This document applies to legacy PLAXIS versions: PLAXIS 2D 2019 or earlier, PLAXIS 3D 218 or earlier.
For information on the latest version PLAXIS CONNECT Edition, please read here.
In these challenging times when COVID-19 is imposing significant disruptions to day-to-day activities and affecting normal business flow of our much-valued users and employees, we at Bentley are mindfully committed to ensuring a smooth transition of work from the office to a remote location or home. Our innovative software and services are all geared for working from home or remote locations and do not impose the need to be in an office set-up.
To ensure a smooth transition of work and effectiveness of your daily workflows with PLAXIS, we have assembled information that you can refer to while working remotely or from home. We are working hard to deliver high levels of customer service, and welcome feedback, questions, and ideas on how we can serve you better in a remote work environment.
In general, Bentley software offers a flexible online licencing system: CONNECT License via the CONNECTION Client. However, this is not applicable to these older PLAXIS versions: the PLAXIS Legacy versions are licensed via a hardware dongle key: the CodeMeter key, making it hardware locked software (PLAXIS HWL). The latest PLAXIS versions are already under the new online and flexible licence system. If you are interested to switch to the dongle-less version for more flexibility and online licence verification, please contact the PLAXIS team via this email address:sales@plaxis.com
There are several solutions to work from home: using Remote Desktop solutions to log into your work computer or into Virtual Machines, use a laptop or install the required software on a different computer.
You may decide to install the software on your home computer. If you do this, you must make sure you can access the PLAXIS licences available on the CodeMeter USB dongle.
In order to install the PLAXIS HWL (Legacy) versions, your computer need to meet these minimum requirements:
The PLAXIS HWL (Legacy) software is licenced via a CodeMeter hardware USB dongle. These grey USB dongles look like this:
To use the licences stored on this CodeMeter USB stick, you need to install additional drivers. The latest support version for PLAXIS is 6.60b, available here: PLAXIS - CodeMeter drivers and will be installed with your PLAXIS HWL version. Note: CodeMeter driver version 7.0 is not supported for PLAXIS HWL (Legacy) versions.
Local CodeMeter dongle
The simplest solution to start working with the PLAXIS HWL (Legacy) version, is to have the CodeMeter dongle available and directly mounted in your computer. There are two options here:
When mounted properly, the system tray icon for CodeMeter will turn from grey into green:
Flexible licence: network CodeMeter dongle
It is also possible to use a flexible licence as a network licence. Depending on the number of licences, one or more people can work with PLAXIS at the same time.
To use a network license:
If you encounter issues, please see Network licence trouble shooting below.
Updating license
When there are issues with the licence or these are expired, you will need the licence tool called PLAXIS Connect, available here:
PLAXIS Connect
Note, this is not the same as the Bentley CONNECTION Client.
All Bentley software is downloadable via the Bentley Software Downloads pages: https://softwaredownloads.bentley.com/
However, the PLAXIS HWL (Legacy) versions are not available here: older PLAXIS versions, prior to the CONNECT Edition can be obtained upon request by submitting a Service Request: https://apps.bentley.com/srmanager/ProductSupport
This includes:
To help preventing the quick spreading of the COVID-19 virus, we will now offer to upgrade any hardware bound PLAXIS CodeMeter licence to a flexible licence. In this way, the licence can be used on any PC or remotely as a network license as described above. Please contact our team sales@plaxis.com how to best arrange this temporary free upgrade.
If you encounter a hardware bound licence that is not working on your computer, please contact sales@plaxis.com and make sure to state the CodeMeter ID (see small sticker on the USB key or the key ID in the CodeMeter Control Center)
In some cases, the network protocols as setup by your company might prevent proper communication. This happens for instance when using Microsoft Direct Access. If this is the case, please consider upgrading to the more flexible Bentley CONNECT Licencing system with online verification of the available licences. Ask our team sales@plaxis.com on how to upgrade and benefit from a dongle-less solution.
Service Request Manager for any technical question and support.
Our technical experts are ready to help
https://apps.bentley.com/srmanager/ProductSupport
Bentley Communities (WIKI and FORUM):
This WIKI and the Forum.
CodeMeter licence troubleshooting
Urgent licence issues for your CodeMeter key? Contact our team sales@plaxis.com
Want to move to a dongle-less version to be more flexible in these challenging times? Contact our team sales@plaxis.com