Licensing

This TwinCAT product requires a license for full operation. In addition, a trial license can be activated in order to evaluate the product.

For more information about licensing the product, see the following sections:

• Licensing under TwinCAT 2
• Licensing of a 7-day trial version under TwinCAT 3
• Licensing of a full version under TwinCAT 3

Further information on TwinCAT 3 licensing can be found in the Beckhoff Information System in the documentation "TwinCAT 3 Licensing").

Licensing under TwinCAT 2

The product is licensed under TwinCAT 2 during installation; a corresponding text field allows you to enter a license key. To evaluate this product, you can activate it for a period of 30 days. To do this, enter "Demo" as the license key.

Licensing the 7-day test version of a TwinCAT 3 Function

A 7-day test version cannot be enabled for a TwinCAT 3 license dongle.

1. Start the TwinCAT 3 development environment (XAE).

2. Open an existing TwinCAT 3 project or create a new project.

3. If you want to activate the license for a remote device, set the desired target system. To do this, select the target system from the Choose Target System drop-down list in the toolbar.

The licensing settings always refer to the selected target system. When the project is activated on the target system, the corresponding TwinCAT 3 licenses are automatically copied to this system.

4. In the Solution Explorer, double-click License in the SYSTEM subtree.

The TwinCAT 3 license manager opens.

5. Open the Manage Licenses tab. In the Add License column, check the check box for the license you want to add to your project (e.g. "TF4100 TC3 Controller Toolbox").

6. Open the Order Information (Runtime) tab.

In the tabular overview of licenses, the previously selected license is displayed with the status “missing”.

7. Click 7-Day Trial License... to activate the 7-day trial license.

A dialog box opens, prompting you to enter the security code displayed in the dialog.

8. Enter the code exactly as it is displayed and confirm the entry.

9. Confirm the subsequent dialog, which indicates the successful activation.

In the tabular overview of licenses, the license status now indicates the expiry date of the license.

10. Restart the TwinCAT system.

The 7-day trial version is enabled.