Licensing

VP-UML needs to run with a valid license key. A license key of a higher edition can be used on a lower edition. For example, you can run Standard Edition of VP-UML with Professional Edition of VP-UML key.

VP-UML also provides a 30-days evaluation key for trial. After the evaluation key expires, you can purchase the full license from our website or resellers, or un-install the program.

The license key for Community Edition will not expire. However, Community Edition cannot be used for commercial purposes.

Importing single-seat license key (For purchased customers)

A Visual Paradigm's Single Seat (developer based) license allows a licensee to install the software on more than one machine, such as desktop and notebook, which belong to the licensee only. As the license is developer based, the software must be used by the licensee only, without running more for than one instance concurrently. When you run VP-UML the first time, the License Key Manager pops up to let you import the license key.

License Key Manager

To import a single-seat key, open License Keys tab and click Import key. Specify the filepath of the key and click OK.

Entering the filepath of license key

If the imported key is valid, the information of key will appear in the License Key Manager.

License key is imported

Inserting activation code (For purchased customers)

Alternatively, you can insert an activation code to key manager instead of importing single-seat license key. If you have purchased VP-UML, you should receive our notification (Email) with an activation code included. The same activation code can also be found from the license key listed in your customer account.

1. Copy the activation code from your Email in advance.
   

   Copy the activation code from Email

2. Press Input activation code button.
   

   Press Input activation code button

3. Paste the copied activation code in the Input activation code dialog box.
   

   Paste the activation code

Importing evaluation key (For evaluation users)

You can evaluate VP-UML for 10 days without importing any keys. To do this, click Close to close the key manager and continue running VP-UML. After 10 days gone, the key manager will popup again when you start VP-UML, requesting for a key. At that moment, you must supply a valid key in order to continue.

If you want to evaluate for a longer period of time, click Request key to request for an evaluation key that enables you to run VP-UML for 30 days. Click Import key to import the evaluation key into the key manager and continue.

Working with floating license server

Before you use VP-UML with a floating license key, your machine need to access to the license server via LAN to acquire a license key first. For more details, you can refer to the Floating License Server Installation Guide about floating license server installation for more details.

Configuring floating license server

Floating license need to be acquired from server, through the License Key Manager. When you start VP-UML the first time, the License Key Manager will show up automatically. In the License Key Manager dialog box, open Floating License tab.

Open Floating License tab

In the configuration page, specify the host IP and adjust the port (if necessary). You may need to specify the access code if it has been defined in floating license server. You should contact your administrator about this matter.

Specify host of license server

In order to verify the connection, press Test Connection. Alternatively, you may click on the View Keys button to see how many keys are available in server.

Once the configuration is done correctly, license key will be acquired from license server. By closing the License Key Manager, VP-UML will start.

Exporting floating license key from server

In order to acquire a floating license key, you must have access to the floating license server machine through network. If you need to use VP-UML offline, which means, at a location that cannot reach the server machine (e.g. when having a meeting outside the office), you can export a floating license keys to your laptop for running VP-UML with a local license key. Once a key has been exported from server, the number of keys in the server will decrease by one. The volume will reset once you have imported the licence key back to the server.

To export floating license key, start the License Key Manager by selecting Tools > Key Manager... in the main menu of VP-UML. Open Floating License tab and then click Export License... button.

A message appears informing you about the export of license key.

From the moment the key is exported from server, you do not need to connect to the license server anymore until the moment you import the key back to the server.

Importing floating license key to server

To import an exported floating license key back to license server, start the License Key Manager by selecting Tools > Key Manager... in the main menu of VP-UML. Open Floating License tab and click Import License... button.

In the Import Floating License Key dialog box, select the key you need to import and click OK to confirm.

This finished importing the key back to server.

Switching from evaluation license key to purchased license key

An evaluation key is required for evaluating VP-UML. Once you have submitted your purchase order, we will send you a temporary license key which lasts for 15 days. After your payment is approved, a permanent purchased license key will be sent to you subsequently. In order to make the purchased key take effect, you need to remove the evaluation keys, then import the purchased license key. To switching from an evaluation license key to a purchased license key:

1. Start VP-UML.
2. Start the License Key Manager by selecting Tools > Key Manager... from the main menu.
   

   NOTE:

   If your evaluation has expired, you can skip this step as the License Key Manager was shown when starting VP-UML (step 1) due to no valid license key was found.

3. Select the license key you want to remove and then press Delete the license key button.
   

   Remove a key

   Therefore, you should not see any entry in the manager.
4. You can import the purchased license key now. For single-seat key user,  click Import key button, then specify the file path of the purchased license key. For floating license user, open Floating License tab to configure the license server connection. For details, refer to the previous section.

Various licensing options

Single seat license

Visual Paradigm's single-seat (team-member-based) license allows a licensee to install the software on a computer that belongs, and provides sole access, to the named user only. Since the license is team-member-based, the software must be used by the licensee only, without running more than one instance concurrently. The single-seat license only allows installation on a maximum of three computers.

Floating license

The floating license supports sharing of the pool of licenses among your team. Instead of purchasing a single-seat license for each team member, optimize your budget by purchasing floating licenses for the maximum number of simultaneous software users or access points. This approach allows greater flexibility in using our software. Users can then export the license files to a laptop to use the software offsite (to deliver a presentation, for example), and then import the license back to the server at a later time.

In order to work with the floating license, installation of a floating license server that stores the license key file(s) and also automatically manages access requests from clients is required. The client must enable the connection to the license server when requesting access to the software.

For more information about floating licenses, please visit
http://www.visual-paradigm.com/shop/floatinglicense.jsp.

Academic license

Academic licenses are available for higher education, with the aim of providing free site licenses for the teaching of software engineering. Educational institutions that join the Academic Partners Program are entitled to free licenses for the Standard Edition of Visual Paradigm's software, which can then be used solely for educational purposes. The academic license is not limited to use on campus, but can also be used at home by students and teachers.

For more information about academic licenses, please visit
http://www.visual-paradigm.com/partner/academic/.