Getting kicked off due to license being used on another computer

[Danielle C]

How is it possible that Vectororks allows a user to log on another computer, open vectorworks with a license, and then subsequently that new activation kicks off a user who has been in the middle of using that license all morning?  Why would the secondary license just not be allowed to activate?

 

 

[Nicolas Goutte]

You can use a non-network license only on one computer at a time, including using another VW version, e.g. 2017 vs. 2018.

 

(I really mean "use", not "activate".)

Edited September 27, 2018 by Nicolas Goutte

[Danielle C]

Yes, but the question is why does the new user have the ability to kick off a user that is currently in the middle of using the license?  Why wouldn't the new user instead see a message to the effect of "license already in use".  Rather than the current user, who has a big deadline and super stressed, seeing a message about getting kicked off.

 

It makes zero sense to kick off someone who is currently using that license.

[Nicolas Goutte]

I do not know why the last started VW has the priority but it has been that way since a few years. However it is not always so, sometimes/often you get the dialog telling that the serial number is in use.

 

Yes, it bites me from time to time, when I forgot that my other computer (Mac/Windows) has already a VW started, especially it seems if the other VW has been busy doing something.

Edited September 27, 2018 by Nicolas Goutte

[PVA - Admin]

The most recent user of the license is permitted for a few reasons but this is the most common:

If we didn't allow the most recent user to access the license, If you left work and left Vectorworks open on your machine and drove home, then tried to open Vectorworks on your home machine, you would be stuck. 

[Danielle C]

I mean I guess an argument could be made that you should remember to log out.

 

Why isn't there a notification at the very least, telling the user that the license is already in use, and then asking them if they want to proceed anyway? That way they don't kick someone off without explicit permission?

 

 

[PVA - Admin]

If you click "More Info" when the license comes up, it will tell you the username and IP of the machine that the SN is in use on when the error appears. However, normally this issue shouldn't happen at all, one license (determined by the last 6 of a serial number, which remains the same or a single license between versions) should normally be assigned to a single person. If you have multiple licenses in your office, you may for instance have them crossed so that two users are accidentally using the same seat, which can be corrected by swapping out serial numbers in Vectorworks Preferences.

What exactly is happening in your setup? We may be able to clean things up. 

[PVA - Admin]

2 minutes ago, Danielle C said:

Why isn't there a notification at the very least, telling the user that the license is already in use, and then asking them if they want to proceed anyway? That way they don't kick someone off without explicit permission?

Related note: This is in currently as a wishlist request, but may not end up happening depending on how we handle license activations in the future. We want to give users more direct control over their licenses through a web portal ideally.

[Danielle C]

We have multiple computers in the office with different serial numbers. They might be tied to user accounts on the system, not sure.  Someone for example logged in to a different computer this morning, under the admin account on that computer rather than as a user, and the vectorworks license on that computer was set to the one I was using, and it kicked me off.

 

 

[PVA - Admin]

Thats most likely the issue, it will store serial numbers based on the user. In your setup, it may be wisest to assign each license to a specific computer rather than to each user, that way everyone on computer A will use license A, and someone logging into computer B using license A wont interfere. 

This can be changed under Tools > Options > Vectorworks Preferences > Session > Serial Numbers. Everyone in the office would need to sync up and make sure they changed them around the same time to avoid conflicts. If you want to ensure this goes smoothly, contact tech@vectorworks.net or better yet give us a direct cal when youre ready to switch them and wee can correct any activation limits you might run into.