1.6: Allegro CL Licenses

If you are having difficulty with your Allegro CL license file (whether you are a Trial user or a regular user), please take a moment to review the information given below. This page contains detailed instructions regarding how to install (for all users) or update (for Trial users) your license file, and may provide you with the solution to your problem.

Please contact [email protected] with any additional questions you might have.

Q 1.6-1) How do I install the License File into Allegro CL?
Q 1.6-2) I have misplaced the email telling me the URL from which I can download your license?
Q 1.6-3) I can not access the URL for retrieving my license. What should I do?
Q 1.6-4) I have lost my license, but I am not able to access http://lfs.franz.com:4100/lostlicense. Is there an alternate location?
Q 1.6-5) [Trial users only] My license file is expiring: how do I to renew and reinstall it?
Q 1.6-6) [ACL Trial users only] I am trying to run the newlicense program to renew my ACL trial, but I get an error: "Unknown host: lfs.franz.com". How do I keep ACL trial from expiring?
Q 1.6-7) [ACL Trial users only] When I run newlicense to renew my ACL trial, I get a Connection Refused error. How can I fix that?
Q 1.6-8) I still have problems with my license file. Can I contact Franz Inc. for assistance?
Q 1.6-9) I'm behind a firewall and am required to use a proxy host to access the web. How can I update my license file with the newlicense?
Q 1.6-10) [Trial Users Only] When I try to run Allegro CL, a message says my license has expired, but when I run newlicense, it says it is too early to renew. Why might this happen?

Go to main FAQ page.


Q 1.6-1) How do I install the License File into Allegro CL?

A 1.6-1) A new network installer for Allegro CL 7.0 Trial on Windows (8.0 Trial is not yet available) simplifies the installation procedure significantly. One feature is the license file is retrived are installed automatically, with no user action required beyond invoking the installer. Therefore this entry does not apply to Allegro CL 7.0 Trial on Windows.

This entry does apply to all version (7.0 or 8.0) on UNIX platforms (including Linux and Mac OS X) and to non-Trial versions on Windows (again 7.0 or 8.0). For all of those products, the license file is retrived separately from the software and thus must be installed as described here.

You should have received an email specifying a URL from which you can download your license file. (If you haven't received that email or if you have mislaid it, see Q 1.6-2. If you cannot access the URL, see Q 1.6-3.)

  1. The email we sent you in response to your download order contains a customized URL to your license file. Click on that URL or copy it into a browser to retrieve your license file.
  2. Save the text to a file called devel.lic. (the name is "devel" and the type is "lic".) On Linux, this is usually not a problem, but because Windows automates many actions and may perform them in a way you do not expect or intend, some users have problems getting Windows to save the file correctly. When you view this in the Windows Explorer, its file type must show as lic, not txt or text or anything else. Therefore, you must be careful to save this file so that its type is lic and its contents are plain text.
    Each version of Windows has a slightly different method of identifying and listing file types. Please refer to the "Windows Users" section to identify how to do this on your individual machine.
    In some instances, Windows will automatically save the file as an HTML file (devel.lic.htm), adding an HTML header and footer. These headers will prevent the license file from working.
  3. If you used the "lost license" URL to obtain your license file,be sure that you save only the license file portion of the email into devel.lic. If you save the entire email message, MIME headers and all, it will prevent the license file from working.
  4. Put the devel.lic file into the Allegro directory.

Q 2) I have misplaced the email telling me the URL from which I can download your license?

A 1.6-2) We can send the license to you by email. (The link is to http://lfs.franz.com:4100/lostlicense and on that page, you are asked for the email address you entered when you requested the license; entering the email address and clicking the Submit button will cause your license file(s) to be emailed to you. Please wait after clicking Submit for the message saying the request was successful. If no license associated with the email address is in the database, the message `No licenses found' is displayed. If that happens, send a message to [email protected]. Be sure to tell us the email address you used in the body of the message.)


Q 1.6-3) I can not access the URL for retrieving my license. What should I do?

A 1.6-3) Typically, this problem occurs because your system is behind a firewall or you must use a proxy server. Our license file server rarely experiences any significant downtime.

You should make sure that you should not be using a proxy server to access sites outside of your network and that your browser is configured appropriately. If you do not know if you should be using a proxy server, or don't know what one is, you should check with your Network Administrator for assistance. If your system does not require a proxy server, then perhaps you are behind a firewall that does not give access to certain ports (see Q 1.6-4 for an alternate location).

You can get your license using the lost license page (described in Q 1.6-2) but see Q 1.6-4 for an alternate URL to use.

If the proxy server is not the problem, please email Franz Inc. at [email protected] stating that you are unable to access the URL for retrieving your license (include the URL), and we will have the license(s) sent to the email under which you have registered.


Q 1.6-4) I have lost my license, but I am not able to access http://lfs.franz.com:4100/lostlicense. Is there an alternate location?

A 1.6-4) If you can use a browser to visit https://franz.com, then you may use the alternate lost license address:

https://franz.com/lfs/lostlicense

You must enter the same address that you registered under, and your current license, if found, will be emailed to that address. The lostlicense URL cannot be used to renew an expired or about to expire Allegro CL Trial license: as said it emails your current license. See Q 1.6-5 for information on renewing.

Otherwise, send us email at [email protected] telling us that you cannot access either lostlicense URL and that you would like a copy of your license sent to you.


Q 1.6-5) [Trial users only] My license file is expiring: how do I to renew and reinstall it?

A 1.6-5) Your Trial Edition will operate for a total of sixty days. You may extend the license period, in 60-day increments, until some time after the next release of Allegro CL. You update your license with the newlicense program.


Q 1.6-6) [ACL Trial users only] I am trying to run the newlicense program to renew my ACL trial, but I get an error: "Unknown host: lfs.franz.com". How do I keep ACL trial from expiring?

A 1.6-6) Since the newlicense program must communicate with our License File Server in order to work, you must be online when running newlicense. Make sure that you are connected to the internet (you can verify by trying to access https://franz.com in a browser) and try again.

There may be a problem with your configured DNS server. Make sure these are properly configured on your machine, asking your Network Administrator for assistance if necessary. Your DNS server should be set up correctly if you can, for example,


Q 1.6-7) [ACL Trial users only] When I run newlicense to renew my ACL trial, I get a Connection Refused error. How can I fix that?

A 1.6-7) This problem is most likely to occur because of your firewall configuration. If you are able to access https://franz.com via a browser, try to use the https://franz.com/lfs/update-trial-license page for updating as described in Q 1.6-5 above.

If you continue to have problems, or newlicense reports any errors, please send us email at [email protected] describing your problem. Please send us the contents of devel.lic in your message.


Q 1.6-8) I still have problems with my license file. Can I contact Franz Inc. for assistance?

A 1.6-8) Yes. Questions or problems should be sent to [email protected]. Please be sure to include the following information:


Q 1.6-9) I'm behind a firewall and am required to use a proxy host to access the web. How can I update my license file with the newlicense?

A 1.6-9) The newlicense program takes arguments for specifying a proxy host. Call it like this:

newlicense -p <proxyhost> 

where <proxyhost> is the name of the proxy host you must use.

Note that if you are on Windows, you cannot run newlicense with the -p argument by clicking on it in the Windows explorer or by choosing the menu item on the Start menu. You must run it from a command line or by choosing Start | Run and typing the command (specifying the path of newlicense) into the dialog box that is displayed.

Note too that the -p option only works with proxies that do not require interaction with users (proxies that require authentication, for example, do require such interaction). If the -p option to newlicense does not work, try the suggestions in Q1.6-7.


Q 1.6-10) [Trial Users Only] When I try to run Allegro CL, a message says my license has expired, but when I run newlicense, it says it is too early to renew. Why might this happen?

A 1.6-10) This can happen when the date on your computer is incorrectly set to a date in the future later than the license expiration date. Allegro CL will not start because it thinks the license has expired. You cannot renew because the Franz Inc. computers (which are presumably set to the correct date) determine it is not time to renew. You can check the date on your computer by looking at the Date/Time entry on the Control Panel. Please consult your Windows documentation for information on resetting the date on your computer.


Next FAQ topic: 1.7 Operating systems

Previous FAQ topic: 1.5. Installation


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