How to use Altium at home aswell as work - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: Faringdon
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 18, 2023, 02:17:56 pm
content: Hi,I am using Altium ver23 at work..it is logged in on my work computer, but shows as my boss name on the license.Is there any way i can download Altium and do work at home?The work PC is a desktop and cannot be taken home.

author: trevwhite
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: July 18, 2023, 02:39:11 pm
content: I believe you can install it on more than one computer as long as you only use it on one computer at a time?

author: ajb
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 18, 2023, 04:09:41 pm
content: Depends on the license type you have. If you have floating licenses, you can install it wherever and check out a license via the internet from anywhere. If you have server-based licenses, then you would need to be able to connect to the license server (VPN back the office, probably). If you have fixed licenses for each machine, then your only option is to remote in to the machine where the license is installed.

author: Faringdon
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 18, 2023, 04:40:20 pm
content: Thanks, It used to be a standalone licence but i dont know if it still is.Altium were offereing to do an on-demand license, i dont know if we took this up.Either way, i have a document with a username and password, so i guess i can just download altium at home and try and use it with this username and password?The username is the gaffers email address.Aaaah...just seen on the license page, at the top, it says "standalone-offline"...so i guess i cant use this at home?...unless i have some way of VPN'ing into the companys server?

author: jc101
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: July 18, 2023, 05:34:03 pm
content: Is there an option to download/create a licence file? There should be an option to save the Standalone licence file. You can then add that licence file for the laptop version.I've just done this today. The Office PC runs Altium, but I have a need to take a design away to a site and potentially tweak it whilst out and about. I have the project in Git (my own Git server), so I pushed the development branch up. Installed Altium on the laptop* and cloned the project down to it. I can make changes and push them back up to Git, then pull them down again on the PC when back. I have a standalone permanent licence, which is On-Demand, so I can move it between machines.* The laptop is an Apple Silicon M1 Max MacBook Pro. I have the Arm version of Windows 11 installed via VMware Fusion, and Altium has gone into that. The Arm Windows has an x86 -> Arm emulator, so you can install Intel apps OK. Have to say, it's usable, which was a pleasant surprise. Previously I've just used remote desktop onto the Office PC via a VPN, but I thought I'd try this route.

author: abeyer
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: July 18, 2023, 07:57:15 pm
content: Quote from: Faringdon on July 18, 2023, 04:40:20 pmI think it's generally considered poor form to post the details about how your employer is pirating software on public forums.

author: thm_w
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 18, 2023, 08:43:32 pm
content: Quote from: abeyer on July 18, 2023, 07:57:15 pmNothing you've quoted implies pirating at all.

author: abeyer
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: July 18, 2023, 09:27:25 pm
content: Quote from: thm_w on July 18, 2023, 08:43:32 pmI'm pretty sure that most licenses based on per-user logins disallow sharing the same login credentials to avoid buying multiple seats, which is what it sounds like is happening here. Maybe Altium is some exception to this, but it's not clear at all that what's suggested is allowed (even aside from being a bad idea for various practical reasons.)

author: thm_w
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 18, 2023, 10:27:42 pm
content: Quote from: abeyer on July 18, 2023, 09:27:25 pmThat is not "pirating". If it is the single-site license: "This license is perfect for individuals who want to work from a dedicated PC at a single site. According to the EULA, You can also install this license on a secondary machine for temporary use.".and who is "you" here, IMO it is the company, not the actual user, as the company is buying the license. Of course I could be wrong.Quotehttps://www.altium.com/eula/pdfs/altium_license_agreement_en.pdf

author: mkissin
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: July 19, 2023, 12:25:39 am
content: Yeah, you're buying a seat, not a license for a named user. As long as that seat is not used more than once simultaneously, you're good.I believe Altium also restricts geographically, so you do need to keep the seat within the part of the world that it is authorised for.

author: mengfei
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: July 19, 2023, 01:10:01 am
content: we use Ivanti Secure Access so that we can access out company server wherever we are.Don't you have a secure company vpn that you can use?AD has a strange way of licensing when they say it's region specific, our HK collogues can't use their AD when they come to the mainland when in fact HK belongs to the Middle Kingdom already, oh well

author: Faringdon
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 19, 2023, 09:24:13 am
content: Thanks....there is a feature in Altium license page saying "save standalone license file"...so i have clicked that, and a .alf file downloaded, so i will try to use that ..presumably ".alf" is an altium license file"?

author: jc101
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: July 19, 2023, 09:29:15 am
content: Quote from: Faringdon on July 19, 2023, 09:24:13 amIt is indeed the licence file you can load on another machine.

author: asmi
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 19, 2023, 02:17:26 pm
content: The person who actually registered the license can add company users via "Company Dashboard -> Users & Groups" interface on Altium website, which allows multiple users to share the same license (not at the same time of course), and each of them can login using their own username/password. It's also possible to set it up so that anyone creating an altium account with a specific corporate email domain will be automatically added into the company group and have license(s) made available.