The licenses for PTV Vision products are stored in so-called license containers.
License container types and included licenses
The following types are supported:
- USB dongle (USB dongle)
- Soft container (as of the current service pack Visum 18, Vissim 11, Vistro 7) (Soft container)
- Cloud-based license containers (from PTV Vision 2020) (Cloud license container)
Each license container can contain multiple licenses. Any number of license containers can exist on one computer at the same time.
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Note: However, two licenses that are completely identical in terms of product, "dongle number", and firm code may not be activated in one license container. Attention should be paid to this case especially when licenses are used that can be activated multiple times. When trying to activate it twice in the same license container, an error message appears. In other situations, one license may be " hidden " by another. |
Each license is defined for one of the license container types and can be activated only in containers of this type. For example, a license issued for USB dongles cannot be used in a soft container. License management for cloud-based license containers is handled by PTV.
Licenses for USB dongles and soft containers can be moved afterwards and as often as required between different containers of the same type (Deactivating a license on your own computer), (Activating a license on your computer).
In all three cases, you need the CodeMeter Runtime Kit software to access license containers and use the licenses. This software is installed by default as part of the product installation.
Properties of the license container types
USB dongle
A USB dongle is a USB stick with a special license memory. It is connected to the computer via a common USB 2.0 interface. If it is used for storing licenses, they can be used immediately once plugged into another computer.
Soft container
A soft container is not a physical piece of hardware, but a protected file that is permanently located on a computer. Soft containers can be created very easily. They cannot be moved to another computer, but the licenses stored in them can be moved.
Fundamental changes to a computer's operating system or hardware configuration can cause the soft container to stop working. This is a consequence of the safety precautions against misuse of the products. If you want to reconfigure a computer with soft containers on it, we recommend that you first return the licenses they contain and then reactivate them at the end of the process (Deactivating a license on your own computer) and (Activating a license on your computer).
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Note: For license protection reasons, you cannot install soft containers on virtual machines or borrow on them. This applies to both local systems, such as VMware ESX or Microsoft Hyper-V, and cloud environments, such as MS Azure or Amazon AWS. This also affects Mac OS environments that use Windows via virtualization, e.g. Parallel Desktop. |
Cloud license container
A cloud license container is a license memory on a German cloud server of our partner WIBU-Systems. Access from the customer's computer to this container must be activated once using a Credentials file. Activation and updating as part of license management is carried out by PTV.
Overview of properties
All license container types can be used for single-user licenses and floating network licenses. The following table illustrates the properties of the types:
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Property |
USB dongle |
Soft container |
Cloud license container |
|---|---|---|---|
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Compatible with release |
all versions |
as of the current service pack:
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Single user license possible |
Yes |
Yes |
as a floating cloud license with one user |
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Floating network license possible |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Floating cloud license possible |
No |
No |
Yes |
| Floating network license with license borrowing on local computer possible |
as of the current service pack:
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| Can be used for releases before 2015 (Visum 14, VisumV7 and older versions) | for licenses without borrowing function | No | No |
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Activating licenses |
by the user in the product or in the "License Manager" with the help of a license key |
by PTV |
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Updating licenses |
by the user in the product or in the "License Manager" |
by PTV |
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Moving licenses to another container: deactivate and activate in other container |
Yes |
Yes |
n/a (done by PTV if required) |
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Multiple licenses possible in one container |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
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Moving the entire license container to another container |
Yes |
No |
No |
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License container can be used on virtual machine |
Yes |
No |
n/a (cloud) |
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Permanent Internet connection is necessary |
No |
No |
Yes |
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Can be locked (and replaced) in case of loss |
Yes |
Yes |
n/a |
