Last month we announced via email that starting January 1, all new and renewing production subscription licenses will need to use REV11 licensing. (The announcement is also on our website and in our Oct. 1 Synergy-e-News.) We’ve gotten a few questions about this, so I wanted to provide some additional information. This info is also in the FAQ on our website, and we’ll continue to add to that site as new questions come in. This information applies to customers with Synergy/DE 9.5.3b – 10.3.3 on supported Windows and Unix platforms. [Note that the minimum version was updated from 9.3.1 to 9.5.3b on 1/27/2021.]

What’s the requirement?

After January 1, 2021, when you renew any 9.5.3b­­–10.3.3 subscription licenses on currently-supported Windows or Unix systems, those licenses must be on REV11 licensing. You will need to update them to REV11 licensing before their renewal dates. Also, new 9.5.3b–10.3.3 licenses will be issued with REV11 licensing on these platforms.

This requirement does not apply to licenses lower than 9.5.3b, to licenses on OpenVMS or retired Windows/Unix systems, or to traditional (non-subscription) licenses. See our platforms page for information about supported platforms. If your platform is on the Retired Platforms list (meaning current Synergy/DE versions are not supported on it), REV11 licensing is not available on it. If you’re not sure if a license is subscription, you can run the lmu utility to see if the license has an expiration date. (After each product, it specifies the date the product was licensed and if subscription, the date the subscription expires.) Although REV11 licensing will not be required for traditional (non-subscription) licenses, we do recommend it for those licenses. One benefit there is that when you add users, your keys will be automatically updated.

Why is Synergex requiring this?

REV11 licensing has been out since October 2019. It has been required for DevPartner (development) licenses, and many customers have also updated their production licenses to it. It’s important that we get the rest of the production licenses updated this coming year as it will make managing licenses much easier for you and for Synergex.

What else should I know?

• REV11 licensing does not change how your application accesses licenses on your license server; it mainly provides a new mechanism for getting and installing product keys. Once your application is set up with REV11 licensing and the keys are downloaded and installed, the licensing on your system works pretty much the same as it did previously. What’s new is that your license server will now communicate with the Synergy License Web Server periodically (once/week initially) to poll for new license data. (If there is ever a problem connecting to the Web Server, that will be logged, and you and Synergex will be notified.)

• You will be able to check the connectivity between your license server and the Synergy License Web Service before you install REV11 licensing (with our lmcheck utility).

• When you update to REV11 licensing, you’re not updating to Synergy/DE version 11. We realize that the name “REV11 licensing” makes this a little confusing, but REV11 licensing is just the current revision of Synergy/DE licensing, and it’s for Synergy/DE 9.5.3b and higher versions.

• If your application has code that processes the Synergy/DE license registration string, you will probably need to update that code because the size of the registration string increased from 12 alpha characters to 31. We’re aware of a very small number of customers who came across this as their applications use the SERIAL routine, which returns the registration string. We’re recommending that all customers search their code for calls to the SERIAL routine. For example, do a case-insensitive search for just SERIAL and look for instances of “xcall SERIAL” (in case there are tabs/spaces/returns between the words). See this topic in the FAQ for more info.

• If you use the Synergy/DE Licensing Toolkit, be sure to get the latest License Key Generator from Customer Service. And if your code processes the registration string, you’ll probably have to update it to handle the larger string size. See more details for this topic in the FAQ.

Should I be using the Licenses site in the Synergex Resource Center to manage my licenses?

Yes! Make sure you are fully utilizing the features on this site. There you can take care of many of your license tasks, including generating keys and generating REV11 install codes. Doing these tasks yourself instead of contacting Synergex Customer Service is better for you since the site is available whenever you need it, and it’ll free up our Customer Service team to assist customers with tasks that they can’t do themselves.  

If you don’t yet have a Resource Center account, go to the Resource Center and click Create Account in the top right corner. Your company should have at least one Site Admin who can access your licenses and also control access to your Resource Center privileges. If you need to add any Site Admins, contact Customer Service.

How should I prepare for the 2021 REV11 licensing requirement?

1. Make sure you’re set up to manage your licenses in the Resource Center. (See above.)
2. Check to see if your application is using the SERIAL routine or the Licensing Toolkit and if so, address those accordingly. (See above.)
3. Determine which of your licenses will require REV11 licensing and when they renew. You can view your licenses in the Resource Center, show only Subscription licenses, and sort by End Date. It shows which licenses are already using REV11 licensing. You can click on a license to see if it’s a major version (e.g., 9 or 10). For v9 licenses, you can run LMU on your version 9 systems to determine if they are 9.5.3b or higher.
4. Make plans to update your licenses to REV11 licensing before the month they renew so the keys will be automatically updated when Synergex processes your renewal.
5. Review the information and instructions on the Synergex REV11 website and in the documentation for Windows or Unix.

Thank you for your efforts to update your licenses. Please let me or your account executive know if you would like any assistance in preparing for your updates.