Niagara Workbench Annual Renewal
Niagara Workbench Annual Renewal The Niagara Workbench engineering tool expires annually and needs to be renewed. The renewal date is different for each brand; Brand
Licenses expire
Distech
EC-NET-AX
January 15
Honeywell
Webs
March 31
Johnson
FX
October 31
The renewal process is completely automated and transparent. Your PC must have an active internet connection. The next time Workbench is started (after the expiration date), it will make a request to Tridium’s Niagara Central server for a license update. If this fails, review the following; Make sure the internet connection is active Confirm you are logged in as an administrator
The license file is maintained within the Niagara instance. Open Windows Explorer and view the following path;
C:\ Brand of Niagara \ AX Version # \ licenses
C:\Honeywell\WEBStation-AX-3.8.41\licenses
Double click on .license file to open a text editor. Make note of Win ID #, Version#, and Expiration Date;
If you are having trouble with the license not updating Open Windows Explorer and locate the license folder
C:\ Brand of Niagara \ AX Version # \ licenses
C:\Honeywell\WEBStation-AX-3.8.41\licenses
Move the existing license from the license folder to a separate area
Select Install Platform Daemon and then click WEBStation to launch the Workbench
The software will make a request to Tridium’s license server and add the license file to the AX instance license folder. The license should be renewed at this point.
Another method to display the Win ID# Click on Windows Start button / Niagara Workbench Program Folder / Console
A DOS prompt window is presented. At the command line type (there is a space between the e and dash)
nre –hostid
License Manager view from the platform of My Host;
Clicking on Import will present a dialog box
You can choose to load the license from Tridium’s license server or from your PC if you have a copy of the license file.
Multiple Brands of Niagara Workbench on 1 PC
Having multiple brands of Niagara Workbench on your PC can confuse the licensing mechanism. For example, I currently have 3 different Brands of AX on my C: drive.
Notice below that the Honeywell Webs Workbench has a Distech license installed.
To fix this, I opened Windows Explorer, found the license file and moved it to a separate folder. I’m moving it as opposed to deleting it, just as a precaution. First start the Platform Daemon, then start Webs Workbench.
Move the existing license file to a different location
Start Platform Daemon then start Workbench. The Tridium license server installed a new license file.
Webs Workbench now has the proper license file installed
WIN ID # One Win ID# per PC If multiple brands of Workbench are installed on a single PC, there will be multiple unique Niagara license files but they will all have the same Win ID#. When Tridium creates the license file, the filename is the Win ID # and is compressed with .zip. Notice the below license files have the same Win ID# Distech license file;
Honeywell license file;
When using multiple brands, be sure to monitor that the updated license file is placed in the proper subfolder.
Windows Program registration of Niagara Workbench
If you open Control Panel / Programs and Features
Notice that only 1 version of Niagara 3.8.41 is registered in Windows even though I currently have multiple brands loaded using 3.8.41.
This is why the licensing mechanism gets confused if multiple brands are loaded. There is no fix for this. Just some background information.
Licenses expire
Distech
EC-NET-AX
January 15
Honeywell
Webs
March 31
Johnson
FX
October 31
The renewal process is completely automated and transparent. Your PC must have an active internet connection. The next time Workbench is started (after the expiration date), it will make a request to Tridium’s Niagara Central server for a license update. If this fails, review the following; Make sure the internet connection is active Confirm you are logged in as an administrator
The license file is maintained within the Niagara instance. Open Windows Explorer and view the following path;
C:\ Brand of Niagara \ AX Version # \ licenses
C:\Honeywell\WEBStation-AX-3.8.41\licenses
Double click on .license file to open a text editor. Make note of Win ID #, Version#, and Expiration Date;
If you are having trouble with the license not updating Open Windows Explorer and locate the license folder
C:\ Brand of Niagara \ AX Version # \ licenses
C:\Honeywell\WEBStation-AX-3.8.41\licenses
Move the existing license from the license folder to a separate area
Select Install Platform Daemon and then click WEBStation to launch the Workbench
The software will make a request to Tridium’s license server and add the license file to the AX instance license folder. The license should be renewed at this point.
Another method to display the Win ID# Click on Windows Start button / Niagara Workbench Program Folder / Console
A DOS prompt window is presented. At the command line type (there is a space between the e and dash)
nre –hostid
License Manager view from the platform of My Host;
Clicking on Import will present a dialog box
You can choose to load the license from Tridium’s license server or from your PC if you have a copy of the license file.
Multiple Brands of Niagara Workbench on 1 PC
Having multiple brands of Niagara Workbench on your PC can confuse the licensing mechanism. For example, I currently have 3 different Brands of AX on my C: drive.
Notice below that the Honeywell Webs Workbench has a Distech license installed.
To fix this, I opened Windows Explorer, found the license file and moved it to a separate folder. I’m moving it as opposed to deleting it, just as a precaution. First start the Platform Daemon, then start Webs Workbench.
Move the existing license file to a different location
Start Platform Daemon then start Workbench. The Tridium license server installed a new license file.
Webs Workbench now has the proper license file installed
WIN ID # One Win ID# per PC If multiple brands of Workbench are installed on a single PC, there will be multiple unique Niagara license files but they will all have the same Win ID#. When Tridium creates the license file, the filename is the Win ID # and is compressed with .zip. Notice the below license files have the same Win ID# Distech license file;
Honeywell license file;
When using multiple brands, be sure to monitor that the updated license file is placed in the proper subfolder.
Windows Program registration of Niagara Workbench
If you open Control Panel / Programs and Features
Notice that only 1 version of Niagara 3.8.41 is registered in Windows even though I currently have multiple brands loaded using 3.8.41.
This is why the licensing mechanism gets confused if multiple brands are loaded. There is no fix for this. Just some background information.
