Quartus® Prime Software Licensing Questions and Answers

You need a valid license file to run the following software:

• Quartus® Prime Pro or Standard Edition Software, and prior subscription versions of the Quartus® Design Software.
• Questa* FPGA Starter Edition Software.
• Questa* FPGA Edition Software.
• DSP Builder for FPGAs.
• FPGA Intellectual Property (IP).
• MAX+PLUS® II Software.

*Note that a license file is not required for the Quartus® Prime Lite Edition Software, ModelSim* FPGA Starter Edition Software, and FPGA IP functions. Please check out FPGA Licensing Support Center for further details.

You can find instructions for setting up licenses for the FPGA software in the section Set Up a Fixed License or Setting up a License File in the License Server in the FPGA Software Installation and Licensing user guide.

You can evaluate the Quartus® Prime Software or prior versions of the Quartus® Design Software with no license file for 30 days without a license file, but programming file support is not included. However, a license file is required to evaluate DSP Builder for FPGA software. To obtain your 30-day trial software from MathWorks for use with DSP Builder for FPGAs, please navigate the DSP Builder for FPGAs webpage and click the ‘Get an Evaluation License’ button.

FPGA IP is enabled for no-cost FPGA IP Evaluation Mode immediately upon installation. No license file is required. AN320: Using FPGA IP Evaluation Mode (PDF) details the FPGA IP Evaluation Mode flow.

The development kit comes with a serial number that is stated either on the box or a customer letter. This serial number is a license activation code to activate your Quartus® Prime Software via the SSLC. Check if the software DKE license is visible in the Products and Users View in the SSLC. If the license is visible, no activation is needed. You may proceed to create the new license file. If the license is not visible, the serial number will be the activation code for you to activate the license. If you do not know how to activate the Quartus® Prime Software license, please refer to this guide—? For activation issues, please visit the Altera forum website and post your question under the topic related to FPGA Software Installation & Licensing. Alternatively, you can submit a ticket through the Altera Premier Support website.

You may find information about this on the FPGA Software Download Center page.

You can find information about how to get a license on the Questa* FPGA Edition Quick-Start: Quartus® Prime Pro Edition page.

*Note that starting from Quartus® Prime Pro Edition 21.3 or later and Quartus® Prime Standard/Lite Edition 21.1 or later, ModelSim* FPGA Edition and ModelSim* FPGA Starter Edition are no longer supported.

Yes, Questa* FPGA Starter Edition is free, although you do need a valid license (at no cost) to run the software. Check the KDB article “Does the Questa* FPGA Starter Edition software require a license file?” for further details.

The Questa* FPGA Edition Software does not support companion licenses. You must purchase additional licenses to run the software on other computers.

The Questa* FPGA Edition Software license expires 12 months after the date of purchase, which means that you will need to renew your license to continue using the software. You can contact your Altera® authorized distributor to purchase a new license file for the Questa* FPGA Edition Software. Once you have obtained the new license file, you can generate the license on the SSLC website.

No, you need not know the specific machine(s) where an FPGA software or IP product will be hosted before placing an order. You only need to ensure that your computer or server meets the minimum system requirements for the software or IP product you intend to use. Please check the System Requirements and Prerequisites in the FPGA Software Installation and Licensing user guide.

To purchase FPGA software online, please refer to the Altera® authorized distributor page.

After placing the order, the license will be processed and made available in the SSLC within 2-7 days. When the process is completed, an email notification will be sent out to the user.

Most license entitlements for Quartus® Prime Software and FPGA IP cores are perpetual. Exceptions for products or complementary tools, such as Questa* FPGA Edition, are noted in the license file and SSLC with a license expiration date. Licenses for development kits are non-perpetual licenses.

If your license is about to expire, you will need to purchase a new license. For details about purchasing a license renewal, please get in touch with your local sales representative or authorized distributor.

After completing the license renewal purchase, the user can apply for the renewal in SSLC. Please refer to Section B.10. Renewing Your License for instructions.

We strongly recommend that customers maintain their IP core licenses with up-to-date maintenance, but we allow maintenance lapses. If you renew your FPGA IP core maintenance after it expires, the maintenance period will begin on the renewal date and last 12 months. There is no penalty fee for the lapse period when you renew.

Yes, you will need to purchase an FPGA IP license if you wish to use it with the Quartus® Prime Lite Edition or previous Lite versions of the Quartus® Prime Software. Please refer to Compare Pro, Standard, and Lite Editions (PDF) and contact your local sales representative or Altera® authorized distributor for IP pricing.

You must log into the Self-Service Licensing Center (SSLC) to create and manage your licenses. For information on using the SSLC, please check section B. Using the FPGA Self-Service Licensing Center in the FPGA Software Installation and Licensing user guide.

If you purchase a software product online from the Altera® authorized distributor, you can find instructions in section B.2. Getting a License File with Your New Purchase in the FPGA Software Installation and Licensing user guide.

The email you received has a URL that will take you directly to the SSLC page. Log in using your MyAltera account and follow the steps for Getting a License File with Your New Purchase.

Although most license files are sent within a few minutes of being requested, it may take up to 24 hours for you to receive a license file after making the request. You will not receive the license file if the email address is incorrect. To view and generate your current license, go to SSLC and select Licenses > All Licenses from the menu bar.

There are two primary reasons why product licenses are not visible to you on the SSLC page:

1. The maintenance expiration date is before January 1, 2009.
2. You are not shown in our system as the administrator or licensed user for the product(s).

For products expiring maintenance before 1/1/2009, you can generate legacy licenses using the Generate Legacy Licenses option. To obtain the license file, you must provide your Software Guard, NIC ID, or Host ID.

If you encounter further issues, please visit the Altera® forum website and post your question under the topic related to FPGA Software Installation & Licensing. Alternatively, you can submit a ticket through the Altera Premier Support website.

Self Service for University Program was launched on September 30, 2011. Only licenses granted after the launch are visible on the SSLC page. For inquiries on licenses granted before the date, email psg.university@intel.com.

Two user types are assigned to each product license: an administrator and a licensed user. If you are the administrator and the license user is shown as 'unassigned' on the SSLC page, you are the only person who can view and obtain licenses. If you assign the license to another user, the licensed user can also view and obtain licenses.

FPGA T-Guard or dongle is also referred to as a Software Guard ID. The Software Guard ID is a fixed node computer on the SSLC page. After you select a licensed product and wish to generate the license, you can ‘Create a New Computer’ or ‘Assign an Existing Computer.’ When you select the +New Computer button, a pop-up window will appear. Select the Computer Type as 'Guard ID,' License Type as ‘Fixed,’ and enter the computer name and computer ID. Once the information is filled, proceed to generate the license.

A companion license grants license portability to a fixed product license. Each fixed product license can be assigned to up to three computers: an office computer, a lab computer, and a home computer, as long as all three are used by the same person. The license restricts the user to using the software on only one computer at a time.

Note: The Questa* FPGA Edition Software does not support companion licenses. You must purchase additional licenses to run the software on other computers.

A checkout license enables portability for users with only floating seat licenses. The license administrator can issue a two-week fixed license, allowing one of the users to have access to the same product licenses from the network while traveling with a laptop.

You can check which software your license enables by checking the Header at the top of your license file. The header outlines the type of license, the primary computer and companion IDs, maintenance expiration dates, and a product license summary. For more information, refer to the License File Header.

The maintenance expiration date indicates the versions of Quartus® Design Software and IP core that can be used. All product versions released before the maintenance expiration date can be used. Since the release of version 4.1 of Quartus® Design Software in July 2004, FPGA IP has been included in the combined download package with the software.

There are two types of expiration: maintenance and license expiration. Maintenance expiration only controls which versions of the product can be used, while the license expiration determines whether the product stops working entirely. 

License files issued on or after July 5, 2010, include a header at the top of the file that indicates the license type and states whether there is a license expiration. If there is a license expiration date, it is provided for each product in the license. Alternatively, you can select the product license on the SSLC page and view product details to check the license expiration field. If the field is blank, the license is perpetual and has no expiration date.

Maintenance expiration controls which product version (s) can be used but does not affect the license. You can access the latest product releases and updates by renewing maintenance for an additional 12 months.

Evaluation and other types of licenses have an expiration date, and if the expiration date passes, the product stops working. To avoid this, you can purchase a full software or IP core license that gives you a perpetual license with no expiration date.

If the version of the Quartus® Prime Software you want to use was released before the maintenance expiration date of your license, you do not need a new license file as most license entitlements for Quartus® Prime Software and FPGA IP cores are perpetual. You can use your existing license to run that version of the software.

A listing of all Quartus® Design Software releases and their release dates can be found on our FPGA Software Download Center webpage.

To merge your new license file with your existing one, please refer to Section B.18. Merging or Adding Seats on Your License and Generating License for instructions.

The security feature can be requested from Altera® by submitting a ticket through the Altera® Premier Support website.

You can find the answer in this KDB article.

Transferring products from one computer to another is called rehosting your license. Software and IP licenses can be transferred to a different computer by going to the SSLC page. You can refer to the FPGA Software Installation and Licensing user guide for instructions on rehosting a license. The guide provides details in section B.12. Rehosting a License on a Different Computer.

You can transfer your existing licenses from one computer to another, called a Rehost license. You have a total of three rehosts for each license.

The SSLC page tracks the number of rehosts for each software and IP product. To view this information, navigate to Licenses > All Licenses in the SSLC menu bar. The available rehosts are displayed in the last column of the table. If you have exhausted, all available rehosts and still need to transfer a product license, log in to MyAltera Account and submit a support ticket through the Altera Premier Support website.

We refer to this as Splitting Seats on your licenses. You can refer to the FPGA Software Installation and Licensing user guide for instructions on splitting licenses. The guide provides details in section B.17. Splitting Seats on Your License and Generating Licenses.

After you have entered the number of seats to be split, the newly split seats will be shown as separate product licenses. If the licenses were previously assigned to a computer, you will need to rehost them onto the appropriate machine. Refer to section B.12. Rehosting a License on a Different Computer to rehost license.

When the encryption generation is active, you can find 'FEATURE quartus_nonvolatile_encryption' in the license file.

Yes, encryption has been included as a standard option in subscription licenses since the end of 2011.

Please get in touch with your local Altera® sales representative or Altera® authorized distributor for more information.

No, a 90-day evaluation license does not include the option to generate encrypted POF files and decryption keys for the EP3CLS device family. The encrypted POF files and decryption keys are only available with a purchased license for the EP3CLS device family.

To obtain a license file for the Nios II/f processor, you can apply for a stand-alone no-cost Nios II/f processor core license (ordering code: IP-NIOS) from the Self-Service Licensing Center. 

The Nios II Embedded Design Suite (EDS) includes an evaluation version of Micrium's MicroC/OS-II RTOS for evaluation and prototyping purposes only. To use Micrium's MicroC/OS-II RTOS in commercial shipping products, you must purchase a development license for the RTOS by contacting Micrium directly.

For software, IP, or Development Kit legacy licenses with a maintenance expiration date before January 1, 2009, you can now obtain a license file via the Self Service Licensing Center's Generate Legacy Licenses option.

MAX+PLUS II is a legacy software intended only to support legacy designs. MAX+PLUS II software does not support MAX® II CPLDs, Cyclone® or Stratix® Series FPGAs, or any newer devices. You need a valid license to run the MAX+PLUS II software. MAX+PLUS II license is no longer available for purchase. You can either purchase the Quartus Prime license that includes a full feature of MAX+PLUS II software or generate an evaluation license (License: MAXPLUS2WEB or License: PLS-WEB) for MAX+PLUS II BASELINE software with limited features in the SSLC.

*Note that has discontinued the Quartus® II and MAX+PLUS® II Software. More details are available at Quartus® II and MAX+PLUS® II Software product discontinuance notifications and a list of discontinued additional software.

More information related to MAX+PLUS II:

• MAX+PLUS II Getting Started manual
• MAX+PLUS II Appendices, glossary & index

You do not need to install a new license file for your software unless you just purchased the software or you just renewed your FPGA software subscription. After you install your MAX+PLUS II license file, the license is good for all software versions released for your subscription duration. Your license will NOT expire.

I) Setting Up MAX+PLUS II Licensing for PCs with Software Guards:

A: To set up MAX+PLUS II licensing for PCs with software guards, perform the steps below.

i. Start the MAX+PLUS II software. For example, double-click the MAX+PLUS II icon.

ii. Click OK in the MAX+PLUS II Copy Protection message box. You will enter your license file later. See the figure below.

iii. Choose License Setup (Options menu).

iv. Specify the license file by clicking Browse. In the Directories box, go to the directory where you saved your license.dat file (for example, c:\maxplus2), select the license.dat file in the Files box, and click OK.

v. The Available Features box should contain a list of enabled items, depending on your system configuration. See the figure below.

vi. Click OK to save your changes.

II) Setting Up MAX+PLUS II Licensing for PCs or UNIX Workstations:

If you are using a single Windows NT or UNIX workstation or redundant workstations to serve MAX+PLUS II licenses, refer to "Multi-User Network Licensing for PCs" in the read.me file that comes for information on obtaining your license file, setting up the license manager server, and setting up PC or UNIX clients. This read.me file is available from the MAX+PLUS II Help menu.

If the license.dat file contains an error in the license server name, or if the path to the license.dat file is incorrect, your computer might appear to freeze while it searches the network for the non-existent license. If this problem occurs, use the End Task button in the Windows Task Manager or the kill command in UNIX to close the MAX+PLUS II software. Or, you can wait until the software opens, edit the license file to correct the error, or specify the correct pathname for the license.dat file.

You can use the LM_LICENSE_FILE environment variable to specify the MAX+PLUS II license. You can also edit the LM_LICENSE_FILE variable for MAX+PLUS II software in the maxplus2.ini file in the MAX+PLUS II installation directory. This variable is the same as shown in the software’s GUI, but editing the maxplus2.ini text file does not require the MAX+PLUS II software to be open. This entry takes precedence over the LM_LICENSE_FILE environment variable. With the MAX+PLUS II application closed, open the maxplus2.ini file in a text editor and type or edit the following line: LM_LICENSE_FILE=\license.dat

You receive the “System clock has been set back” error message if the vendor daemon has detected one or more system files dated in the future when compared to the system clock.

One possible solution is to locate the files with an invalid date stamp to open each file and then save the files so that each file has the correct date/time stamp. The vendor daemon primarily views the system files in the following directories:

• C:\ (The root directory)
• The directory where your Microsoft Windows files are installed (for example, C:\WINNT)
• Your MAX+PLUS II software directory (for example, C:\MAXPLUS2)

You can use the Windows Find utility to find affected files. Search by date and specify files with a date later than today’s date. Some files might be hidden, so ensure the Find utility is configured to display all files.

If the MAX+PLUS II software was installed with an incorrect system clock, perform the following steps:

1. Uninstall the MAX+PLUS II software.
2. Set the system clock to the current time and date.
3. Restart the PC.
4. Reinstall the MAX+PLUS II software in a different directory.

Because all licenses include support of the graphic editor, the “Current license file support does not include 'Graphic Editor' application or feature in the MAX+PLUS II Software” message means that the MAX+PLUS II software cannot find your license file. Check that your license file is available.

• Check that the license file does not expire and regenerate the license from the SSLC. *The expiration date applies to trial/evaluation licenses. For FPGA license subscriptions, the expiration is permanent.
• Verify that the LM_LICENSE_FILE environment variable points to the location of the license.dat file. Note that the setup of the environment variable depends on the OS on your PC.
  • Set Up a Fixed License
  • Setting up a License File in the License Server
• Check that the NIC/Host/Guard ID is the same for your computer and the license .dat file.
  • Identifying Host's NIC ID Note: UNIX's license server host ID is equivalent to the NIC ID.
  • Locating Your Hard-Disk Serial Number
  • Identifying the USB Software Guard ID

There are several resources available to help in troubleshooting licensing problems, including the following:

• FPGA Licensing Support Center is a one-stop shop for details about FPGA licensing-related updates. The page contains answers to common how-to questions and issues related to licensing.
• Ask Altera® 24/7 chatbots at the bottom right of the FPGA Licensing Support Center webpage for help with common questions.
• FPGA Software Installation and Licensing user guide contains detailed information about installing a license and troubleshooting licensing problems.
• FPGA Knowledge Base (KDB) webpage The FPGA Knowledge Base webpage contains known licensing issues and technical support solutions.
• Visit Altera® Community - FPGA Software Installation & Licensing to get technical support and engage in discussions with the user community and Altera® experts.
• Legacy Application Note AN 340: FPGA Software Licensing (PDF).
• DSP Builder Handbook (PDF)

• Problems with floating licenses can occur due to configuration problems on the license server.
• Run the command lmutil lmstat -a -c port@host, where port@host is the port number and hostname of the license server (1800@server1, for example).
• Examine the output of the command. The license manager and FPGA daemon should report UP. The client computer may have a configuration problem if the license server status is OK.
• Verify that the LM_LICENSE_FILE environment variable is set properly on the client computer.
  • Setting up a License File in the License Server
• Verify the version of the FLEXlm license manager server software used. We are upgrading the FLEXlm License Manager Server Software.
• If the license manager and altered versions are lower than 8.0, Altera recommends using the latest license manager (lmgrd) and vendor daemon (Altera FPGA), which are included with the Quartus® Prime Software. You can download the latest version on the License Daemon Downloads page.

• You must set up a license file to use the DSP Builder for FPGAs.
• Your software will stop working if your license file expires. You may need a new license file to use the new version of the software.
• Verify that the LM_LICENSE_FILE environment variable points to the location of the license.dat file.
• Verify that your license file enables support for DSP Builder for FPGAs. You can find what software your license enables by checking in the license file - lines beginning with FEATURE or INCREMENT list the software enabled by the license. For the DSP Builder for FPGAs, the FEATURE line required begins with C4D5_512A. The following figure shows an example license.dat file with the DSP Builder for FPGAs FEATURE line (highlighted).