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Licensing
Details on the licensing solution of PLA 3.0, the available licensing options, and the activation and management of licenses.
Manage existing licenses
Learn how to increase the number of concurrent users, replace a hardware key with a software key, or cross-upgrade from a Seat license to a Concurrent use license.
Cross-upgrade your license
You can switch from a Seat license to a Concurrent use license.

Get started
Explore PLA 3.0, its key features and ongoing enhancements. Learn how it fits into your environment, and how to log in and register.
User interface
PLA 3.0 supports you in your daily work by providing a set of graphical and textual user interface elements. Learn about the different elements and how to use them efficiently.
Key concepts
Details on documents and templates, the data editors and the Content editor of PLA 3.0.
Data analysis
Data analysis add-ons offer a wide range of capabilities, ranging from analytical methods over comprehensive analysis to statistical process control. PLA 3.0 also provides a set of add-ons that support and supplement data analysis add-ons.
Data import
Use data acquisition and data import add-ons to import external response values and observation data into PLA 3.0 for further processing and evaluation.
Installation
Details on the deployment and installation of licensed PLA 3.0 versions.
Licensing
Details on the licensing solution of PLA 3.0, the available licensing options, and the activation and management of licenses.
- Licensing options
  The licensing option determines the number of users who can access PLA 3.0 at the same time. It also determines the number of computers on which you can install PLA 3.0.
- Information packages
  Information packages play a central role in the installation and licensing process. They contain key data required to get PLA 3.0 up and running in your environment.
- Activate your license
  To activate your PLA 3.0 license, you install a software key on the computer or license server that should hold the PLA 3.0 license. Activating the PLA 3.0 license automatically activates the license keys for your add-ons.
- Transfer your license
  PLA 3.0 licenses are tied to the computer to which you apply the vendor-to-customer (.v2c) file. Before you change the hardware or operating system of this computer, you have to temporarily transfer the license to a different computer.
- Manage existing licenses
  Learn how to increase the number of concurrent users, replace a hardware key with a software key, or cross-upgrade from a Seat license to a Concurrent use license.
  - Update your license
    Update your Concurrent use license to increase the number of users allowed to work with PLA 3.0 at the same time.
  - Replace a hardware key with a software key
    You can replace your existing hardware Sentinel HL USB dongle or hardlock dongle with a software key.
  - Cross-upgrade your license
    You can switch from a Seat license to a Concurrent use license.
- Licenses on a license server
  By default, clients can access all Sentinel license servers running in the same subnet. If you operate several subnets or want to restrict the access of clients to a license server, you have to control the access accordingly.
- Legacy protection keys
  We recommend software keys for license activation. However, we also support legacy protection keys, namely hardware-based Sentinel protection keys and hardlock keys.
Administration
Details on system administration tasks such as setup and maintenance of databases and add-ons, user accounts, access rights, and migration and update procedures.
Regulatory compliance
PLA 3.0 supports you in achieving compliance with regulations such as ISPE GAMP^® 5 and 21 CFR Part 11. It also provides options to validate PLA 3.0 in your environment.
PDF downloads
Download PDF guides of current and previous framework and add-on versions.
Sample lab
Meet the team of Stegmann Labs Inc. and use our sample laboratory to explore core features and functions of PLA 3.0.
Glossary
Find definitions of terms.

Cross-upgrade your license

You can switch from a Seat license to a Concurrent use license.

This can be necessary due to various reasons, for example, if a computer that hosted its own Seat license should now obtain its license from a license server, or if you want to start using PLA 3.0 in a shared environment.

About this task

To cross-upgrade your Seat license, you first activate your new 'Concurrent use' license. In the second step, you retire your original Seat license by transferring it back to Stegmann Systems.

Note: This procedure describes how to retire a software key by transferring it back. To retire a hardware key or hardlock key, send the dongle back to Stegmann Systems.

Procedure

To activate your PLA 3.0 license:

On the computer or license server that should hold the PLA 3.0 license, start the license activation process by collecting status information.
Follow the steps to activate a PLA 3.0 license. For details, see the Use a software key topic.

After you successfully activated your Concurrent use license, transfer your Seat license back to Stegmann Systems:

Use the recipient information (.id) file you received from our Sales team to generate the license transfer (.h2h) file. For details, see the Generate the license transfer file topic.
Send the resulting license transfer (.h2h) file to our Sales team.