Determine License Needs

After you review the license and usage reports, determine how many Windchill licenses you need for your upgrade.

Determine the type and number of licenses you need

You need licenses for the count of users who need access to Windchill as a named user or as part of a group of active daily users. Review how licensing has changed for Windchill 11.1 and later.

Use the report from the License Usage Reporting Utility to identify your requirements for license entitlements.

• Identify the number of users of each license type (named users or active daily users).
• Map users to the license profiles with the actions they need.

You will find instructions for using the Windchill License Usage Reporting Utility at the link below and in the utility download file.

Recommended resources

• How to Use Windchill License Usage Reporting Utility
• Windchill Licenses Mapped to License Profiles
• License Profiles Mapped to Actions

Meet your license needs

If your license entitlement needs are not met by your current licenses, work with your PTC sales representative to adjust your license contract, including purchasing additional licenses.

If you currently need more licenses, consider evaluating your existing users based on the License Usage Report.

If you do not need to adjust your licenses, you can install the license file without contacting sales.

PTC technical support can help you understand technical aspects of what you need.

License Compliance and Advisory Services can help you understand license usage. Contact us at advisory_services@ptc.com.

Recommended resources

• Open a support case

Understand use of uncapped licenses

We recommend that all customers have enough licenses to meet their needs. If you cannot determine licensing needs before your upgrade, an uncapped license may be appropriate. An uncapped license file temporarily removes the restriction on number of users while you determine and meet your licensing needs.

Uncapped licenses may be appropriate for you, in cases such as: 

• You need to resolve discrepancies between the Detailed License Report and your contract. Delaying the Windchill upgrade will impact the organization or cause licenses to expire.
• Business changes are making it difficult to understand who needs what type of Windchill access. Perhaps you are in the middle of a merger, an acquisition, or a move to a different license model (for example, from PDMLink H/L to PLM Enterprise).
• You don’t know how many licenses you need and cannot delay upgrading.

To use an uncapped license, your organization must agree to:

• Remove the uncapped license file from your environment as soon as the transition is complete.
• Ensure that you do not use more licenses than you have purchased while using the uncapped license.
• Meet all terms and conditions of the license agreement.
• Promptly pay for any usage above the number of purchased licenses.
• Enable Windchill Performance Advisor, which will monitor license usage and transmit certain data to PTC as described in the data privacy policy at the link below.

If you have questions about uncapped licenses, open a support case. You may also contact License Compliance and Advisory Services at  advisory_services@ptc.com.

Recommended resources

• Security FAQ for Performance Advisor for Windchill 
• PTC Data Privacy Policy
• Open a support case