Transitioning to Single-user

Walk through the entire process of transitioning from Network/Multiuser to Single-user Licensing.

By: Darin Green, Director of Customer Support, Synergis Technologies, LLC

We’ve had the pleasure of walking many customers through this process to ensure they’re not putting themselves at risk with the Autodesk Compliance Team. Recently, there have been reports where organizations have been selected for an audit that identified the remanence of the network licensing model, which resulted in penalties or fines.

Below is the step-by-step process of transitioning from a multiuser license to a single-user licensing model.

Step 1: Identify and assign roles to users that will manage licensing assignments within the Autodesk Account User Management Portal.

• Primary Admin (1 per team): This role has access to everything from accessing software to managing Autodesk Contracts. Ideally responsible for annual renewals and partner relationships.
• Secondary Admin (1 or more per team): Secondary admins have visibility into all users and products. Ideal for CAD Managers.
• SSO Admin (1 per team): This role is only available to customers with a premium contract. They have visibility into all users and products and the SSO configuration areas.
• Users: Product users who can download and use the software assigned to them.

Step 2: Get all users loaded into your Autodesk Account.

*Note: There are multiple ways to insert and assign users to assets within your Account. This section focuses on mass importing to minimize redundancy.

1. Create a new CSV file for each product listed on your contract (i.e. Autodesk Vault Professional, PDMC, AEC, AutoCAD Specialized Toolset, etc.)
   • Give the files separate names corresponding to the product to be assigned
   • The CSV file must contain three columns (First Name, Last Name, and Email)
2. Within your Account, navigate to the By Product section under User Management
3. Select a Product from the list to open the details section
4. Click the Assign users button

5. Select the Import to assign tab
6. Click Upload CSV file
7. Repeat steps 3 through 6 for each product

*Note: Above illustration shows the required format for the CSV file

Users will receive an email in which they must click the link to accept the invite and create a username and password if they never had an account.

Step 3: Transition your Engineers & Designers to the Single-User model

If users are still able to use the software:

1. Expand the application login menu at the top-right of the application and select Manage License

2. Within the License Manager window, select the link Change license type just below the application name.

If users are NOT able to use the software:

1. From your START menu, type CMD and press ENTER
2. Copy and paste the following command within the command prompt using the following syntax:

• Syntax:
  • “%CommonProgramFiles(x86)%\Autodesk Shared\AdskLicensing\Current\helper\AdskLicensingInstHelper.exe” change -pk [ProductKey] -pv [Version].0.0.F -lm USER
• Example: To convert AutoCAD 2023 to a named user license
  • “%CommonProgramFiles(x86)%\Autodesk Shared\AdskLicensing\Current\helper\AdskLicensingInstHelper.exe” change -pk 001O1 -pv 2023.0.0.F -lm USER
• CLICK HERE to look up Autodesk Product Keys
• Alternatively, you may download and use the following batch file to convert all Autodesk products on your machine in one click: Convert to Named User

Users can now launch their Autodesk products and sign in with their Autodesk Account username and password.

Step 4: Clean up old licensing remnants

*Note: this step goes through the cleanup process to protect you from falling into a non-compliant state.

1. Modify existing network deployments and change the licensing type to single-user
2. Uninstall any running LMTOOLS applications from all systems
3. Scan the computers on your network to see if there are old Autodesk products installed (i.e. 2019 and earlier). If so, uninstall them using the clean uninstall process documented HERE

Step 5: Assign Administrator Roles

Many of our customers find it handy to add CAD Managers, Engineering Technicians, and IT personnel as Secondary Admins to assist as a backup for assigning user access and running reports.

To assist with renewals, technical issues, and reporting, Synergis asks all customers to add a Synergis Customer Success account as a Secondary Admin in addition to your internal admins.

• Follow THESE instructions to create the Secondary Admin for our Synergis Customer Success
• Please note that this Account must be created for each team within your Autodesk Account

For additional assistance transitioning to named user, please consult our helpdesk team with any questions.

Need more information about about Synergis Helpdesk? CLICK HERE and find the support plan that’s right for you!