Overview
Trial mode
When you first install PRIMER, it will run in a free trial mode for 14 days. In trial mode, all of the PRIMER 8 and PERMANOVA+ menus and dialogs can be viewed and explored, but not all of them are fully functional. In addition, you will be unable to save, copy to the clipboard, or print your work, and all graphics you produce will be watermarked. Full functionality requires a licence key to be purchased.
To purchase a licence, please visit our website https://www.primer-e.com, or contact us directly at primer@primer-e.com.
Licence types
PRIMER offers two main types of licence:
1. Offline (also called regular or node-locked)
During activation, machines using this type of licence download an offline licence file and authenticate using that file. This file does not need to be renewed until the end of the subscription period and so users can work online or offline for the duration of their subscription after the initial activation.
Offline licences are generally best for individuals or groups who have their own machines and want to install PRIMER on them for their use anytime and anywhere. This is the most common type of licence in PRIMER, and if you're wondering what licence type you have, it's probably this one.
2. Floating
Floating licences allow many instances of PRIMER to use the licence but limit the number of simultaneous end users. Because of this limitation, instances of PRIMER using the floating licence must always be online and able to talk to our authentication server.
Floating licences are generally used in situations where there are shared machines, like teaching contexts (e.g., in a university computer lab, where they want students to be able to access PRIMER software) or perhaps on a shared server.
Please email primer@primer-e.com if you're interested in purchasing a floating licence.
Licence seats
Each licence includes a fixed number of seats. A seat is consumed when a unique combination of user and device activates the software with a valid licence key. For example, the same person signing in from two different machines would use two seats. Once all seats are in use, no further activations are possible until a seat is released.
Activating and deactivating
Both activating and deactivating PRIMER require the device to be online and able to talk to our authentication server (see the section entitled 'Network requirements'). Offline licences also have an alternative pathway to activation if their machine cannot talk to our authentication server; for more information, see the section entitled 'Activate PRIMER'. Floating licences must always be able to talk to the authentication server.
Activation limits
Standard PRIMER 8 licences operate mainly offline and have a limited number of activation cycles during the subscription period. The specific number depends on the number of seats associated with your licence. Multiple activation cycles are provided so that you can move PRIMER to a new machine if, for example, you've bought a new computer or your old one has crashed. The licence is not intended for regular movement across a large number of computers. If you deactivate and reactivate too many times within a subscription period, you will receive an error. Please contact us at primer@primer-e.com for assistance if this happens.
Activation limits do not apply to floating licences. A floating licence permits PRIMER 8 to be installed on an unlimited number of machines, but these must all remain online. The number of seats in your subscription plan simply limits the number of simultaneous end-users at any one time.
Network requirements
PRIMER needs to communicate with licensing.primer-e.com over ports 80 and 443 for activation and deactivation. If your firewall blocks this, contact your IT administrator to unblock this. If that is impossible, contact tech@primer-e.com with the details of your situation and we'll see what we can do to help.