Quick start

The following quick guide describes the standard way of TwinCAT 3 licensing:
Use of a TwinCAT 3 license dongle with licenses already activated for the respective license dongle.

With a TwinCAT 3 license dongle, the TwinCAT 3 license is independent of the IPC used, as all required TwinCAT 3 licenses are “on board” the license dongle. This makes it easy to replace the IPC or use the TwinCAT 3 licenses on different IPCs. However, the TwinCAT 3 license must cover the TwinCAT 3 platform level of the IPC.

The TwinCAT 3 license dongles are available in the form of a C9900-L100 license key USB stick or an EL6070 License Key Terminal. The TwinCAT 3 licenses already activated in Beckhoff production for the respective license dongle can be freely defined from quantity 1.

	TwinCAT 3 licenses for non-Beckhoff IPCs If you use an IPC from a manufacturer other than Beckhoff (TwinCAT 3 platform level >= 90), a TwinCAT 3 license dongle is always required for licensing TwinCAT 3.

	TwinCAT 3.1 Build 4022 or higher With a TwinCAT 3 license dongle, TwinCAT 3.1 Build 4022 or higher should be used, in order to have the full functionality available.

Using TwinCAT 3 license dongles

In the project, a TwinCAT 3 license dongle must be configured once for the master image. Automatic recognition and integration of TwinCAT 3 license dongles is not yet available in the current TwinCAT version.

During (series) production of the machine, the TwinCAT 3 license dongle is plugged into the preconfigured position, in order to activate the required TwinCAT 3 licenses on the machine.

An IPC with a TwinCAT 3 license dongle can be easily replaced, as all required TwinCAT 3 licenses are “on board” the license dongle. Please ensure that the respective TwinCAT 3 platform level of the IPCs is covered by the TwinCAT 3 license. From TwinCAT 3.1 Build 4022, it is possible to downgrade TwinCAT 3 standard licenses to lower platform levels.

TwinCAT 3 license directory

TwinCAT does not work directly with the license files on the license dongle, but rather with a working copy on the hard disk of the IPC in the license folder c:\twincat\3.1\target\license. This is automatically downloaded from the license dongle to the hard disk of the IPC when the TwinCAT 3 Runtime is started, if it is not yet available in the license directory.

	Memory function for systems with Windows Embedded Compact For systems with Windows Embedded Compact (formerly Windows CE), automatic download of the license file is only supported with TwinCAT 3.1 Build 4022 or higher.

Ordering TwinCAT 3 license dongles with preactivated TwinCAT 3 licenses for the respective license dongle

The easiest way is to order a license dongle with preactivated TwinCAT 3 licenses. The TwinCAT 3 licenses no longer have to be activated by yourself.

The order must be structured in such a way that it is clear which TwinCAT 3 licenses belong to which TwinCAT 3 license dongle.

Order numbers for TwinCAT 3 license dongles with preactivated TwinCAT 3 licenses:

EL6070-0033 for the EtherCAT License Key Terminal
C9900-L100-0033 for the license key USB stick

The designation “…-0033” in the order number of the TwinCAT 3 license dongle indicates that preactivated TwinCAT 3 licenses are to be installed on this TwinCAT 3 license dongle.

Order numbers for preactivated TwinCAT 3 licenses:

The third from last digit of the TwinCAT order number indicates whether activation for a TwinCAT 3 license dongle is to take place at Beckhoff during production. The last two digits of the TwinCAT order number represent the TwinCAT 3 platform level (in the example: 50).

Example:

TC1200-0150
TF5000-0150

Structure of the order:

The hardware for which the TwinCAT 3 licenses are to be preactivated is always listed first in the order. The corresponding TwinCAT 3 licenses are then listed directly behind it.

Example:

5 x EL6070-0033
5 x TC1200-0150
5 x TF5000-0150

3 x C9900-L100-0033
3 x TC1250-0190
3 x TF6100-0190

The example represents five EL6070 EtherCAT License Key Terminals with preactivated license configuration TC1200 + TF 5000 for platform level 50, and three further C9900-L100 license key USB sticks with the preactivated license configuration TC1250 + TF6100 for platform level 90.

The number of individual licenses must always correspond exactly to the number of license dongles (or, in the case of license instances, a multiple thereof).

Ordering TwinCAT 3 licenses with license instances

Some TwinCAT 3 licenses may be required not just once, but several times in a project. Example: Licenses for TwinCAT 3 HMI Client (TF2010, TF2020, …). The number of such single licenses in the order must always be a multiple of the number of license dongles.

Example:

5 x EL6070-0033
5 x TF2000-0150
10 x TF2020-0150 (= 2 client license packs (with 3 license instances each) per license dongle)

Important information:

Identical licenses that do not contain any license instances (e.g. TC1200) may not be listed several times in succession for the same license dongle.
All license instances of a license pack (e.g. TF2040, TC3 HMI Clients Pack 25) can only be used for a single license device and cannot, for example, be distributed to several license dongles.

Negative examples (orders in this form are not allowed):

Multiple single licenses are prohibited:

5 x EL6070-0033
10 x TC1200-0150 (NOT ALLOWED; only 5 allowed)
5 x TC1200-0150 (NOT ALLOWED; this license may not be listed a second time.)

A pack of license instances may not be split:

10 x EL6070-0033
1 x TF2030-0150 (TC3 HMI Clients Pack with 10 license instances → NOT ALLOWED!)

Reordering of TwinCAT 3 licenses for TwinCAT 3 license dongles

If additional TwinCAT 3 licenses (e.g. TwinCAT 3 Functions) are ordered for an existing TwinCAT 3 license dongle, these cannot be preactivated by Beckhoff for the license dongle. This is only possible if the corresponding license dongle is included in the same order and is therefore physically available for activation by Beckhoff during production. This means that re-ordered TwinCAT 3 licenses must be activated and copied to the license dongle by the client.