SOLIDWORKS SolidNetWork License Order Guide
SOLIDWORKS SolidNetWork License Order Guide
Administering SOLIDWORKS network licenses to make sure users pull the appropriate license for their assigned tasks is a critical step in configuring your SOLIDWORKS environment. The License Order tab on the SolidNetWork License Manager is used to specify the order of your SOLIDWORKS network licenses, ensuring your licenses are being used in an optimized order.
Launching the SolidNetWork License Manager
- Windows Start > SOLIDWORKS Tools 20xx > SolidNetWork License Manager
- Select the License Order tab
Note: License order is per machine install configuration. License order changed on one machine does not propagate to others.
SOLIDWORKS Standard, Professional and Premium
Unlike a standalone license, which always uses the installed software version, network licenses use an additive format which uses the SOLIDWORKS Standard license when the software is first launched, then when any SOLIDWORKS Professional or SOLIDWORKS Premium add-ins are activated, the corresponding license will be added onto the SOLIDWORKS Standard license automatically. The Standard license is a prerequisite for Professional and Premium, meaning the system will always require a Standard license whenever Professional or Premium add-ins are activated.
For example, if you purchased 5 SOLIDWORKS Standard, 5 SOLIDWORKS Professional, and 5 SOLIDWORKS Premium licenses for network management (15 total licenses to share), this will display in the license manager as 15 SOLIDWORKS Standard licenses, 5 SOLIDWORKS Professional, and 5 SOLIDWORKS Premium. The extra 10 SOLIDWORKS Standard licenses serve as the prerequisite license for SOLIDWORKS Professional and SOLIDWORKS Premium licenses. The total number of users who can access SOLIDWORKS at one time is still 15, the purchased quantity.
License Hierarchy
The license Order tab offers functionality to set the order of your licenses. The licenses are pulled in order from top to bottom. Since SOLIDWORKS Professional contains all the tools available in SOLIDWORKS Premium, consider placing SOLIDWORKS Professional above SOLIDWORKS Premium in the list to prevent users accessing SOLIDWORKS Premium first without needing to use the Premium tools, such as Simulation or Routing. When SOLIDWORKS Premium tools are activated in SOLIDWORKS, the software automatically switches the license type accordingly, if one is available.
Note: Clicking the Reset button will reorder the licenses to their default order.
Compare SOLIDWORKS versions here.
SOLIDWORKS Simulation Hierarchy
SOLIDWORKS Simulation is offered in 3 versions in addition to the simulation functionality in SOLIDWORKS Premium, which includes Time-based Motion Analysis and Linear Static Analysis for Parts and Assemblies.
- Simulation Standard
- Simulation Professional
- Simulation Premium
Compare SOLIDWORKS Simulation versions here.
By ordering the desired Simulation version, we can control which license will be pulled by the client when the SOLIDWORKS Simulation add-in is activated. This functionality is useful when a client is performing a study that only requires Simulation Professional tools, leaving the more capable Simulation Premium available for another user.
In the example below, SOLIDWORKS Professional is the first licensed pulled from the list when SOLIDWORKS is launched. Since we ordered SOLIDWORKS Premium with Simulation Premium above the SOLIDWORKS Premium with Simulation Professional license, when the Simulation add-in is activated in SOLIDWORKS, the Simulation Premium license will be pulled and users will have access to the types of studies available in Simulation Premium. If the Simulation Premium licenses are all being used when another user activates the Simulation add-in, then the next license pulled will be the Simulation Professional. Finally, if all the other licenses are being used, the next user will only have access to the types of Simulation available in SOLIDWORKS Premium.
Now that you know how to manage multiple versions of SOLIDWORKS or SOLIDWORKS Simulation by controlling the license order, take time today to configure your license order to help your users access the right license type in the correct order to meet your company’s needs.