Overview

Product Activation is the act of authenticating a product for entitled use.  If you need assistance activating, please see Product Activation.  If you have any trouble activating, please proceed.

If at any point during the below troubleshooting steps you find you need further assistance, please feel free to post to the Community Forum.

Troubleshooting

1. From the client workstation where the software is installed, open the License Management Tool.

    From within the License Management Tool, go to the "Tools" menu and select "Options."  
   

    Confirm the server name:

• SELECTserver Online: selectserver.bentley.com -- Make sure Bentley has two e's!
• Home Use SELECTserver: selectserver-home.bentley.com -- The -home is sometimes missing.
• Deployed SELECTserver: In most cases, the server name should match the hostname for the server where SELECTserver is installed on your network. Check with your site administrator to make sure you're using the correct server name.

     Confirm the site activation key:

• Given the length of the site activation key, we recommend copying and pasting the site activation key.
• Make sure there are no leading or trailing spaces. Copying and pasting sometimes results in an extra space at the end.
• The site activation key is case sensitive. All letters should be CAPITALIZED.
• Anything which looks like an 'O' is a zero (0). Our keys do not use the letter O.

     Click "Test Connection". You should get a message stating “SELECT Server and Activation key verified.
   

    You could also get the following messages:

• “An error has occurred while attempting to verify the server and activation key” -- This means the server specified could not be reached.

• • Try enabling the “Use HTTPS (SSL)” setting. Your network may require it.
  • There may be a firewall or proxy server preventing communication with the server. Review our information on connecting to Bentley servers through firewall or proxy servers.
  • See the next step for information on verifying your connection to your SELECTserver.

• “Server does not support this activation key.” -- This means a connection to the server specified was able to be made, but the Site Activation Key is incorrect. 

• • Return to the previous step to confirm Server Name and Site Activation Key.

2. Verify that you are able to connect with your SELECTserver.

• SELECTserver Online (Hosted)

• • Are you able to access https://selectserver.bentley.com?
  • • Yes, in Internet Explorer: This indicates you are connected to the internet and your settings are allowing communication with Bentley's server. Bentley's License Management Tool uses Internet Explorer's internet settings to communicate with our server.
    • Yes, in another browser: This indicates you are connected to the internet, but your Internet Explorer's internet settings may be preventing communication with our server. Try in Internet Explorer.
    • No, not at all: There is a problem with your internet connection or firewall on that computer. Please consult with your internal support to resolve this issue.
• Deployed SELECTserver (Local)

• • Go to Start > Run. Enter 'cmd' and click 'Okay'. This will open a command prompt. In this new window, enter 'ping <servername>' where <servername> is the name of your SELECTserver which you have set in your License Management Tool.
  • If you get a response, you're able to communicate with your server.
  • If you do not get a response, try entering the IP address instead to rule out a DNS issue. Otherwise, check with your network administrator to resolve the connectivity issue.

3. Verify your license is up to date on your SELECTserver Administration Site.

• Go to your SELECTserver Administration Site

• • SELECTserver Online (Hosted): http://selectserver.bentley.com/bss/admin/
  • Deployed SELECTserver (Local): http://yourservername/bss/admin/ where 'yourservername' is the name of the server where the SELECTserver software is installed.

• Go to 'View License File' under the 'License Management' menu.

• • Verify that a license is listed for the product you are trying to activate.
  • Verify that the expiration date for that license is valid (any date after today).

4. From within the License Management Tool, go to the "Tools" menu and select "Send Logs Now."  This forces the workstation to re-establish connection with the server. Repeat up to three times.

5. If your activation completes without error but you are still asked to activate when opening the product, try to run the License Management Tool as an Administrator (Right click > Run as Administrator) You may not have the proper permissions to record the "check-out" to the registry. Otherwise contact the Administrator of the machine.

6. Try to activate on another machine.  If another machine can establish a connection, investigate any potential differences between the two computers.

7. Open Internet Explorer, and ensure that Offline Mode is unchecked in the File menu. Because the License Management Tool relies upon Internet Explorer, it cannot connect to the Internet if the browser is configured for Offline Mode.

Again, if you need further assistance, please feel free to contact Product Activation support by posting to the SELECTserver and Product Activation Forum.

See Also

Troubleshoot different Licensing issues:
http://communities.bentley.com/products/licensing/w/licensing__wiki/2779.aspx