Quick start

The quick reference guide below describes the standard procedure for TwinCAT 3 licensing:
Use of a TwinCAT 3 license dongle with preactivated licenses for the respective 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 possible to easily replace the IPC or simply use the 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 preactivated TwinCAT 3 licenses for the respective dongle by Beckhoff during production can be freely defined from quantity 1 upwards.

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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.

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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, the TwinCAT 3 license dongle is plugged into the preconfigured position, in order to activate the required TwinCAT 3 licenses on the machine.

See also: Configuration of a TwinCAT 3 license dongle

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. TwinCAT 3.1 Build 4022 offers a downgrade of TwinCAT 3 standard licenses to a lower platform level.

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.

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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 dongle

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

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

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

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:

Structure of the order:

The hardware for which the licenses are to be preactivated is always listed first in the order, followed by the corresponding TwinCAT 3 licenses.

Example:

or

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 dongle.

Example:

Important notes:

  1. 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.
  2. 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 divided into several license dongles.

Negative examples (orders in this form are 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 licenses must be activated and copied to the license dongle by the client.

See also:

TwinCAT 3 licenses that are not to be preactivated by Beckhoff are marked by "2" as the third from last digit of the order number.

Examples:

Upon receipt of the order confirmation, these licenses can be activated immediately.

To do this, create a so-called "License Request File" with the desired TwinCAT 3 licenses and send it by email to the Beckhoff license server.

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E-mail address of the Beckhoff TwinCAT 3 license server

E-mail address for activation of TwinCAT 3 licenses by the user: tclicense@beckhoff.com