Autodesk Technology Managers Forum
Share your knowledge, ask questions, and engage with fellow CAD/BIM Managers.
cancel
Showing results for 
Show  only  | Search instead for 
Did you mean: 

Serial Numbers Help for AutoCAD 2013 and newer

9 REPLIES 9
Reply
Message 1 of 10
AutoCUD
1617 Views, 9 Replies

Serial Numbers Help for AutoCAD 2013 and newer

Can anyone tell me how the serial numbers work for AutoCAD 2013 and newer? We have a few different versions of CAD. Two Seats of basic CAD, four seats of Design Suite Standard, one seat of Design Suite Premium, and three seats of Fab MEP. In the subscription center (when i can get to it - another issue) there is only ONE serial number and one product key for each product. Is this serial number to be used for ALL installs? I am told you can only use the number twice before you get an email from Autodesk saying it is an unlicensed product or something. I need to install these products on desktops and laptops for our use in field. Which BTW I am also told is accepted practice by Autodesk. Any help would be appreciated. Cannot get answers from sales rep for some reason.Smiley Frustrated

9 REPLIES 9
Message 2 of 10
pendean
in reply to: AutoCUD

You said it: ONE serial number/product key FOR EACH PRODUCT.

Your serial number, at Autodesk, is approved for what you listed:
One Serial Number for two seats of AutoCAD;
One Serial Number for four seats of DSS;
One Serial Number for one seat of DSP;
One Serial number for 3-seats of FAB MEP.

Can your sales rep's Manager, then Company Owner, until you get an answer to all your questions, or contact your bank to threaten payment revocation, and get your queries answered.

If you are on subscriptionsand get get into it to see what you wrote, then you can use that subscription support to answer all of your questions: it's what you paid for. Autodesk communicates to you by email and through subscription center.
Message 3 of 10
AutoCUD
in reply to: pendean

This is what I was hoping was the case. I appreciate your feed back. As for what I pay for, you are correct. They should be responding quicker than they are. Things have changed a lot over the years. And not necessarily for the better. Thanks for the info! Have a great day!
Message 4 of 10
AllenJessup
in reply to: AutoCUD

Dean's suggestion about Subscription support is a good one. Check what level of support you've paid for. If it's Gold you should have a phone number to call. A lot of resellers are throwing that into quotes and invoices. Sometimes without fully explaining what it gives you or that there are lesser levels available.

 

Whether what you have as far as SN and product key may be fine, depending on the type of licenses you have. BTW the product key will always be the same for each product. They don't change from license to license.

 

We have a network license for 5 seats of Infrastructure Design Suite Premium. One License number and the one product key. I believe that with stand alone licenses one SN can cover more than one seats.

 

If by "Sales Rep" you mean your reseller. My opinion would be that it's time to look for a new reseller. Ours could answer a question like that mostly of the top of their head or within minutes if they had to log into the Autodesk system.

 

Allen Jessup



Allen Jessup
Engineering Specialist / CAD Manager

Message 5 of 10
AutoCUD
in reply to: AllenJessup

Our Sales Rep / Reseller is new to us. At least somewhat. We use the Fab MEP software now which was formerly called CADDuct. We paid yearly subscriptions to them as well as Autodesk, so we had two reps. In an effort to combine them and have a single point of contact we now have one subscription with the Fab MEP group. They were bought out by Autodesk and are now an authorized reseller and tech support for all products we use. We went this route because they have more knowledge on the Fab MEP then our Autodesk rep did. It is new to them and to us and will hopefully run smooth soon. But until then it has been a confusing ride for all of us.
Message 6 of 10
AllenJessup
in reply to: AutoCUD

OK. That makes sense. But they should have one person who can look up licensing and might know what kind of licensed you have. Strangely enough at our reseller the licensing expert is the salesman not one of the support techs. He does an excellent job. He learned it on his own initiative because he realize his clients needed someone who could help them with this.

 

Hope you get this resolved soon.

 

Allen



Allen Jessup
Engineering Specialist / CAD Manager

Message 7 of 10
AllenJessup
in reply to: AutoCUD

A better description of the different support leves can be seen HERE.

 

Allen



Allen Jessup
Engineering Specialist / CAD Manager

Message 8 of 10
paulk
in reply to: AutoCUD

Each product should have an "End User License Agreement" (or EULA) that tells you if it can be installed on more than one system per user (ie, office desktop + field laptop or office desktop + home PC, etc). It's a long read, so you have to pay attention.

 

From your description, it sounds like you have "multiseat standalone" products (for those with multiple seats on one serial). Each installation will authorize against AD's authorization service. If you are licensed for two seats, after two installations you will be denied. However, you should be given an option to authorize over the phone - again you will have to look for this because, if I recall correctly, the option is buried in a small link or similar fine print. If they have done away with the phone call option, you should be able to send a note explaining you case. In either case, if the EULA allows for the additional installs, it will most likely be granted within 24-48 hours. It's much faster if you can get in over the phone.

 

The same headache will be true if you upgrade computers mid year or someone leaves and you reimage a system for the new person.

Message 9 of 10
rkmcswain
in reply to: paulk


@PaulK wrote:

............ "multiseat standalone" products (for those with multiple seats on one serial). Each installation will authorize against AD's authorization service. If you are licensed for two seats, after two installations you will be denied. 


Not exactly true. We have been on MSSA licenses for many years and always activate more seats than we have licenses (there is a legit reason), and only once did we ever "run out of activations". There is an unpublished limit (allowed activations = # of seats X 2.5?), but a 1:1 ratio has never been the case for us.

R.K. McSwain     | CADpanacea | on twitter
Message 10 of 10
paulk
in reply to: rkmcswain

Hey RK, I don't doubt that. All I can say is that about 4 months ago we deployed our six MSSA seats of MEP design suite. When I moved someone to another PC, I had to phone in an authorization. I guess I wonder if things change periodically in the background... So to your point - plan for the worst, hope for the best. Know what's allowed in your EULA and that even if the automated system turns you down, you can get what you are entitled to.

Can't find what you're looking for? Ask the community or share your knowledge.

Post to forums  

Administrator Productivity


Autodesk Design & Make Report