PLAXIS CONNECT Edition - upgrade from Hardware lock to Flexible licensing

The latest PLAXIS applications are featuring a dongle-less licensing called Subscription Entitlement Service (SES), sometimes also referred to as CONNECT Licensing.

This letter below was sent as an e-mail to selected PLAXIS HWL users in October 2021.

Starting January 1st, 2022, the PLAXIS HWL versions and the VIP subscription have been discontinued. This includes access to the PLAXIS Remote Scripting services for these versions. To allow time for transition to the PLAXIS CONNECT Edition version, the Remote Scripting Server services for PLAXIS HWL versions will continue to function until December 31, 2022. After this date, the Remote Scripting Server services will be discontinued.

Subject: Upgrade to PLAXIS CONNECT Edition by December 31, 2021

Hello Valued PLAXIS User,

As you read in our email, Bentley will no longer support hardware lock-based versions of PLAXIS after December 31, 2021. All dongle-based versions will be treated as "V8i SELECTseries 10" according to Bentley's Support Policy.

If you have already renewed your contract and it includes HWL licenses, please open a Service Ticket and request the upgrade to CONNECT Edition.

SELECT users: If you have received a renewal quote that includes HWL licenses, please contact your Renewal Representative and request they upgrade them to CONNECT Edition. By doing so, you will see a decrease in costs for PLAXIS - the hardware-locked version of PLAXIS is on average 20% more than what you'll pay for the CONNECT Edition.
If your contract has a January 1, 2022 or later renewal date, you will automatically receive a quote for the CONNECT Edition equivalents of your licenses.

ELS users: Your PLAXIS usage will be reviewed at reset time. If you are already using CONNECT Edition software, no further action is required. If you are still using dongle-based versions, you will need to upgrade them to CONNECT Edition prior to your ELS renewal. Your Enterprise Renewal Representative will provide you a quotation that includes both your ELS standard usage and the fees associated to move those licenses to your Enterprise License Subscription contract. Please contact your ELS Renewal Representative if you have any questions.

E365 users: If you are still using hardware lock-based versions, you will need to upgrade to CONNECT Edition by the end of this calendar year, prior to Q4 2021 usage billing. There is no cost associated for you to move old versions to PLAXIS CONNNECT Edition. Please contact your Enterprise Success Manager or Enterprise Renewal Representative with your request or if you have any questions.

The newest CONNECT Edition version of PLAXIS offers:

New constitutive models:
- NorSand for modeling static liquefaction. This model is often used for tailing dam assessments
- PM4Silt for investigating liquefaction and cyclic mobility of clays and silts
- OC-Clay to simulate soil behavior for overconsolidated clays
- Hoek and Brown with softening behavior
- Masonry for simulating unreinforced masonry structures
- Fluid model to simulate the effects of free water concerning fluid-structure interaction
- and more...
Automation improvements with:
- Scripting Reference manual [link]
- PLAXIS Soiltest supports command line and remote scripting [SIG webinar]
ProjectWise and Cloud services integration [video]
PLAXIS 2D Classic Converter [video]
PLAXIS 2D to 3D converter
Full Calculation Manager [video]
Exporting to ParaView [full article]
PLAXIS LE Model importer [video]
Improved mesh performance and Swept meshing functionality (PLAXIS 3D)
Added Mass for dynamic response of water in reservoirs [case]
Flexible, dongle-free licensing options.
Pooled licenses for use on any machine within your organization, accessible from any location, for ease of use in remote working situations
Immediate availability of more licenses whenever needed

Find more information below on how to upgrade from your hardware lock to flexible licensing.

Other language sources

中国人 | Chinese

日本 | Japanese

Do you want to upgrade to the latest PLAXIS CONNECT Edition?

Then follow the steps below.

Contact your Bentley representative (see above).
You can also reach us by submitting a Service Ticket and requesting the migration to CONNECT Edition. Make sure the select
- Category: Account
- Problem area 1: Product/Subscription adjustment
- Problem area 2: Cross grade
After the upgrade process is finished, you will be notified by email by a Bentley colleague.
Then, get started by downloading, and installing the latest PLAXIS CONNECT Edition.
As soon as the PLAXIS CONNECT Edition license is available for you, make sure to follow the steps in enabling alerts and creating groups fully controlling access: Click here to read about the Subscription Entitlement Service workflow.
After the PLAXIS application configuration, click on the created shortcut on the Windows Desktop or search in the Windows Start menu.
PLAXIS starts and gives the option to use one or more licenses and entitlements that unlock various capabilities.

The new PLAXIS CONNECT Edition versions:

have great features to deal with new challenges
are utilizing a dongle-less flexible licensing system: The PLAXIS CONNECT Edition versions provide flexible software usage. This license system does not require special hardware, like a CodeMeter hardware lock/USB dongle, effectively lowering the effort to manage who can use the software. Flexible usage means using PLAXIS from any location and any computer while being a CONNECTED user, and when there is a sudden need for more simultaneous use of the software that is easily applied without any lengthy administrative process based on the actual usage..
and are approved by local authorities, e.g. in Hong Kong.

Compatibility

The PLAXIS software has been designed to load older PLAXIS versions to continue where you left off and benefit from the new features and improved behavior.
For older PLAXIS 2D Classic projects, we introduced the PLAXIS 2D Classic to PLAXIS 2D converter to directly bring in your models from PLAXIS 2D Classic files.

All dongle/hardware lock (HWL) based versions of PLAXIS 2D/3D are treated as "V8i SELECTseries 10" according to Bentley's Support Policy. This means that Bentley will discontinue support for hardware lock based versions of PLAXIS after December 31, 2021. This includes PLAXIS 2D 2019 and older, and PLAXIS 3D 2018 and older.