Licensing & activation

 

When you first install DesignBuilder you can request an evaluation license to be sent by email. To do this open the Licence Manager dialog and click on the Evaluate button (this button will only be enabled if no other licences are loaded on the machine).

 

 

This takes you to a new dialog where you can enter your user details including an email address.

 

 

You will then be sent an email with an activation code. Copy the activation code from the email and return to the Licence Manager dialog, pressing the Licence button to open the Licence Manager Wizard.

 

 

Here select the Activation code option, confirm your user details and press Next. On the next page paste your activation code into the text box.

 

 

Evaluation licences are valid for 30 days from the date of request and allow you to try out a fully functional version of the software to check that it meets your needs and is compatible with your computer.  You can read about restrictions with evaluation licences on the main website.

 

When you purchase single user licences to use DesignBuilder, you are sent an e-mail containing an an 8-character code. You should copy (Ctrl-C) the activation code from the e-mail and follow these steps in DesignBuilder:

 

Open the Licence Manager dialog (Help > Licence). Click on the Licence button to open the Licence Manager Wizard.

 

 

Here select the Activation code option and press Next.

 

 

Enter your user details including a valid email address and press Next.

 

 

On the next page paste your activation code into the text box and press Next.

 

 

You should see a message to say that the various modules have been activated.

 

 

When you press Finish, if the activation was successful, you will be shown the Modules Licence tab displaying the licence status of each module.

 

 

Note 1: If you purchased a Single User Licence then you will be able to activate the code up to 2 computers. If you find that DesignBuilder is being used on these 2 computers simultaneously then you should purchase an extra licence.

Note 2: You must be connected to the Internet to activate and deactivate DesignBuilder licenses. If your network has a strict firewall policy then you should ensure that DesignBuilder.exe is allowed to access the www.designbuilder.co.uk website.

 

You may have been supplied with a licence file with extension .lic containing your licence or extended evaluation. Typical reasons for using a .lic file are when on a training course where you may not have access to the Internet for activation or for customers who have purchased licences but either do not have Internet access or have strict firewall policies preventing the standard web-based activation from working.

 

To activate DesignBuilder modules using a .lic file follow the instructions below. Before starting make sure the lic file you received has been saved to a place where you can access it, e.g. desktop, a pen drive, documents folder etc. The location does not have to be permanent as DesignBuilder will store a copy of the lic file in a safe place on the local machine.

 

Open the Licence Manager dialog (Help > Licence). Click on the Licence button to open the Licence Manager Wizard.

 

 

Select the Licence file option and press Next.

 

 

Click on the browse button, select the Licence file and press Next.

 

 

Press the Finish button to complete the action.

 

With site network licenses each client computer on the network can "check out" licenses from the license server application which manages the allocation of licenses. The system is designed to provide a maximum number of concurrent users according to the number of seats purchased. For example if you purchased a site licence with 10 seats for the EnergyPlus module then the software can be installed on any number of computers but only a maximum of 10 people will be able to access DesignBuilder EnergyPlus simulations at any one time. If an eleventh person on the network tries to check out an EnergyPlus license (by starting DesignBuilder with EnergyPlus selected in the License dialog) then they will receive a message to say that the seats are all in use and to wait until one becomes available.

 

DesignBuilder site licensing requires a simple server application to run on the network to provide licenses. Each client computer has a setting to tell the software to run in site license mode and where to find the Licence Server on the network. The site licensing system is quite straightforward but does require a network administrator with adequate IT skills to set it up.

 

To set up site network licensing on a client computer (i.e. the computer that is to run DesignBuilder) follow the instructions below.

 

Open the Licence Manager dialog (Help > Licence). Click on the Licence button to open the Licence Manager Wizard.

 

 

Select the Site network licence option and press Next.

 

 

On the second page enter:

 

1. Either the name of the server or its IP address.
   
   
   
   You can find the IP address of your server by typing ipconfig in the Windows Command box on the server machine.
   
   
   
   
2. The port number which will usually be 5303.

 

When you click the Finish button the connection to the License Server is established based on the port number and IP address you provided on the dialog.

 

If the site network licence connection was successful you will be shown the Modules Licence tab displaying the licence status of each module.

 

 

Once back to the main License Manager dialog you can check out or check back in module licenses through the check boxes in the Use column for each module.

 

If the server host name or IP address was incorrect, if that server is not running or if the Licence Server service isn't running then the licences will not be accessed and error messages are displayed.