Find answers to commonly asked questions about PQ Systems license options.
Concurrent-user licenses, also called floating licenses or flexible-use licenses, allow customers to install the licensed PQ software product on an unlimited number of computers, terminal servers, or Citrix servers. A license server meters usage of the PQ product, enabling no more than the licensed number of users to simultaneously run the product.
The concurrent-user license model offers the following advantages to certain customers:
The following PQ products can be licensed under the concurrent-user model:
The minimum number of concurrent users is one.
Additional users can be added as needed in increments as small as one.
A concurrent-user license grants the right to use the licensed product for a fixed period of time (typically on an annual basis). Technical support and the right to use the most recent release of the PQ product is included in the yearly concurrent-user license fee.
If the concurrent-user license is not renewed prior to the end of the license term, then the PQ product will stop working once the license term expires.
The answer is yes. It is possible to check out a roaming license that allows you to use the PQ software product even when you are disconnected from your internal company network.
To check in or out a roaming license, select Setup > Roaming concurrent-user license from the main form of the PQ software.
Checking in or out a roaming license requires that you are connected to the internal network so that the PQ Systems License Manager can be contacted. Roaming licenses are not supported when running under terminal services or Citrix.
No. The traditional per-computer license will continue to be available, however the concurrent license is the more popular choice due to its flexibility and cost-efficiency.
Setting up concurrent licenses involves two main steps:
Install and configure the PQ Systems License Manager
The PQ Systems License Manager is a Windows service that runs on one computer within your company network. Every time a user starts a concurrent-user enabled PQ product on their computer, the license manager is contacted to verify that the required license is available and if so, grant the user access to the software. This type of concurrent-user license configuration is common and easy to manage for IT departments.
PQ Systems' application support staff will supply you with a license file. This file activates each licensed PQ product for the purchased number of concurrent users during the subscription period. You must copy each supplied license file into the folder where the PQ Systems License Manager has been installed. When the license manager starts, or when you tell it to reload licenses, all the licenses in that folder are loaded by the license manager and become available for concurrent usage by PQ products.
For complete details on how to install and configure the PQ Systems License Manager please read the Installation and Administration Guide.
The installation program for the PQ Systems License Manager can be downloaded here.
Install and configure the PQ product software
In order for a PQ product to operate under the concurrent-user license model, a LicenseServer.ini configuration file must be copied into the installation folder of the PQ product. This configuration file tells the PQ product where to locate the PQ Systems License Manager within your company network. This configuration file alerts the product to locate the License Manager on your computer network, and to obtain the license from this manager rather than from the local L32 file that is used with the per-computer license model.
It is recommended that you install the PQ product from a network share that contains the installation program plus a LicenseServer.ini configuration file that has been edited appropriately for your network. During the install, the configuration file will be copied to the PQ product’s installation folder. The result is a PQ product that is ready to run under the concurrent-user license model.
The PQ product running on any given client computer establishes a TCP/IP connection to the license server service that is running on one computer in your company network.
By default TCP port 2687 is used, but the choice of which port to use can be determined by the customer.
A configuration file that is located in the installation target folder of each PQ product is read by the product as it starts. This file specifies the port and host name of the computer where the license server is installed. The presence of this configuration file alerts the PQ product to obtain its license from the license server, rather than from the local L32 file that is used with per-computer licenses.
Our concurrent-user licensing is based upon Reprise License Manager (RLM). See http://www.reprisesoftware.com for more information.
Let’s assume that you initially buy a ten concurrent-user license of GAGEpack version A. PQ Systems will issue you a license file that authorizes ten concurrent-users to run any version of GAGEpack. During your subscription period GAGEpack version B is released, and you decide that you want to use the new release. Does this cost you anything? No, because your concurrent-user subscription license entitles you to run the most recent version of the licensed PQ Systems software.
A concurrent-user license allows you to run any version of GAGEpack (or another PQ product) that supported concurrent-user licensing. This allows you to upgrade your users from GAGEpack version A to GAGEpack version B as time permits. If you have a ten concurrent-user license for GAGEpack, five users could be using GAGEpack version A and five could be using GAGEpack version B, therefore you can choose when to upgrade which licenses.
Refer to the concurrent-user license quick start guide for detailed instructions.