When multiple versions installed on the same machine

If multiple major versions of PowerBuilder are installed on the same machine, for example, 2017 and 2019, the activation mechanism is different between the online license and the offline license.

  • For Online license

    For 2019 R2 and earlier versions, the same user account can be used to log into multiple versions on the same machine, but only one version at a time. For example, if the user account has already logged into 2017, then it has to log out from 2017 first, in order to log into 2019; and vice versa, if the user account has logged into 2019 and needs to log into 2017, then it has to log out from 2019 first. You can use the "Auto login at startup" and "Sign out on exist" to automate these process if you need to switch between different versions frequently. A user account has to log out from one version before it can log into another version. If you need to log into and work with multiple instances at the exact same time, you will need to purchase additional licenses or upgrade to 2019 R3 or later versions.

    For 2019 R3 and later versions, one user account can log into more than one version on the same machine simultaneously, just like logging into the multiple instances of the same version. For example, if you have installed and logged into 2019 R3 successfully, and then if you installed 2021, you can log into 2021 using the same user account of 2019 R3, without needing to log out from 2019 R3 first.

  • For Offline license

    For 2019 R2 and earlier versions, different user accounts must be used to activate different versions if multiple versions are installed on the same machine.

    For 2019 R3 and later versions, one user account can be used to activate more than one version on the same machine simultaneously.