Name: Shadow Licensing Uncovered: Smart Control for Unmanaged Software
Start: 2026-02-04T10:00:00+00:00
End: 2026-02-04T17:00:00+00:00
Location: OpenLM

Strategic management of Altium license manager with OpenLM

Altium Designer is a premier platform for designing printed circuit boards (PCBs) and forms a critical part of the electronic design automation (EDA) ecosystem. Altium employs a sophisticated and robust licensing system to regulate access to its software suite, making efficient license management crucial for productivity and compliance.

OpenLM provides a powerful solution that seamlessly integrates with the Altium license manager. OpenLM Altium monitoring delivers real-time usage data and detailed reporting, enabling informed decisions on license allocation and procurement to maximize the efficiency of your high-value EDA tools.

Understanding Altium licensing: Flexibility and control

The Altium license manager plays a crucial role in controlling access to Altium’s electronic design software, offering flexibility through various licensing options. The system is tightly interwoven with the AltiumLive online platform for account, user, and license management.

What is Altium license manager?

The Altium License Manager is the system that controls access to Altium Designer. It is a two-tier licensing system, consisting of a license for the server which controls a pool of user licenses.

Altium licensing schemas

Altium Designer offers three main license types to accommodate diverse organizational requirements: On-demand, Private server, and Standalone.

On-demand license

This is the most popular licensing option, utilizing a web-based client license acquisition system managed by an Altium-managed server.

Model/Description: Web-based client license acquisition, administered by an Altium-managed server.
Key Characteristics:
- The license seat is acquired while signed in and automatically released upon sign-out.
- It supports Roaming, which allows the user to borrow the license for a specified time for offline use.

Private Server License

This model is ideal for organizations that want central control over their licenses using their own infrastructure.

Model/Description: Client license acquisition is administered by a user-managed server (specifically, the Private License Service on an Altium On-Prem Enterprise Server or Infrastructure Server).
Key Characteristics:
- Licenses are centrally pooled and served over the network.
- Users do not need to sign in to their Altium accounts to acquire seats.

Standalone License

This is the most traditional license type, best suited for individual workstations or users who do not require a network connection for licensing.

Model/Description: Client license acquisition is managed by the user using a license file (*.alf). It is suitable for a single workstation or user.
Key Characteristics:
- The license is installed locally.
- It requires no active internet connection after the initial activation.
- It is limited to a single site license type.

Geographical Scope: Licenses can also be defined by geographical assignment: Single Site, Continental (for multiple sites across a continent), or Global (usable anywhere in the world).

OpenLM’s solutions for Altium license manager

OpenLM is designed to integrate with the Altium License Manager to monitor license usage, expirations, and denials. This is typically achieved using the OpenLM Broker installed on the Altium License Manager machine.

OpenLM capability	Value for Altium licenses	Supported by OpenLM
Real-time usage monitoring	Track current license usage and activity (resolution by minute).	Yes
Total no. of licenses	Report the total number of licenses owned and available in the pool.	Yes
Expiration date reporting	Track when your Altium licenses are due to expire, allowing for proactive renewal planning.	Yes
Historical reporting	Provides usage history for comprehensive trend analysis and capacity planning.	Yes
User-friendly interface	OpenLM’s user-friendly interface simplifies navigation, displaying collected data to facilitate compliance.	Yes

The OpenLM advantage for Altium license manager

OpenLM’s integration with the Altium system ensures you maintain control over your high-value EDA software investment, whether you use On-Demand (cloud) or Private Server (on-premise) licensing.

Informed decisions: OpenLM offers insights into Altium license utilization, enabling organizations to make informed decisions on allocation and procurement.
Compliance assurance: The collected data facilitates compliance with licensing agreements, helping organizations maintain adherence and avoid potential penalties.
Efficiency enhancement: By analyzing usage patterns, OpenLM empowers users to implement optimization strategies and ultimately enhance the efficiency of their electronic design processes.
Broker reliability: Configuration via the OpenLM Broker ensures reliable data retrieval from the Altium License Manager.