Check out an offline license

Use this to run Understand on a machine with no internet access. You generate a request code in Understand, exchange it for a reply code at the licensing portal (licensing.scitools.com), and enter that reply code back in Understand. For the full picture of licensing on closed networks, see Licensing without internet (air-gapped).

Prerequisites

• An active license you're allowed to take offline (trials must be an offline trial).
• Access to licensing.scitools.com from some internet-connected device (phone, another PC), with the account that holds the license.
• Node-lock licenses use a different flow — see Set up a node-lock license at the end of this page.

1. Request an offline code (in Understand)

1. Open Help → Licensing.
2. Click Options → Request Offline Code.
3. Copy the value shown in License Request Code.

If the machine has never been licensed you'll see the prompt “No license detected, please enter this code at scitools.com/offline”.

2. Get a reply code (at licensing.scitools.com)

On any device with internet, sign in at licensing.scitools.com:

1. Find the card for your license and click Options → Checkout License.
2. In the Offline License dialog, enter a Machine Name/Location. This can be anything that helps you remember which machine holds the checkout. It appears later under Offline Machines when you extend or return the license.
3. Paste the License Request Code from Understand and click Checkout.
4. The portal shows the Reply Code (listed as the machine's Offline Code) and its expiration date. Copy both.

Options → Checkout License on your license card. Name the machine, paste the request code from Understand, and click Checkout.

scitools.com/offline is for trials

Understand's dialog points to scitools.com/offline. That address opens a request form for an offline trial when you have no license yet. If you already have a license, use your license card at licensing.scitools.com as above.

3. Enter the reply code (in Understand)

Back in Help → Licensing → Options, enter the value into Reply Code (“Enter the Reply Code from scitools.com/offline”). Understand is now licensed offline.

Managing an offline license

From Help → Licensing → Options:

• Extend Offline Code — extend before it expires.
• Return Offline Code — return it so the seat can be used elsewhere. Full steps, including the connected method, the portal's Check-In License dialog, and node-lock licenses: Return an offline or node-lock license.
• Enter Online Mode — switch back when the machine has internet again.

Do it from the command line

For headless/CI machines, the same flow is available via und switches:

und -createofflinerequestcode            # prints the request code
# ...exchange at licensing.scitools.com (Options > Checkout License)...
und -setofflinereplycode <REPLY_CODE> -expiration <yyyyMMdd>
und -isundlicensed                       # verify — purely local once a valid offline code is installed
und -showofflinereturncode               # when returning the license — prints the return code

If the machine does have internet access right now, und -enterofflinemode skips the manual exchange entirely — it checks an offline license out directly from the server (and und -enteronlinemode returns it later).

See Licensing from the command line and the und licensing reference for the full switch list.

Set up a node-lock license

A node-lock license binds to one machine for the life of the license, and Understand never contacts a license server to use it. The code exchange itself is self-serve at licensing.scitools.com and uses the same Checkout License and Check-In License options as an offline seat. Only the und switches differ.

1. On the target machine, generate the request code:

   und -createnodelockrequestcode
   

   It prints a code beginning with NL. This starts a fresh request, so any node-lock code already installed stops working and the command says so. To reprint the existing request instead, run und -shownodelockrequestcode.

2. Check the license out at licensing.scitools.com with Options → Checkout License, exactly as in step 2 above. Paste the NL request code, then copy the reply code and expiration date it returns.

3. Install the reply code:

   und -setnodelockreplycode <CODE> -expiration <yyyyMMdd>
   

   A perpetual license also needs -maintenance <yyyyMMdd>. Without the dates the command reports that the code was not valid and lists the arguments it wants.

4. Confirm it took. Help → Licensing shows Using Nodelock Mode with the code in the Nodelock Code field, and und license reports the same without checking out a seat.

To renew a node-lock license, check out a new reply code the same way and enter it:

und -extendnodelockcode <CODE> -extendnodelockdate <yyyy-MM-dd>

To move the license to another machine, see Return an offline or node-lock license.