Activating Node-Locked License

Applies to TestComplete 15.20, last modified on January 19, 2022

This page is related to key-based licenses — a regular license type used in TestComplete 15.20. For information on the new ID-based license type, see SmartBear ID-based Licenses.

If you use a Node-Locked license, you activate your license on the same computer where you install and run TestComplete.

Before you start

After you install TestComplete and activate your license, the license will become bound to your computer. To uninstall your TestComplete license and move it to another computer, you will have to go through a special procedure of license deactivation. At that, you may need to contact SmartBear Sales Team (see Deactivating and Moving Licenses).

To save time in the future, we recommend that you plan the installations to avoid unnecessary moves of the license.

Requirements

  • Activate your license on a physical computer. We don’t recommend activating licenses on virtual or cloud machines. If you use them, you will need to ensure that their MAC address and CPU data don’t change after that machine restarts.

  • To activate the license, TestComplete will send requests to the SmartBear licensing servers. If your computer has access to these servers, the license will be activated automatically. Else, you will have to activate it manually.

    For automatic activation, your computer must have a functioning Internet connection and access to the SmartBear web servers: https://ls1.smartbear.com and http://ls2.smartbear.com on port 443. Make sure the proxies and firewalls running in your network allow the connection to these servers. In most cases, firewalls or proxies do not block the requests, but you may need to change their settings if the activation fails. The connection is not needed after the license has been activated.

  • There must be no other TestComplete licenses installed on the computer where you are going to activate your license. For more information on this, see Activating Additional Licenses.

In addition, the computer where you are going to install TestComplete must meet the software and hardware requirements for the product. See System Requirements.

Activation steps

Automatic activation

  1. Install TestComplete on your computer.

  2. Launch TestComplete. It will search for an active license on your computer and in the network.

  3. If you have a Node-Locked license for a previous version of TestComplete on your computer, TestComplete will connect to one of the SmartBear licensing servers (see above) and check for updates available for your license.

    If an update is available (this is possible, for example, if you have an active maintenance subscription), TestComplete will show a message box suggesting that you activate the new license. Simply click Activate on this PC in the message box. TestComplete will activate your new license automatically.

  4. If TestComplete does not find any active licenses on your computer, it will show a message box informing you about this.

    Click Activate a license in the message box.

    This will open the License Management wizard:

    • On the first page of the wizard, choose Activate a new license on this computer and click Next. If you have an Internet connection to the SmartBear licensing web sites (https://ls1.smartbear.com or https://ls2.smartbear.com, port 443), the wizard will choose the automatic activation mode.

    • On the next page of the wizard, specify the information needed for activation: the user name, company name, email and license key.

      You can find the license key on the TestComplete product page of the My SmartBear section of our web site (https://my.smartbear.com) or in the email message that we sent you after you had requested the license.

      TestComplete Platform, Modules and add-ons are licensed separately. If the licenses you have purchased cannot be merged, the Sales Team will send you individual keys. You will have to activate each of them.

      As for other values, you can enter either your user name, company name and email, or those of the license holder. We recommend that you enter your data.

      After you have specified the activation data, click Next to continue.

    • On the next page, you can specify the proxy authentication settings. Quite often, computers in offices connect to the Internet through a proxy server, not directly. Depending on the proxy type, you may need to specify the user name and password needed for the Web connection. Most proxies do not require authentication, so, most likely, you will not need to enter anything. If you are not aware of your proxy type or user name and password, ask your system administrator.

      After you have specified your proxy type and credentials, click Activate. The wizard will activate your license.

  5. If the activation succeeds, you will see the final page of the License Management wizard informing you that the activation is over.

    If the activation fails, the wizard will display an error message explaining the problem.

Manual activation

Manual activation involves data exchange between the computer, on which TestComplete is installed, and the SmartBear web site. For detailed information on activation steps, see Manual Activation Procedure.

After activation

If you activated your license on a computer where another license had been activated, and the licenses have been merged, enable features provided by the merged licenses manually in TestComplete.

To do this, in TestComplete, open the File > Install Extensions dialog and enable the needed modules and plugins.

Troubleshooting

If you have encountered any issues during the license activation, you can try to fix them manually using instructions from the following topic:

Fixing Typical Issues With Node-Locked Licenses

You can try resolving the problem by using the Licensing Troubleshooter on our web site:

Licensing Troubleshooter

See Also

About Licensing System
Activating Additional Licenses
Activating Licenses

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