv4 address, then launch ACTCAD. It picks up a licence automatically as long as a seat is free and it can reach the server.

If it cannot connect, the usual causes are a typo in the address, the server being switched off, or the two PCs sitting on different networks.

5. See who holds a licence

When every seat is taken and someone still needs one.

  1. Click Usage Log in the License Manager.

    The Network License Manager, Usage Log highlighted

  2. The log lists each PC with the time its licence started and ended.

    Usage log listing dates, times, PC names and started or ended events

6. Release idle licences automatically

Optional, on the server.

  1. A licence stays checked out while ACTCAD is open, even with nobody at the keyboard. Enter an idle period in minutes in Client Timeout and the seat returns to the pool on its own.

    Note: the licence is released whether or not the drawing has been saved. The seat is reassigned to the same PC when the user resumes, if one is free — so set it long enough that a lunch break does not cost somebody their afternoon.

    The Client Timeout field set to 15 minutes

7. Add licences later

On the server, when you buy more seats.

  1. Open ActCAD_License_Server_Manager.exe, click Activate License, then paste in your existing keys and the new ones together, in order. Click Activate.

    Note: always include the old keys. Activating only the new ones can overwrite the licence information already on the server, and you will have to reactivate everything to get the original seats back.

    Old and new licence keys pasted into the activation dialog together

  2. The server now carries the larger pool and everyone sees the higher count.

    Licence table showing the increased available count

8. Work offline with a take-away key

For a laptop leaving the network.

Someone travelling or working from a site office cannot reach the server. A take-away key lets them borrow a seat and carry it: ACTCAD runs with no connection back, and the seat is reserved for them until the period ends, when it returns to the server by itself.

  1. On the server, stop the licence service if it is running, then click Take Away Key.

    The Network License Manager, Take Away Key highlighted

  2. Enter the registered email and password, choose the product — Standard, Premium or Map Drafter — and click Submit.

    The License Take Away Request dialog: email, password and product

  3. Copy the generated key and activate ACTCAD with it on the machine going offline. The count on the main server drops by one until the licence returns.

    Note: one licence per operation — repeat to lend out several. Without the login details, email support@actcad.com.

    Dialog displaying the generated take-away licence key

Stuck on any of this?

Technical support is included with every ACTCAD licence — no support contract, no per-incident fee.

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