PRTG Manual: Enter a License Key

A license key for PRTG consists of the License Name and a License Key. The key is a string that consists of 8 blocks with 5 characters each.

This only applies to PRTG on premises instances, not to PRTG hosted by Paessler.

Your Personal License Information

You have received the License Name and the License Key from Paessler via email or in a license document in the Paessler Software Shop and Customer Service Center. Copy this information and insert it when PRTG asks you to enter your license information in the setup dialog.

You can find the label License Owner in some documents from the Paessler shop. License Owner is the same as License Name, for which you may be asked while installing PRTG or when you change your license key.

For the Trial and Freeware Editions, you receive the required license information on the Paessler web page when you download the trial or freeware version of PRTG. For a Commercial Edition, use your commercial license information.

There are two license key types:

• Trial/Freeware license key: With a Trial license key, you can experience unlimited functionality of PRTG during the 30-day trial period. Your installation automatically switches to a Freeware Edition afterward. For details about how to get your free Trial edition, see section Download PRTG.
• Commercial license key: You can only enter this key if you have purchased a commercial license. Your installation allows the number of sensors according to your license.

During the setup process for installing a Commercial Edition, PRTG asks you to enter your license information. We recommend that you copy and paste your license data. If you install a Trial Edition, entering a license key is not necessary.

Change License Key

Usually, you do not need to manually enter a key after the installation to activate it because PRTG asks for it during the install process. However, there are still scenarios where you need to change your key and activate the respective license. You have to provide your commercial license key, for example, if you have purchased a Commercial Edition and want to upgrade your running Freeware or Trial Edition, or if you upgrade an existing commercial license to a higher edition.

1. To enter a new license key, log in to the PRTG web interface.
2. Select Setup | License from the main menu bar.
3. Click Change License Key. The Update Your License page appears where you can activate your new license.
4. Select the activation type Automatic (online activation with optional HTTP proxy) if your PRTG core server can connect to the internet.
   Without internet access, you have to select Manual (offline activation). The activation process works a bit differently in this case and requires manual interaction.
5. Provide your license information and click Update License.
6. PRTG connects to the Paessler activation server via SSL on port 443 and validates your license.

If everything works fine, you see the message Activation was successful as License Status at the top of the page.

The PRTG core server needs an internet connection on port 443 to activate. If a proxy connection is needed, configure it in step 3 on the Update Your License page. If the activation fails, you can also try an offline activation.

This option is not available in PRTG hosted by Paessler.