is it possible to set expired license key?
Asked by Andrew Samokish:

Hello,

is it possible to set the expired license key?

we have an old license, expired some time ago. Now we would like to move our Confluence from one server to another, but when I try to set the key (having the old version installed) i got the message:

Confluence support and upgrades for this license ended on **19 Oct 2011** . This license is not valid.

is it still possible to just use this license with old confluence version installed or not?

thank you for answers


Answers:
author: Diego
body: Hello there! For anyone who falls here, we have some information on the situation above.

Let me start by telling that a *Confluence Version from 2011* is severely out of date and also *Unsupported By Atlassian.* Our oldest supported version is currently *Confluence 6.3.x.* Support for it will end in July 12, 2019, which is pretty soon*.*You can check more information about supported versions and their End Of Life here:

* **++*[Atlassian Support End of Life Policy](https://confluence.atlassian.com/support/atlassian-support-end-of-life-policy-201851003.html)*++**

With the above in mind, we *Strongly Advise* you to upgrade to one of our supported versions and with that, acquire a *New License*that has support rights. Here we have more information about Confluence Server licensing:

* ***++[Confluence Licensing](https://www.atlassian.com/licensing/confluence)++***

According to our documentation, support and updates are available for a license during a *Twelve Months Period.* After that, no updates or support is provided, unless the *License Is Renewed.*Here is an excerpt of this documentation:
> ***How is Confluence Server licensed?***  
> *A Confluence Server commercial/academic/starter license entitles you to:*
>
> * *Deploy a single instance of Confluence in a production environment on 1 server accessible by the number of users licensed*
> * *Unlimited pages, spaces and comments*
> * *Perpetual Confluence use*
> * ***Software maintenance for 12 months - including all updates and online support***
> * *Application source code (under a developer source license which allows for broad customization)*
>
> *Licensing fees are quoted per **number of 'active users.'**An active user in Confluence is by definition any user account in the system with the "Confluence Users" global permission or the "Confluence Administrators" permission, i.e. anyone who can log in. Unlimited 'anonymous users' are permitted on all licenses.*
>
> *An academic license is available for qualified educational and academic institutions ([learn more](https://www.atlassian.com/licensing/purchase-licensing#licensing-2)). **Please see our [Software License Agreement](https://www.atlassian.com/legal/software-license-agreement) for more details.***

On newer versions of Confluence we have some differences in features. For example, the *Documentation Theme* is no longer supported since Confluence 6.0.x. In Confluence 6.0.x we also introduced ++*Collaborative Editing,*++ which is a feature that allows multiple users to edit the same page at the same time. You can check more information of the EOL announcements from Atlassian here:

* ++***[End of Support Announcements for Confluence](https://confluence.atlassian.com/doc/end-of-support-announcements-for-confluence-210239673.html)***++
* ++***[Confluence Server - Collaborative Editing](https://confluence.atlassian.com/doc/collaborative-editing-858771779.html)***++

You can buy a new license for you to use with newer versions here:

* **++*[Atlassian - Licenses](https://www.atlassian.com/buy)*++**

If you *++P++ ++ositively Need To Stay In The Currently Installed++* version of Confluence in the case of a business sensitive workflow that will not work in newer versions, for example, you can.

We D++*o Not Recommend*++ you to stay with an ++*Unsupported And Out Of Date*++version of Confluence, however.

Since the warning is telling us that your license has expired in 2011, October 19. Meaning that the most recent version you can use is ++*Confluence 4.0.3*++ . Any version after this *Will Require A Valid License.*

You can check our archives and download this version (4.0.3) and try the old license again:

**[Confluence Download Archives](https://www.atlassian.com/software/confluence/download-archives)**

Let us know from you Andrew. Looking forward to your reply!

comments: author: Andrew Samokish
body: Thank you for the answer, seems the version is the issue


author: Diego
body: Hello again!

Great to hear that this worked. If you ever needed something, come share with us.


Tags: confluence-server

licence

server