Moving to Subsription service - determining best licensing option

[Anonymous]

Our small-medium office currently has 12 stand-alone AutoCAD LT licenses for each user and 3 shared network licenses for Full AutoCAD, for when users need to use (albeit infrequently) some special features that are not available in LT. Our LT licenses are a combination of different versions from 2012-2015, while the AutoCAD licenses are all 2012. We will moving to the subscription service soon and I was hoping that this move will help alleviate several problems we have with this setup:

1 - We are a small office and do not have a dedicated IT department to manage licenses, networks keys, etc. This becomes a hassle when replacing or adding workstations, we need to carefully keep track of which license/version is used on each PC and remember to manually deactivate when we replacing a workstation. 

Q: The way I understand the subscription service is that the licenses are tied to an Autodesk Account rather than a serial number. So would we just have one account for the company with 12 LT + 3 Full licenses linked to it and use this one sign-in each time we setup a new PC and install AutoCAD? Our account will know how many licenses have already been assigned and activate as long as one is available. Is this correct?

2 - We use a NAS for our local network instead of a traditional server setup. This serves us very well for our needs and is just plain simpler to use. However, we are unable to install Network License Manager on it, so our shared AutoCAD 2012 network keys were setup on a windows PC dedicated solely for this. Its fine when it works but it means we have to keep this PC running 24/7 and it is prone to random hangups, shutdowns and reboots (as is the case with any Windows PC). Its a burden for our employees to have to go into our server closet to check the issue everytime the license manager won't connect. As such, for the last couple years, we've gotten rid of this PC and just installed our 3 licenses on 3 users workstations - this means there has to be some workstation swapping when other users need access to the full version. A hassle, but at least its stable.

Q: Reading other posts, it seems that AutoCAD can be installed on multiple machines as long as only one account is active at any given time. There is no mention of needing to use the NLM for this to work. It seems with the subscription, the licenses are now floating. Does this make the Network License Manager obsolete? Can we install our full version of AutoCAD on say 9-10 workstations provided we do not exceed 3 licenses in use concurrently? 

My dream setup is that we have all of our AutoCAD licenses (12 LT + 3 Full) linked to one sign-in account (or at least one serial number). We can then install both AutoCAD and LT on every workstation so that every station has access to both programs - if the max number of concurrent users are exceeded, a message will popup telling us so and we just need to shut down one or add more licenses, if needed. (Our Lumion 3D licenses work exactly like this and it is incredibly easy to manage and scale - unfortunately, it is not subscription-based so we have to purchase upgrade licenses every few years.) 

Is this setup possible with the subscription service? I see there are single-user and mutil-user versions of the service...Which version of the service is right for us?

Many thanks in advance,

RB

[Mark.Lancaster]

@Anonymous

Do you have a reseller?  If so you should be having this discussion with them.

Anyhow to your requirements.

1.  Single User Subscription:  This subscription requires a user account to be tied to a given Autodesk product.  However each user has to have their own account and the product benefit assigned to them.  A single account has you dream is not possible.  Each user needs their own Autodesk account that is assigned to your subscription and they would use that to sign in.  Yes you may have a single serial # with multiple quantities but the contract manager and/or software coordinator for your subscription must manage and assign this information to the user.  Also, unless you are purchasing a very very large quantity of Acad LT, it will always be single user subscription.   One finale thing..  Single user subscription "phones" home every time the product is launched.  Do all of your users have internet connection that is not behind a proxy, restricted or limited?

2.  Multi-User Subscription:  Is the same thing as perpetual network license.  No difference

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the quick reply.

I’m the managing partner of one of our branch offices in Asia. So while we do have a Reseller here (whom we’ve confirmed is on AutoCAD’s list of Authorized Resellers for the region), it is difficult having this discussion through a translator, so please bear with my queries on this forum until I’m clear on the specifics in English first....


So I understand then that the single-user subscriptions are still managed centrally? Just so I’m clear, a typical purchase and setup scenario in our case would be:


* Our Company has say 20 active AutoCAD LT users;
* We purchase 20 AutoCAD LT subscriptions (all linked to one serial no.);
* In a central management interface, I would assign each user to one license (but it is not necessarily locked to one workstation);

To install/update software:


* On their office PC, User A logs in with their unique Autodesk username/password to download and activate software with said credentials (they do not need to mess around with serial numbers);
* User A can also login and install the software by the same method on one laptop or home computer;
* When User A moves to a new workstation, they simply need to login with their Autodesk credentials on the new station.
* User A will get notifications when a new update or version is available – provided they have been granted the permission, they can download and install the new version themselves and activate it the same way (again, without fussing around with serial numbers).

A few questions about this:

a – If User A wishes to use the software installed on their laptop (say, on the weekend) does anything need to be done manually by the software manager? Does the user need to manually logout of their Autodesk account on their office PC, or will it work so long as AutoCAD (activated under their username) is not open on another PC?

b – Does the management interface tell me which computer names the program is currently activated on? So if User A has AutoCAD installed on their office workstation and their laptop, I would see something like CADSTATION_A; CADLAPTOP_A, for example listed under User A?

c – Let’s say User A’s workstation dies. Rather than repairing it we just decide to get an entirely new PC. We no longer have access to the dead PC. When the user changes to the new workstation, let’s call it CADSTATION_B, I assume we would need to deactivate CADSTATION_A in the management console in order to release the license for use on the new workstation, correct? We don’t need to manually do anything on the dead PC?

Thanks again.

[Mark.Lancaster · Accepted solution]

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@Anonymous wrote:

So I understand then that the single-user subscriptions are still managed centrally? Just so I’m clear, a typical purchase and setup scenario in our case would be:


* Our Company has say 20 active AutoCAD LT users;
* We purchase 20 AutoCAD LT subscriptions (all linked to one serial no.);
* In a central management interface, I would assign each user to one license (but it is not necessarily locked to one workstation);


All of your subscription based software is managed through your Autodesk Account.  But is controlled by the person who is assigned the contract manager or software coordinate role for your subscription.  Yes the software activation is tied to the user's Autodesk account and not to a given workstation.  But the named account can only be used once (at a given time) to launch and activation a given Autodesk application.

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@Anonymous wrote:

To install/update software:


* On their office PC, User A logs in with their unique Autodesk username/password to download and activate software with said credentials (they do not need to mess around with serial numbers);
* User A can also login and install the software by the same method on one laptop or home computer;
* When User A moves to a new workstation, they simply need to login with their Autodesk credentials on the new station.
* User A will get notifications when a new update or version is available – provided they have been granted the permission, they can download and install the new version themselves and activate it the same way (again, without fussing around with serial numbers).

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I would recommend your installation comes from the Autodesk Virtual Agent (and follow the download links to your product) and not use your Autodesk Account to do this.  You will still have a serial number unless you are assigned a CLIC (cloud based) license when you subscribe.  When the software install and launched it will prompt you with log in, enter serial #, or network license.

The installation would be the same for all types of machines.  One thing to point out..  If the user moves to another machine that was being used by another assigned user, the first user needs to sign out of the Autodesk applications in order for the new user to sign in.  You can also perform a license reset.

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@Anonymous wrote:
A few questions about this:

a – If User A wishes to use the software installed on their laptop (say, on the weekend) does anything need to be done manually by the software manager? Does the user need to manually logout of their Autodesk account on their office PC, or will it work so long as AutoCAD (activated under their username) is not open on another PC?

b – Does the management interface tell me which computer names the program is currently activated on? So if User A has AutoCAD installed on their office workstation and their laptop, I would see something like CADSTATION_A; CADLAPTOP_A, for example listed under User A?

c – Let’s say User A’s workstation dies. Rather than repairing it we just decide to get an entirely new PC. We no longer have access to the dead PC. When the user changes to the new workstation, let’s call it CADSTATION_B, I assume we would need to deactivate CADSTATION_A in the management console in order to release the license for use on the new workstation, correct? We don’t need to manually do anything on the dead PC?

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Question #A:  The named account can be used up to 3X in a given time to perform required duties.  However the named account can only be used a single (given) time to launch and activate a given Autodesk Account on a given machine.  So if the user needs to work elsewhere, they must log out of any other machine where they have activated the software.  Also once the application use has been assigned, the contract manager and/or software coordinator for the subscription doesn't need to do anything else if the user needs to use the application elsewhere.

Question #B:  The Contract Manager and Software Coordinator has access to the device listing that indicates machines activating software but its a worthless interface.  With subscription based software, you can install the software on numerous machines since the activation is through the name account.

Question #C: As I stated in question #b..  Subscription based software can be installed on numerous machine.  The activation is tied to the user account and not a machine.  If the machine fails, there's no need to worry about the installed software or activation on the machine.

Hope all of this info helped.. 

[Anonymous · Accepted solution]

Thanks, just a few follow up questions:

I would recommend your installation comes from the Autodesk Virtual Agent (and follow the download links to your product) and not use your Autodesk Account to do this. You will still have a serial number unless you are assigned a CLIC (cloud based) license when you subscribe. When the software install and launched it will prompt you with log in, enter serial #, or network license.
So a user's account login info can be used for activation on a given machine in lieu of a serial number? And in theory, we can use their company email as their user account login (ie, [email protected])? I just want to simply the process for our users (and in turn, for me) if they do not need to remember serial numbers or additional usernames/passwords...
Also, what are the benefits of a CLIC license and would it be useful in my scenario?
Question #A: The named account can be used up to 3X in a given time to perform required duties. However the named account can only be used a single (given) time to launch and activate a given Autodesk Account on a given machine. So if the user needs to work elsewhere, they must log out of any other machine where they have activated the software. Also once the application use has been assigned, the contract manager and/or software coordinator for the subscription doesn't need to do anything else if the user needs to use the application elsewhere.
Not quite sure I understand the first two lines of your reply. So in my scenario, if User A is signed into their office machine during the week, leaves on Friday and plans to work from their laptop on the weekend, this should be hassle free as long as they shutdown their office PC on Friday? Does shutting down the PC constitute 'logging-out'? They don't have to manually sign out of the software, do they (I know other subscription software requires this which is hugely inconvenient)? But let's say they forget to logout/shutdown on Friday... can they login to their Autodesk account online and logout from their office PC (or reset the license) from there? Or does this need to be done by the software manager?
FINALLY, can we use this method as a means of circumventing the need to use the Network License Manager? As I mentioned, some of our users need to use the added features of normal AutoCAD (namely express tools and some LSP routines) from time-to-time. In our network environment, setting up the NLM has proven inconvenient. So can we either:

1. assign our three full AutoCAD licenses to new email aliases, say [email protected], [email protected], etc... and give these username and passwords to our staff (at least the ones who will need to use it). We then install full AutoCAD on all of their machines and when they need to use it, they simply login with one of the aliases, perform their task, then log out. Provided each of three aliases are only used at one time, will this work?
OR (and this is ideal but probably a long-shot)..

1. assign our three licenses to 7 or 8 different named users (Autodesk account holders). Full AutoCAD is installed on each of their machines so when one needs to use it, they just login with their own credentials. They will be granted use of it so long as all three licenses are currently not in use (they will need to ask a colleague to logout if so). I guess what I just described is basically a multi-user license but without using the Network License Manager, so like I said, long-shot.

[Mark.Lancaster]

@Anonymous

Your formatting of your replay makes it a little hard to determine where some of your your question start and finish.   If I miss something please let me know.

First lets talk about CLIC license.  Sometimes when you order your product through the Autodesk E-Store, Autodesk assigns no serial # to your product and you use the sign in method (upon first launch).  Users do not need to know serial #s but the contract manager/software coordinator still must assign the product usages to them.  However if you're not assigned a CLIC license you still are assigned a serial # and that number and log in credentials are still required when you first launch the application after the installation.

You need to use your company email address for the user when you create the user's information under your contract.  They end up getting emails when you add them and modify their access.  There's numerous documentation about creating users and assigning their benefits.

https://knowledge.autodesk.com/customer-service/account-management/subscription-management/users-per...

https://knowledge.autodesk.com/customer-service/account-management/subscription-management/users-per...

The rules for the named account allows for a given Autodesk ID be logged in 3 times to perform certain duties.

For example

The named account could be

1.  For launching and activating a Autodesk product on a given machine

2.  Logged into a Autodesk service

3.  Logged into the Autodesk Desktop Application

So if the user needs to do something else with their account, they would need to log out from one of the 3 activities they are signed into.  But if its to activate the product on another machine, the user must log out of the machine that is being used to active the product.  In the end, the sign out is considered "dead" if they log out but don't turn the machine off or the machine is turned off.  But the log out has to occur on the machine they were originally using and must be done by the end user.  It can't be "logged off" using their Autodesk Account or by the contract manager or software coordinator for your subscription.  If they forget they will not be entitled to activate the software on another machine.  Granted they could remote into the office pc and log out/shut it down but if they don't have this right, they will not be able to use it on another machine.

Although you could make generic Autodesk Accounts it is not recommended since the log in information is stored on the machine and you could run into issues.  In addition if you only have 3 license of AutoCAD you can only assign it to 3 users.  If you need more than 3 users to access AutoCAD then you must go the Multi-user route.

[Anonymous]

Thanks, Mark and sorry about the formatting - that reply was sent from Outlook and it clearly didn't translate Outlook's formatting to the forum post properly. I think you captured all my questions. Please just confirm the following (again, I need to be very clear in my own understanding as this will all be fed through a translator to our local Reseller): 1 - CLIC licenses can only be obtained through the Autodesk E-store. We cannot get a CLIC license through our Reseller. Our contract manager will create new named users using their work email address and they will be assigned a certain product (ie, AutoCAD LT). When installing and activating on their machine (upon first launch), users will need to login with their email address and password AND enter the product's serial number. 2 - When adding more seats in the future, we can request that these seats be added to our existing serial number. In short, for the foreseeable future, we will only need one serial number for LT and one for AutoCAD, regardless of how many seats we have for each. 3 - To LAUNCH and USE an Autodesk product they are assigned to (ie, AutoCAD LT), users can be concurrently logged in to up to three machines (provided the product is already activated on each machine). Logging out is only necessary when ACTIVATING a product on a new machine. Once the product is activated on say, one laptop and one desktop, a user can switch between using the software on each machine without necessarily logging out of one. (Apologies in advance if I still missed that last one). Thanks for all the help.

[Mark.Lancaster]

@Anonymous

Yeah you should never reply using your email system..  Reply by coming back to the forum and reply there.. 

CLIC license is only through the Autodesk E-STORE

Just a clarification...   Upon first launch (unless a CLIC license/no serial #), the user will pick enter serial #/product key.  Enter that info and then will be prompted to sign in.  The next time the user launches the program, it just goes through using the last active Autodesk Account used.

Adding more seats:  I don't think this is possible and you would have to create a new subscription for additional seats since the "terms" would be different.

Logging out clarification:  If the user is activating and/or running the given Autodesk application on another machine, the user must log out on the previous machine before accessing the product on the other machine.   The named account can't be used on 2 separate machines to activate the same product.  In the end the user just needs to sign out (at top of Autodesk application screen), exit the program and/or turn of machine.

[Anonymous]

Much appreciated, I think that clarifies it. I'll probably need to purchase a few subscription licenses to start and play around with the management software and assignment/activation/usage procedures to fully understand the functionality before committing this to our entire office. It seems the initial management/user assignments should only be time consuming upon the initial switch to subscription (when setting up and assign all users). I shouldn't need to really manage this again except when we need to add/remove/change users in the future (which is relatively infrequent). 

My ultimate goal here (with all our software) is to streamline my software management/installation process and let the employees install/activate themselves (we are in the midst of either replacing or upgrading most of our current workstations and I dread having to re-install and reactive AutoCAD - and all our software - on each of these individually). I'm trying to limit my time with software the management and deployment, so the benefits of subscription are actually pretty appealing to me, provided I get the purchase and setup done right. I run an office where most users' native tongue in not English but we insist on using only English language software, so its important that this process is straightforward and can easily be done by the individual since I'm out of the office often. From our exchanges, it seems as though as long as they know their username/password and are given the serial number, installation and daily usage should be quite easy, no?