New & Improved Autodesk 2020 Licensing Mechanism

By Mark Lancaster, Synergis Helpdesk Technician
Update (11/15/19) – There’s been a lot of discussion on the forums about this issue so we wanted to provide a bit of clarification.  If you’re updating the 2020 licensing mechanism through the Autodesk Desktop App you may not realize there’s a prerequisite for the Microsoft C++ 2017 Redistributable.  If you expand “show more” you will see additional information about this.

Without checking first on the version of C++ you have installed, installing through the Autodesk Desktop App may appear as though it has been installed, but it’s not and this given update will still appear in the list of updates that need to be applied to your machine.
It is also important if you do require to update your Microsoft C++ Redistributable as indicated in our article below, that you must first update/download/install both the x86 and x64 versions of Microsoft C++ from the designated Microsoft site.
(Original Post) On November 7, 2019, Autodesk released another version (ver. 9.4.0.2899) of the Autodesk 2020 Licensing Mechanism.  Before this Autodesk update can be installed, you must first ensure that you have Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable 2017, version 14.16.27024.1 or newer installed on your machine.  
To check which Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable 2017 version that you currently have installed, access the Windows
Control Panel -> Programs & Features -> Add &
Remove Programs.  Then, scroll thru the list of installed programs until you see the following Microsoft Visual C++ 2017 Redistributable (x64)/(x86). 

In this example, you can see the version is 14.15.26706 and the new licensing mechanism requires it to be at version 14.16.27024.1 (or newer).  To update your Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable 2017, access this page here and download/install the highlighted executable files under the Visual Studio 2015, 2017, and 2019 section.

This Microsoft update will most likely require a reboot of your machine before the new licensing mechanism can be installed.  If you’re unsure if this new licensing mechanism has been applied for your 2020 product line, you can check the version folder here: “C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Autodesk Shared\AdskLicensing”

As a reminder:

1. Exit all Autodesk applications prior to installing the update.
2. Although in the image above, other versions of the licensing mechanism have already been installed on this machine, this is still a cumulative update that includes all changes from the previous updates.
3. This update should be applied prior to installing your Autodesk 2020 product line.
4. If you currently have your 2020 product line installed and working, you will still need to apply this update to ensure you have the latest licensing mechanism.

Once the updated licensing mechanism is in place, a new “Let’s Get Started” dialog appears for the Autodesk 2020 product line, making it easier for users to understand how to properly activate their products.

If you’re still unsure which license type you have or want a better understanding of these different license activation methods, simply select the link “What’s my license type?” at the bottom of the “Let’s Get Started” dialog box and access a more in-depth description of these license types.

This new and improved “Let’s Get Started” dialog box will only appear if you haven’t already activated your 2020 product line, or if you switched the license type through the product’s “help/about” screen.
Our original 2020 licensing mechanism can be found here.
If you have any questions related to the updated licensing mechanism please reach out to the Synergis experts.
Until next time…