How Licensing Works

Ignition's licensing is unique and easy to use because Ignition is licensed by the server, not the client. You only need one license for your server; any clients are automatically included. In addition to that, an Ignition license is unlimited and sold based on which modules you want. There are unlimited clients, Tags, and projects. Buy only the modules you need, and don't worry about running into limits. If you want to test other modules, you don't need to do anything extra because of our built-in Trial mode.  All unlicensed modules can be reset in 2 hour trial mode.

Trial Period

Our goal at Inductive Automation is to provide an easy way to access and learn Ignition. We want everyone to have the opportunity to try Ignition and start working with it with no restrictions. You can download Ignition from our webpage, install it, and start using it for 2 hours at a time.  At the end of the 2 hour time period, all modules will stop running, but don't panic, you can reset the timer to run for another 2 hours.  You can reset the timer as many times as you want, so go for it! The Gateway Webpage and the Designer are not affected by this trial, so you can develop for as long as you want without interruption.  If you do have a license, any unlicensed modules will run in this Trial mode, but licensed modules will never timeout.  

You can re-start the Trial period by logging into the Gateway, and clicking Reset Trial to enable another 2 hours of execution. The Trial Timer may be restarted any number of times. Depending on the module, you may need to take some additional actions. For example, the Vision Clients requires you to log out and back in again in order to continue the Trial.

In the Gateway, the Trial Time banner is displayed near the top of the screen. To reset the trial timer, click the Reset Trial button:




In a Vision Client (for Edge or Ignition Standard), the banner appears near the bottom of the screen.













How to Activate Ignition Edge and Ignition Standard Edition

When you purchase a license for Ignition Standard edition or Edge, you receive a CD-Key, a six-digit code that identifies your purchase. Use this CD-Key to activate the software online through the Ignition Gateway.  If you later want to add any additional modules, your account is updated and you can re-use your existing CD-Key to activate the new features.  You can also unactivate your CD-Key, and reuse it to activate Ignition on a different machine as many times as you want.  

You can activate your license in two ways:

  • Online Activation - from the System > Licensing section on the Gateway Webpage, your request to activate your Gateway is activated over the internet. 

  • Offline Activation - if you don't have an Internet connection, you can follow the manual activation process in the Offline Activation section. 

Online Activation Example

To activate a license online, use the following steps:

  1. Go to the Gateway Webpage and select the Config section.

  2. From the menu on the left, select System > Licensing.  The Licensing page will appear. If you already have a license key, click the Activate License button. 




  3. The Licensing / Activate Online page will be displayed. Enter your License Key and click Submit. 



    1. If you are connected to the Internet, click the Activate button.

    2. If you want to activate the license offline, click the Offline Activation button.



  4. The Licensing page will refresh and your Current License will be successfully activated. 



Offline Activation Example

When you do not have an internet connection, you can do the following steps to activate your license manually:

  1. Go to the Config tab on the Gateway Webpage.
  2. Scroll down to System > Licensing. The Licensing Activation page appears. 
  3. Click the Offline Activation button.  
  4. Click the Download Activation Request.  An activation request file, called activation_message.txt is generated and downloaded. 



  5. Take the activation_message.txt file to a machine with Internet access and go to https://links.inductiveautomation.com/activation.

  6. Click Choose File and select the activation_message.txt file.



    Should any troubles occur with the upload process, please contact our support department. 


  7. Once you upload the activation_message.txt file, a license file called license.ipl is generated.

  8. Bring the license.ipl file back to the computer on which you're licensing Ignition. Back on the Offline Activation page, upload the license.ipl file and click Activate to finish the process. 



  10.  The Licensing page will refresh showing your license was successfully activated.
  11. Click View Modules to see a list of all your activated modules. 














How to Activate Maker Edition

Key and Token

When a license is purchased you receive a Key (an eight-digit code) and a token that identify your purchase. Use this Key to activate the software online through the Ignition Gateway.  You can also unactivate your license key, and reuse it to activate Ignition on a different machine as many times as you want.  

Activation

When you download Ignition,  you have the choice of Ignition Standard, Edge, or Maker Edition.  You activate the license for Maker Edition during the installation process.  When you choose Maker Edition. the installation wizard will prompt you for a license key and token.  If you need help finding your key, sign in to your Inductive Automation account.



Adding Multiple Licenses to a Single Gateway

In order to better support our community of third-party module authors, we also allow for multiple license keys to be installed on a single Gateway.  A third-party module author can issue a license key for their module directly to a customer, whereby, they can immediately do an install of the module. To learn more, check out the Third-Party Module Showcase to find and purchase modules that extend Ignition's functionality.

It is important to note that there may only be one license on it with a platform version per Gateway. The platform will look similar to the picture below. If you try and activate a second license with a platform onto a Gateway that already has a license with a platform, the new license will overwrite the previous license.

In the image below, two licenses have been applied to this Gateway, but only one is active.


Module Status

It's important to know which version of a module you have installed and which version of the module you are licensed for.  You could have a license for another version of a module so it's not going to work correctly until you have the correct version of the license. To verify the versions on your installed modules, go to the Modules page in the Status section of the Gateway Webpage or by clicking View Modules in the green banner.  

Here you can see all the modules that are currently running with their version numbers and license status. The licenses are either in Trial, Activated, or Free mode. On this page, you can add or remove modules from your Ignition. If you are licensed for a module you are running, it will run in Activated mode. If you are not licensed for a module you are running, it will run in Trial mode until the Trial time is expired.

License Incomplete 

Don't be alarmed by a 'License Incomplete' message on the green banner. Click on the View Modules link within the banner.  It opens an informational message box showing modules that are installed. Some of the modules are in Trial Mode.


Updating a License

If you want to add more modules to your existing license, just call Inductive Automation Support and we can add whatever you need. Once we upgrade your license key to add or remove modules, your license needs to be updated. You update a license using the same license key from the Config > Licensing section on the Gateway webpage.  

Your license needs to be reloaded once it has been upgraded by Inductive Automation to include new modules, removed modules, or update allowable module versions. The same license key is used for the license upgrade, so there is no need to unactivate the license. You can update your license using the same license key by reloading the license.

When updating a license from the Gateway, there are two methods of activation: with an Internet connection and without an Internet connection. 

Two Methods of Updating a License

You can update your license in two ways:

  • With an Internet Connection - from the System > Licensing section on the Gateway Webpage, update your Gateway license over the Internet.  
  • Without an Internet Connection - if you don't have an internet connection, you can follow the offline update process in the Offline Activation section. 








Emergency Activation

In cases where you may have a hardware or OS failure and you cannot unactivate a license, Ignition provides an Emergency Activation mode. In this mode, you can temporarily activate your license for 7 days giving you enough time to contact Inductive Automation Support.   

How to Activate in Emergency Mode

Activating your license in emergency mode is exactly the same as activating with your normal license, you don't have to do anything different because Ignition handles it all for you. See Licensing and Activation page for details on how to activate. The Gateway will know to run in emergency activation mode and it will display a timer stating how many days, hours, and minutes you have remaining in the Emergency Activation Mode banner.  Any time before it expires, you can contact Inductive Automation Support to get your license fixed.


Unactivating a License

For a given license key, a limited amount of simultaneous activations are allowed at a given time. If you want to activate Ignition on a different server, you must first unactivate it on the current server. You can unactivate the license on one Gateway, and then activate it on a different Gateway if needed. Unactivation occurs immediately over the Internet, and makes this license available for activation on another machine. 

To unactivate the Gateway, do the following steps:

  1. From the Config section of Gateway, go to System > Licensing. The Licensing page is displayed and you can see the currently installed license license key.
  2. Click on Unactivate License icon.



  3. A Licensing / Confirm Unactive window will appear asking you to confirm the unactivation. Click the Yes, Unactivate button. It may take a minute or so for the request to finish.



  4. The unactivation request will be sent to Inductive Automation's licensing servers, and the license will again be available for activation on another Gateway.