Rockwell Automation FactoryTalk Activation

FactoryTalk Activation is the copy-protection and licence-enforcement system for Rockwell Automation on-premise software. It works by binding the licence for a product to a specific device, such as a dongle, an Ethernet address or a hard disk drive, so that the product can run in production. A system-generated signature based on machine-specific information protects the activation. If the signature is tampered with, damaged or deleted, the software will not function.^[1] The Software and Cloud Services Agreement makes the grant of use depend on compliance with any activation process. It defines the Activation Certificate as the document that may carry the Activation Key and the Use Type and Term of Use, and the Activation Key as the alphanumeric code that enables the Software to be activated.^[20] For software asset managers, FactoryTalk Activation is the main technical record of deployed Rockwell Automation entitlements. The contract terms are covered in Rockwell Automation licensing.

Editions

FactoryTalk Activation is not sold as a separate product. It comes with the licensed software and is administered with FactoryTalk Activation Manager. Rockwell Automation software products offer different activation options. Activations can be bound to a permanent device in a computer, such as a hard disk drive or Ethernet card, or to a removable device such as a dongle.^[2] Two licensing technologies sit underneath. FlexNet Publisher (FNP) activations are served by the vendor service named flexsvr, and CodeMeter activations use CmStick and CmCard dongles.^[3][6] The Studio 5000 ordering guide lists “Flexera Activation” under its legacy editions. These activations enable Logix Designer versions both before and after 20.05.^[21]

Dongles supported by FactoryTalk Activation Manager, as listed in its help.^[6] Some products require a specific dongle type. In that case the error message “Different dongle type needed” shows which type is required.^[6]

Metrics

FactoryTalk Activation counts activations. The licence metric is set in the Order Form and the SCSA, and activations are how the software enforces it. The help defines three activation types.

• Node-locked activation. Locked to a specific piece of computer hardware and used only on the computer it is locked to. Examples are an Ethernet card, a hard disk drive or a dongle. Not all products support node-locked activations.^[2]
• Concurrent activation. Lets multiple computers across a network use Rockwell Software products at the same time. Concurrent activations include floating activations and borrowed activations.^[4] The software connects to a designated activation server, retrieves an activation, and returns it to the pool on shutdown.^[2]
• Capacity activation. A type of concurrent activation where the number of activations depends on a defined capacity of the product, such as tag count, number of users or number of computers.^[4] It enforces the SCSA’s Capacity-Based Use.

Concurrent activations are how the SCSA’s Concurrent Use is enforced. That Use Type caps simultaneous users at “the number of valid software activations identified in the Order Form”.^[20] Studio 5000 Logix Designer licences are concurrent.^[21]

Counting / floors

Reading an activation file. An activation file is the licence record. In the concurrent example in the help, the file opens with a SERVER line that names the activation server and its binding. It continues with the vendor service flexsvr and an INCREMENT line that holds the feature name (for example RS500.exe), a version number, the word “permanent” and a count. The version number means the activation works only with versions up to and including it. The count is the number of concurrent activations purchased and available for checkout or borrowing. The file also records VENDOR_STRING (the product serial number) and BORROW (the maximum hours an activation can be borrowed). A node-locked file carries HOSTID, which is the binding of the machine the activation is locked to, and may be “uncounted”. Uncounted means an unlimited number of activations can be used on that host.^[3] “Permanent” marks an activation that never expires. Subscription activations are time-limited and are renewed (see below). Catalog proof: Node-locked activations run only on the bound host.

Getting activations. To download an activation, the user needs the product serial number, the product key and the earliest version of the product to activate. More than one copy of a product’s activation can be downloaded, and a binding is chosen for each.^[8] Fixed devices such as the boot hard disk or network adapter serial numbers are suitable bindings. A docked laptop’s network adapter is not suitable, because the software will not run once the laptop is undocked.^[7]

Reading the Available Activations table. FactoryTalk Activation Manager’s Available Activations table shows the following for each product: serial number, expiration date, support end date, activation name, feature version, location, the total purchased, the number in use and the number borrowed.^[18] The help gives two caveats that matter for reconciliation. First, when a product has both node-locked and concurrent activations, the concurrent total includes the node-locked activation and may show an unexpected value. Second, node-locked and local-only activations on a remote or server computer do not appear in a client computer’s list.^[18] An inventory therefore has to gather activation data from every activation server and every node-locked host, not from one client.

Precedence and reservation. Studio 5000 uses the highest edition available on the activation server first.^[21] Some other products, such as FactoryTalk Linx and FactoryTalk Transaction Manager, check out activations in order of precedence.^[14] Administrators control allocation through the flexsvr.opt options file. It can reserve activations for specific computers or users, restrict the maximum borrow time per computer and manage capacity access.^[12] For example, a RESERVE line can hold two Logix Designer activations for one named computer.^[13] Higher-precedence activations still check out first unless they are excluded.^[14] Catalog proof: Activations can be reserved or excluded per host via the options file; Studio 5000 selects the highest edition available on the activation server.

Grace period and unactivated use. Without activation, some products will not run, some run with reduced functionality, and others run for a limited time before shutting down.^[1] If activation fails through network loss, configuration error, hardware failure or too few available activations, products keep running for a seven-day grace period. Messages appear at the start, every four hours and at expiry. The grace period is provided by all products that affect running systems. Design products may or may not have one.^[16] After a network failure, a computer tries to reconnect three times at 60-second intervals. A two-hour TCP timeout applies before concurrent activations are checked back in.^[16] Catalog proof: Seven-day grace period when activation fails; Without activation products stop, degrade or time out.

Floors. FactoryTalk Activation sets no minimum quantity. The count in each activation file comes from the purchase.

Virtualization & partitioning

Borrowing. A borrowed activation is a concurrent activation checked out from the server pool to a computer or dongle. After checkout the device no longer needs a network connection. When the borrow term expires, the software stops being activated on that device and the activation returns to the pool.^[2] A borrowed CodeMeter or FlexNet activation can only activate applications installed on the same machine. It cannot activate applications on another virtual or physical machine.^[9] When several activations are borrowed together, the shortest borrow limit in the group applies to all of them.^[10] The factory-set maximum is the BORROW= value in the activation file. If a file has no BORROW= statement, the product does not support borrowing. Administrators can lower the maximum with MAX_BORROW_HOURS in the options file.^[11] Catalog proof: Borrowed activations expire after the borrow term and run only locally.

Remote Desktop. If a CodeMeter activation is borrowed to a computer running Windows Server, users who connect to that computer through Remote Desktop Services cannot use the activation.^[9]

Rehosting. Rehosting moves an activation file from one computer or device to another. It deactivates the file on the current host and creates a rehost code, which Rockwell Technical Support can use to generate a new activation file.^[5] Rehosting is meant only for infrequent events, such as a computer upgrade or failure. Each serial number can be rehosted through the website up to three times in any 12-month period, and a fourth rehost needs a call to Technical Support. Borrowed activations must be returned before a rehost. Re-downloading after a disconnected rehost requires the original product key.^[15] In practice, node-locked activations on virtual machines that are cloned, moved or rebuilt often can use up the rehost allowance. A concurrent activation server or a dongle binding avoids repeated rehosting. Catalog proof: Rehost via website up to three times per serial number per 12 months.

Backup servers. For high availability, the help describes a primary and a backup activation server. Both hold the same activation files, bound to a single dongle that is moved to the backup server if the primary fails.^[19] In this design the activations travel with the dongle, so the backup server does not add to the licence count.

Cloud / BYOL

FactoryTalk Activation governs locally installed software. Cloud Services and FactoryTalk Hub products use entitlements allocated to a FactoryTalk Hub organization instead. These are described in Rockwell Automation Studio 5000 and FactoryTalk Design Studio licensing. For subscriptions, Rockwell Automation lists “managed concurrent activation servers” among the benefits.^[22] The retrieved help does not say whether an activation server may run on public-cloud infrastructure. Such a server is still a Device under the SCSA.^[20]

Programs

Renewals of time-limited activations. Activations are renewed when their expiration date is extended or a later version of the feature becomes available. Automatic renewal is on by default. An Internet-connected computer with a time-limited activation checks for renewals every 24 hours by default.^[17] The help gives a separate procedure for renewing an activation from a computer without an Internet connection. On an air-gapped plant network, a subscription that has been renewed commercially therefore needs that manual step before the old expiration date shown in the Available Activations table. Catalog proof: Time-limited activations renew automatically when online. See the Software subscription program row.

Support date. The Available Activations table shows a Support Expires date for each product next to the activation’s own expiry date.^[18] For perpetual licences this is the practical sign of whether Software Support Services are current, and therefore whether later versions may be activated.

Out of scope

• The internals of FlexNet Publisher and CodeMeter beyond what the Rockwell Automation help describes.
• ThinManager’s own ThinManager Activation option, covered in Rockwell Automation FactoryTalk operations and maintenance software licensing.
• Studio 5000 content protection licences (Source and Execution protection) managed through the Studio 5000 License Portal, which protect customer code rather than license Rockwell Automation software.
• Knowledgebase articles behind a Rockwell Automation account sign-in, including the list of activation feature names (Knowledgebase document QA8394).