Installing the SolidNetWork Licence Manager (TechSoft Support Zone)

Installing the SolidNetWork Licence Manager

Note: This page is only relevant to users installing the Network Edition of SOLIDWORKS

See also: Overview of SOLIDWORKS Network Edition Installation

About the SolidNetWork Licence Manager

The SolidNetWork License Manager is installed on a server computer and is used to distribute SOLIDWORKS licenses on your network. The SolidNetWork License Manager licenses all SOLIDWORKS components, including Flow Simulation, eDrawings, Visualise, Composer, etc.
The SolidNetWork License Manager can licence client computers with SOLIDWORKS from the same year or previous years on the network. However, it cannot licence SOLIDWORKS from a newer year (i.e. SolidNetWork License Manager 2024 can licence SOLIDWORKS 2023 and 2024, but not 2025).

Notes

Before installation you should check that your Windows Server version is compatible with the SOLIDWORKS version you want to install. SOLIDWORKS 2024 requires Windows Server 2019 or 2022. You can find out more information on the SOLIDWORKS System Requirements page.
If you are upgrading SolidNetWork Licence Manager on the same server, you should uninstall the previous Licence Manager installation first. See instructions.

Note: Newer versions of the SolidNetWork Licence Manager can work with older versions of SOLIDWORKS.
If you are moving SolidNetWork Licence Manager to another server, you will need to deactivate the licence(s) on the old server first. See instructions.

Note: SOLIDWORKS client installations will need to be updated so that they point to a different server address when changing servers.

Step 1: Installation Procedure

If you have downloaded the software, you will have an exe file that will be called something like "SolidWorksSetup2024.exe". Double click on this file and a "WinZip Self-Extractor" box will open.
Click UnZip, and once completed click on OK.
The SOLIDWORKS Installation Manager should open. Select Install server components and then Install SolidNetWork Licence Manager and click Next.
Select I accept the terms of the SOLIDWORKS and click Download and Install.
Once installed, click Finish.

Step 2: Licence Activation

Open SolidNetWork License Manager on your server computer. You can find this on the Windows Start menu, listed as "SOLIDWORKS License Manager Server 2024" (the year will depend on the version you have installed).
You will be given a prompt to activate your licence as below - click Yes.
The following page sets the Network connection information for the server. Under normal circumstances, you should leave this with the default settings like below, and click Next.
Click the Add button next to the Serial# section, and add in your network serial number. (For Education customers, this will normally be the serial number starting with 9710).

Then select Automatically over the Internet (recommended), enter your email address and then click Next to activate your server.

Note: If you get a message saying "Activation Count Exceeded" you will need to deactivate a previous server, or you can call/email us to do this manually.
The software should now be activated, now follow the steps below to allow SOLIDWORKS connections through your firewall.

Step 3: Allow SOLIDWORKS Connections Through the Servers Firewall

Open Control Panel on the server and click on System and Security.
Click on Allow an app through Windows Firewall.
If the page opens with a button saying Change Settings, please click on this button, otherwise continue to the next step.
At the bottom of the page click on Allow another app....
Select Browse....
Navigate to "C:\Program Files (x86)\SOLIDWORKS Corp\SolidNetWork License Manager", select Imgrd and click OK
Back on the Add an app screen, click on Network types... and choose the correct network type for your network.
Finally repeat this process to add a second app called sw_d

Next Steps

Congratulations, the SolidNetWork License Manager is now installed and activated.

To distribute the SOLIDWORKS software to your client computers, see our page on Overview Page.

Article Date: 10/04/2024

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Installing the SolidNetWork Licence Manager

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