Offline activation

Offline license is created to meet the needs where the machine with PowerBuilder installed does not have Internet connection.

An account assigned with an offline license can either be used to log in to PowerBuilder with or without Internet connection. When an account with an offline license is logged in with Internet connection, the process is as easy as the account with an online license.

Please notice that cloud-based machines or virtual machines where PowerBuilder is installed cannot be activated using an offline license; only online license can be used.

Note

This section talks about activating PowerBuilder only, if you want to activate PowerServer (PB Edition), please follow the Activating PowerServer (PB Edition) section in the Appeon License User Guide.

Activating with an offline license

To activate an offline license, follow these steps:

Step 1 -- In the Log in to PowerBuilder window, click Activate offline license manually.

Step 2 -- Input the user name and password for your account, and select whether to activate the license with or without Internet connection.

  • If Activation with Internet connection is selected, make sure your current machine can access Internet, and the offline license will be activated by the Appeon license server immediately after you click Activate.

  • If Activation without Internet connection is selected, you will need to take the following steps to activate the offline license:

    1. Click Generate Client Request to create the client request (a text string), and then click Copy Client Request to copy the string to the clipboard.

    2. Transfer the string to a machine with Internet connection, and visit the License Activation web page by this URL: https://www.appeon.com/license/get/activation-code?type=activation. On the web page, paste the string to the text box and then click Submit. A server response (another text string) is generated.

    3. Transfer the server response string back to PowerBuilder, and paste the string to the Server Response text box, and then click Activate.

    4. Click OK when the activation completes.

Once the offline license is activated successfully, you will be logged in to PowerBuilder IDE.

To view the corresponding license information, click the menu Help | Offline License Management | License Info in the PowerBuilder IDE.

Renewing an offline license

When an offline license is renewed by your license administrator, you will need to renew the offline license information in the PowerBuilder IDE accordingly.

To renew an offline license in PowerBuilder IDE, follow these steps:

Step 1 -- In the PowerBuilder IDE, select Help | Offline License Management | Renew.

Step 2 -- Select whether to renew the offline license with or without Internet connection.

  • If Renew with Internet connection is selected, make sure your current machine can access Internet, and the offline license will be renewed by the Appeon license server immediately after you click Renew.

  • If Renew without Internet connection is selected, you will need to take the following steps to renew the offline license:

    1. Click Generate Client Request to generate a request string.

    2. Click Copy Client Request to get the request string, and transfer the string to a machine with Internet connection.

    3. On the machine with Internet connection, visit the License Renewal web page by this URL: https://www.appeon.com/license/get/activation-code?type=renewal. On the web page, paste the string to the text box and then click Submit. A response string will be generated if the license is renewed successfully by the Appeon license server.

    4. Transfer the response string back to the PowerBuilder IDE, and paste the string to the Server Response text box, and then click Renew.

    5. Click OK when the renew completes.

The renewal license will take effect the day after the current license expires.

Upgrading an offline license

When an offline license is upgraded by your license administrator, for example, from a Standard Edition to a Universal Edition, you will need to upgrade the offline license information in the PowerBuilder IDE accordingly.

To upgrade an offline license in PowerBuilder IDE, follow these steps:

Step 1 -- In the PowerBuilder IDE, select Help | Offline License Management | Upgrade.

Step 2 -- Select whether to upgrade the offline license with or without Internet connection.

  • If Upgrade with Internet connection is selected, make sure your current machine can access Internet, and the offline license will be upgraded by the Appeon license server immediately after you click Upgrade.

  • If Upgrade without Internet connection is selected, you will need to take the following steps to upgrade the offline license:

    1. Click Generate Client Request to generate a request string.

    2. Click Copy Client Request to get the request string, and transfer the string to a machine with Internet connection.

    3. On the machine with Internet connection, visit the License Upgrade web page by this URL: https://www.appeon.com/license/get/activation-code?type=upgrade. On the web page, paste the string to the text box and then click Submit. A response string will be generated if the license is upgraded successfully by the Appeon license server.

    4. Transfer the response string back to the PowerBuilder IDE, and paste the string to the Server Response text box, and then click Upgrade.

    5. Click OK when the upgrade completes.

De-activating an offline license

Once you log in to PowerBuilder successfully, which also means the offline license is activated successfully, you should stay login unless you absolutely need to de-activate the license, for example, to move PowerBuilder to a different machine.

To de-activate an offline license, follow these steps:

Step 1 -- In the PowerBuilder IDE, select Help | Offline License Management | Deactivate.

Step 2 -- Depending on whether the machine has Internet connection, select to deactivate the license with or without Internet connection.

  • If Deactivation with Internet connection is selected, make sure your current machine can access Internet, and the offline license will be deactivated by the Appeon license server immediately after you click Deactivate and confirm the deactivation in the dialog box.

  • If Deactivation without Internet connection is selected, you will need to take the following steps to deactivate the offline license:

    1. Click Deactivate / Copy Deactivation Request to generate and copy the request string. Although the offline license is deactivated from PowerBuilder immediately after you click Deactivate, you should not stop here, because you should also deactivate the license from the Appeon license server to release the license for the subsequent use.

      The string is by default saved to the Users\<username>\AppData\Local\Temp\PBLicenseDeactivate\DeactivateCode.txt file.

    2. Transfer the string to a machine with Internet connection.

    3. On the machine with Internet connection, visit the License Deactivation web page by this URL: https://www.appeon.com/license/get/activation-code?type=deactivation. On the web page, paste the copied string to the text box and then click Submit. You will be prompted if the license is de-activated successfully from the Appeon license server.