Coming Soon - New Manage Licensing App for Thingworx and Windchill!

[JGENTHNER]

We are excited to introduce PTC’s new Manage Licensing application, launching May 13, 2024, for all ThingWorx and Windchill products. This isn’t just an upgrade – it’s a thoughtful redesign with our customers’ feedback in mind.

The Manage Licensing app is a self-service tool that is integrated with the eSupport portal and will be accessible through the same License Management links that you use today. The app will eventually support all PTC products with a consistent licensing workflow – the first release in May will exclusively support ThingWorx and Windchill products.

Users of the Manage Licensing app can look forward to:

• Licensing host configurations that will be saved for future use
• The ability to install and track products used across orders and licensing hosts
• The ability to move products between licensing hosts and change quantities in real time

You can learn more about the Manage Licensing app and its features by visiting our FAQ. In the meantime, let’s get the conversation started! We welcome your feedback and questions in this topic.  And Save the Date for an Ask the Experts event on June 4th focused on the new app! 

[StuartHarvey]

I just experienced PTC's new "Licensing Experience."  My first impression is that PTC has changed the Windchill licensing model.  It appears that each user must have a separate and distinct license on each server that they access: open and closed, separate program/site servers.   In comparison to the current licensing model, the new licensing model looks like it will cost more in terms of license management. 

[JGENTHNER]

Hi Stuart,
The licensing model has not changed. We're improving the ability to track and save the host configuration so that regenerating licenses is easier, especially at times of renewal (click of the button to regenerate). If you need assistance with how to setup your licensing hosts within a multi-host environment, I encourage you to open a Licensing Support case through the My PTC Assistant (For opening a case with Licensing Support.navigation available in the support and licensing pages), select License Management (picture included for reference).

[StuartHarvey]

Thank you . . . I have submitted a support request.

I appreciate of the irony of your reply . . .

[TomU]

@JGENTHNER,

I agree with @StuartHarvey I'm seeing the same behavior.  This new licensing tool appears to be fundamentally broken.  It is treating Windchill licenses like Creo licenses where each license can only be allocated to a single host.  As soon as a license has been allocated, it can no longer be assigned to a different (additional) host.  This is not how Windchill licensing is supposed to work. Windchill licenses have traditionally been 'registered user' licenses, which means they are supposed to be tied to a specific user, but they can be installed on as many different servers as a company may desire, with the expectation that the same user is using the same license across all servers. It's not uncommon for a company to have multiple production Windchill systems - multiple locations, classified and non-classified systems, etc.  ALL of the licenses can legally be assigned to ALL of the hosts, both production systems and non-production systems.  Unless there has been a major change to the licensing model that hasn't been announced, this faulty behavior needs to be corrected immediately (or the tool shut down until it can be.)

A few references:

https://www.ptc.com/en/support/article/CS277468

https://www.ptc.com/en/support/article/CS343070

Solved: Re: Regarding Sharing Windchill Licenses - PTC Community (my own comment in another post)

[TomU]

@JGENTHNER,

I just checked the current licensing document, and from what I can tell, nothing has changed.  Windchill is still licensed by 'registered user':

It would appear that the developers of this new tool used the 'designated computer' or 'designated server' model, which is completely wrong for Windchill licenses.  Here are definitions of each from that same licensing document:

“Registered User” (RU): Registered User products may only be used by a single individual without regard to how often the person uses the license. A license is required for every such individual, regardless of whether the individual is accessing the Licensed Product directly or via an intermediate application. Shared passwords or log-in accounts are not permitted unless the licensing basis for the particular product below specifies to the contrary. The Customer may add and/or substitute from time to time new Registered Users as long as the aggregate number of Registered Users does not exceed at any point in time the number of licenses in effect at such time for that particular product and, provided further, that if a person who was previously a Registered User returns to Registered User status, a new license fee must be paid to PTC at PTC’s then current rates unless the licensing basis for the particular product below specifies to the contrary.

“Designated Computer” (DC): Where the product name contains the words “fixed,” “locked,” or “node locked,” such products are licensed to operate solely on the designated computer on which they are installed. It is not permitted to move Designated Computer licenses from one computer to another by means of installing such products on an external, portable or removable device (e.g., USB dongle, NAS, Router, memory stick, USB drive, external hard drive) or through other means.

“Designated Server” (DS): Each Designated Server product may only be used on the computer server that is designated by the Customer in connection with the initial installation of the product and that has one unique instance of the applicable installed product application. In the event a computer server is partitioned in any manner (physically, logically or otherwise), the reference in the preceding sentence to “computer server” shall mean each partition of such server, and such Designated Server product may only be used on one of such partitions.

[JGENTHNER]

@StuartHarvey, @TomU Thank you for sharing the feedback. Our team acknowledges the complexity of the issue/obstacle/challenge that you're experiencing and want to assure you that we are actively working on a long-term solution for your production needs.

In the meantime, as a temporary workaround, we suggest that you assign a quantity of 1 license for each user license type to each production server and use the uncapped option. This option will allow each named user to connect to each production server. I've attached a reference screen shot to help you locate the uncapped option on the license host details page.

Within the 180 days of the uncapped license, we expect a long-term solution to be provided.

Further, for those who are creating development, sandbox, or other non-production environments, the uncapped option is not needed. Creating non-production hosts and assigning products to those hosts will not count against the installed quantity. The path for creating the non-production host includes an option to clone a production host for the exact replication of products assigned, including quantity. We also do not limit the number of non-production hosts that you may create.

For questions, concerns, or assistance with the above setups, I continue to encourage the use of My PTC Assistant, License Management option to receive direct PTC support for your license configuration scenarios.

[TomU]

@JGENTHNER,

Thanks for the reply.  This issue is not complex.  Windchill licenses are tied to people, not hosts.  Building and releasing a tool that does exactly the opposite probably wasn't a good idea.

Using an uncapped license greatly increases the risk that a company will inadvertently allocate and use more licenses than what they actually own. PTC licensing audits are no fun, and back paying for excess license usage is no fun.  I wouldn't recommend using an uncapped license unless it's absolutely necessary to keep the business running.

I'm going to recommend that our customers not use this new licensing tool and instead configure Windchill to pull licenses directly on its own.  This will avoid needing to use the tool and still allow all licenses to be loaded to all servers.  We just lose the ability to adjust the license allocation per server (if so desired).

[TomU]

@JGENTHNER,

Is there any way to switch a host environment between 'Production' and 'Non-Production' after it has been created?  I've tried editing existing hosts, and don't see any way to change this.

It's very common to stand up new hosts, use them in a non-production way for a while, and then eventually put them into production.  It seems like it should be possible to change this setting after creation.  What do you suggest?  Use 'Production' for everything, or delete and recreate the host each time we need to change the setting?

[BenLoosli]

When I build test servers that will become production servers, I totally delete Windchill and do a clean install for the production set up.

Uncapped could lead to excessive licenses being used and is not a valid option for keeping us within the licensing agreement we have in place for Windchill which is a per user license.

I do run multiple Windchill servers, classified and non-classified systems, plus test systems in both environments. Currently, I have 4 servers and that will soon be 6. Once we get 12.1.2 moved into production, 2 of those servers will go away until I start working on a 13.0.2 upgrade.

[JGENTHNER]

@TomU We've fielded similar feedback in other forums and are working to introduce a path to migrate non-production to production without reconfiguring the products assigned. We expected the more common scenario was to create a production server and then clone it for use in non-production environments, which is why we made that available first. Our functionality will continue to evolve and become more robust - this was the first release.

For your described situation, you will need to create a production host separately and re-configure it with available licenses or the uncapped setup mentioned earlier. If you already know that you will use this server in production, I recommend creating the initial host as a production host. You have the option to clone it with a non-production designation or just use the host as configured in a sandbox until you are ready to call it production. The designation for production vs non-production was to assist with multiple environments without impacting installed quantity.

We appreciate your feedback and it will help us make the solution stronger for all our partners and customers.

[TomU]

There's no benefit (or need) to define multiple licensing hosts if every cloned or upgraded environment is using the same device ID.  Simply define one host and use that license file everywhere (assuming the device ID matches).

[JGENTHNER]

Cloning a production host as a non-production host allows you to provide a different Device ID since each installation of Windchill typically would involve a new Device ID being generated. It's the cloning of the product configurations that is a benefit for users.

In your case, using the same server as production and non-production, I agree that creating the host as a production designation is best. Create it once.

Our Support team is not only available for issues, but also available to help you with your questions about the new tool as you get accustomed to the new features. If anyone would like a direct conversation with our team, you may request that assistance through My PTC Assistant and selecting the License Management option. 

[StuartHarvey]

As previously stated, the license basis for Windchill is "Registered User".  This tool is forcing "Registered User & Device ID" as the license basis.  PTC is violating the current, agreed to, license basis.

[JGENTHNER]

@StuartHarvey We've captured the feedback and concern. It's not our intention to change the licensing model, so our team is looking at adjustments that we need to make to resolve the concerns raised. In the meantime, please continue to work with our Licensing Support team, as you are, to make sure your environments continue to work as intended.

[Jaime_Lee]

Hi, Everyone,

Hi, we are going to take this opportunity to close this thread  in anticipation of our "Ask the Experts" session on June 4th 10AM EDT..  John Genthner will be back to answer any questions you might have in Real-Time about this new Licensing App.

Please plan on stopping by the community for this Ask the Experts About Licensing session to ask John and Max more questions.

I will be your moderator for the session!

Thank You!

Jaime Lee