topic Re: ArchiCAD user licence allocation (USB key/CodeMeter) in Licensing

ArchiCAD user licence allocation (USB key/CodeMeter)

Gerald D Lock — Mon, 29 Jan 2024 09:43:56 GMT

Hi, not sure where to find information that clearly documents/explains how ArchiCAD allocates user licences ('seats'), so I'm posting a question here. Please feel free to move the question to the proper forum.

My understanding over many long years of use is that each VERSION of ArchiCAD that a user has running on their workstation will take up one licence 'seat' from the total available.

for example, a hypothetical office has 4 commercial licences.
Today:
- user A has 1 instance of ArchiCAD 20 running = 1 seat
- user B has 3 instances of ArchiCAD 23 running = 1 seat
- user C has 1 instance of ArchiCAD 23 and 1 instance of ArchiCAD 24 running = 2 seats

Total used = 4 seats

- if user D tries to open a project now (regardless of what version), they will get the message that no licences are available
- if user A tries to open a project in ArchiCAD 20, they can do so without taking an extra seat.

Please correct me if I'm wrong (or where exceptions might occur) and please point me to where Graphisoft clearly states the rules on licence allocation/usage.

Thanks

Re: ArchiCAD user licence allocation (USB key/CodeMeter)

Brett Brown — Tue, 24 Aug 2021 13:24:32 GMT

My understanding is versions only matter on what version the license is. You can run any number of instances of the the licensed version or lower.

If you have four version 24 licenses, each user (4) can run any number of instances of any versions on the same computer and that counts as one seat. 4 seats, four computers.

Your user C is only one seat and you are saying he is taking up 2 seats? Doesn't sound right to me.

Re: ArchiCAD user licence allocation (USB key/CodeMeter)

Lingwisyer — Wed, 25 Aug 2021 01:34:18 GMT

I have run 21, 22 and 23 all at the same time on my machine with no issue. This being with a single user dongle, but I cannot see why a multi-seat licence would be any different...

Re: ArchiCAD user licence allocation (USB key/CodeMeter)

Barry Kelly — Wed, 25 Aug 2021 02:12:33 GMT

From my experience, what Gerald describes is correct for network licenses.
Start a version, it counts as one license used.
Same users starts more of the same version, still only one license is used.
Same user starts a different version, a second license is used.

I have had to kick users out because they have multiple versions open and they have used multiple licenses.

If you have a single license, you can open as many versions and as many instances as you like.
I regularly have multiple copies of 20, 22, 24 & 25 running at the same time all from one license.

As I say that is my experience and is with the hardware keys (silver USB).
I don't know if the same applies for software licenses, as I don't use them.

Barry.

Re: ArchiCAD user licence allocation (USB key/CodeMeter)

Minh Nguyen — Mon, 30 Aug 2021 12:34:03 GMT

Dear all,

Thank you very much for the discussion! This is an interesting one.

From my experience, there should not be any difference between how single keys and NET keys work. No matter how many Archicad instances opened, regardless of their versions, one user should take only one license only.

There are some special cases (like working on remote desktop connection), but in general, if everyone is connecting to the internal network where the key is in, they should only take one license for each session.

As this may require further investigation, I suggest contacting the local support if you are concern about the situation. Thank you very much for your help and understanding! Feel free to reach out if you have any further questions!

Best regards,
Minh