SmartBear-ID Based Licenses
Important Notice for VirtServer Customers
Starting from ReadyAPI 3.62.0, VirtServer 3.29.0, and TestEngine 1.34.0, SmartBear Product Family has fully deprecated file-based licenses and transitioned to the ID-based SmartBear License Management (SLM) system. Any customers still using file-based licenses must complete their migration to SLM by September 30, 2025.
From October 1, 2025, existing and activated file-based licenses will continue to work for some time. However, SmartBear will no longer generate new file-based licenses or support activation and deactivation of file-based licenses in ReadyAPI, VirtServer, or TestEngine. All new and updated licenses are now issued in SLM only.
All technical support for file-based licenses has now ceased, and SmartBear no longer maintains the file-based licensing system. Any access or service issues will result in service disruptions that we will not be able to restore.
If you have not completed the process of migrating, contact your Account Manager or SmartBear representative today. Our teams are ready to assist you with smooth transition strategies. For additional support, log a request with our SmartBear Support.
For more information and timelines, refer to the File-based License End-of-Support Policy page.
SmartBear ID-based licenses are now the default license type we started using in ReadyAPI 3.8.1 and VirtServer 3.16, and are now issued to all customers. They are more reliable and convenient to use than the license type used in previous product versions. For details about deprecation timelines, support status, and required actions, see Important Notice for VirtServer Customers.
Important
From September 2025, we no longer provide file-based licensing. Instead, we replaced it with SmartBear ID-based licensing. You should immediately engage with your SmartBear Account Manager to understand the steps involved in completing the process of migrating. See SmartBear ID-based Licenses to learn more.
Basics
To activate and use the product, your company needs to purchase a VirtServer license or have a trial license assigned. A license administrator needs to specify a SmartBear identifier (an email and a password). If you don’t have it, you need to create one.
From VirtServer 3.16, we include support for SmartBear ID-based licenses, which are hosted on your on-premise license server only. Once the license has been made available on manage.smartbear.com, your license administrator needs to convert that license for on-premise use and install the license on an on-premise license server. Once installed, the license administrator should provide the VirtServer admin with the server address.
If authentication is required to request licenses from the on-premise SmartBear ID-based license server, the VirtServer admin will also need to access the on-premise license portal and get the access key for the license. Once the VirtServer Administrator has the on-premise license server address and access key, license installation can proceed in the VirtServer product.
From VirtServer 3.17.0, we include support for ID-based licenses hosted on SmartBear license servers. Once the license has been made available on https://manage.smartbear.com/ and your license administrator has assigned it to the VirtServer administrator, the VirtServer administrator needs to log in to their https://manage.smartbear.com/ account and get their access key. This is then used in requesting and installing a license in VirtServer.
Your license sets the number of allowed concurrent product instances.
Requirements
SmartBear ID-based licenses are online and offline licenses.
Online licenses are those that are controlled by the SmartBear license servers available on the Web.
On-premises licenses are those that work in private networks, which have no connection to the Web and SmartBear license servers.
By default, the licenses you purchase are online ones. You can convert them to offline licenses and vice versa on the SmartBear License Management.
Currently, all the control over license use is performed by the SmartBear License Servers available 24×7. The computer where you are running VirtServer must have permanent access to these servers. That is, the proxies and firewalls running in your network should allow connection to them:
https://manage.smartbear.com:443https://api.slm.manage.smartbear.com:443https://login.slm.manage.smartbear.com:443https://server.manage.smartbear.com:443https://server.slm.manage.smartbear.com:443https://profile.id.smartbear.com:443https://profile-api.id.smartbear.com:443https://auth.id.smartbear.com:443
This access is needed both at the product start and during the product runtime. The addresses are for API servers and don’t have a user interface visible in browsers. When products call these hosts, they add some specific paths or URLs to the addresses.
Note
We encrypt all data at rest and over the wire.
In case a network glitch happens, VirtServer is smart enough to understand the cause and to remain functioning long enough to let your system administrators fix the issue.
For offline licenses, your license administrator can convert your subscription license to an offline one and activate this license on the On-Premises License Server in your network.
Managing licenses
You can manage your SmartBear ID and licenses on our License Management Portal: License Management | SmartBear
License priority for ID-based License Requests
A single user may be assigned multiple SmartBear ID-based licenses for a specific product. If that happens, a license will be selected based on the following:
A license already in use has a higher priority than a free one. For example, you are requesting to use a license on a computer that already has one checked out.
A Commercial license has a higher priority than a Trial license.
An older license has a higher priority than a newer license.
More info on licenses
For complete information on the SmartBear ID-based licenses, see our License Administration documentation.
Refer to our Frequently Asked Questions page for more information on SLM.
Need assistance?
If you have questions or need assistance with the new licenses, contact our SmartBear Support.