INFO: XSI 6.0 Licensing
There are some interesting changes to licensing in XSI 6.0.
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Everything uses a license server
All flavors of XSI (Foundation, Student/Teacher/Academic, and Essentials/Advanced) are licensed using the SPM license server. Licenses are tied either to a USB dongle (Essentials/Advanced) or the computer itself (Foundation and Student/Teacher).
Dongleless licensing
Foundation now uses the SPM License Server, but without a dongle. When you install Foundation, you get a local license server. And when you enter your Foundation registration code in the License Manager, the License Manager automatically downloads and installs your Foundation license key.
Foundation licenses cannot be served from a license server on another computer.
Foundation is local node locked [LNL]
Foundation was always a node-locked product: The end-user license agreement for Foundation always said it was for use on one machine only. And the 5.11 Product Comparison chart did say the Foundation did not support "floating interactive licenses".
As of XSI 6.0:
- When you activate Foundation on a computer, the license is tied to the computer.
- You can activate Foundation on up to two (2) different computers. So, for example, you can have one copy of Foundation on your desktop computer and a second copy on your laptop.
XSI 6.0 for Student/Teacher does not use a dongle
The Academic Student/Teacher version of XSI 6.0 is licenses the same way as Foundation.
Foundation Licenses and Computer Updates
You should deactivate your license before reinstalling Windows, replacing your hard drive, or making any other major system change.
Backing Up Your License
To back up your license, back up the spm-kf file in C:\windows\system32\spm. That file is your license key database.
Also, back up your .keys file. You can recreate the spm-kf file by re-installing the .keys file.
Finally, you can always re-download your license using the License Manager (click Get License and then Download License).
New License Manager
XSI 6.0 includes a new license manager. You can still run previous versions of XSI (eg 5.11) off of the new license server.
If you don't want to upgrade your license server in the middle of a production, you can use the "old" SPM license server to serve your 6.0 licenses.
