Roger Hart

6 June 2016

Introducing user account licensing

We’ve been talking about licensing system changes for a while, and over the next few weeks they start rolling out in the first batch of products.

This means that when you update to the next versions of our products, you’ll be asked to log in with a Redgate ID:

Logging in gives you access to improved license management, and we’re making it simpler to use our products on multiple machines. We’ll also be building out the license management capability over the coming months.

Eventually, we’re aiming to move to a model where you won’t necessarily need a serial key to log in, but can simply access the products from your account – think something more like Steam or Adobe Creative Cloud. But for the first iteration, you’ll still need a serial key. You can find the key on your invoice, and the serial field should be pre-populated if you’re upgrading an existing install.

If you prefer not to log in, you can also activate the tools from the command line by entering your serial key.

The new license management features will only be available if you’re logged in with a Redgate ID. Unfortunately, we can’t show details of historical product activations – it just hasn’t been feasible to fully migrate and clean up those legacy systems. But once users are logged in, license owners and admins will be able to see who’s using their licenses, and reassign them.

If you’re the person who made the purchase, you probably already have a Redgate ID. If not, or if you can’t remember the details, it’s fairly quick to create one or reset the password.

The rollout starts over the coming month, with the next versions of SQL Dependency Tracker, SQL Doc, SQL Data Generator, and SQL Test, then SQL Compare, SQL Data Compare, and gradually our other products.

If you need more information, there’s documentation here , or you can always get in touch with us.