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julianafnsc's avatar
julianafnsc
New Contributor
27 days ago

Can a TestComplete license be used with TestExecute?

I have a question about SmartBear licensing, and I would like some clarification. We have a TestComplete 14/15 Node-Locked license that includes the following components:

  • TestComplete 14/15 Platform
  • TestComplete 14/15 Desktop Module
  • TestComplete 14/15 Web Module
  • TestComplete 14/15 Mobile Module

We have a License Manager running on a bare-metal physical machine. On this machine, we installed TestExecute and were able to activate the TestComplete license key successfully. We also have Jenkins agents (VMs) that run automated tests using TestExecute 15. These agents were created from a base image.
However, when executing tests via Jenkins, TestExecute running on the agents is unable to detect the activated license, returning the error:

Unable to find an activated license for TestExecute 15

This happens even though the License Manager is active on the server.

My question is:
Can a node-locked TestComplete license be used by Jenkins agents running TestExecute via a License Manager, or does this scenario require a different type of license? This is the only license we have, and we do not plan to purchase an additional one.

6 Replies

  • julianafnsc's avatar
    julianafnsc
    New Contributor
    27 days ago

    Additional note: In the past, we used a node-locked TestExecute license, and this same setup worked correctly.

    • Hassan_Ballan's avatar
      Hassan_Ballan
      Icon for Champion Level 3 rankChampion Level 3
      27 days ago

      Node-locked licenses are tied to a single machine and can only be used locally on that machine. License Manager does not make a node-locked license shareable, and Jenkins agents (VMs) running TestExecute will not be able to detect or consume it.

      To run TestExecute on Jenkins agents, you need a floating license (either TestComplete or TestExecute) managed by License Manager. Without a floating license, this setup is not supported and will always result in the “Unable to find an activated license” error.

      TestComplete License Types

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  • rraghvani's avatar
    rraghvani
    Icon for Champion Level 3 rankChampion Level 3
    27 days ago

    If I remember correctly, you do require a separate license for TestExecute.

    The new version of TestComplete/Execute requires SmartBear ID-based.

    • julianafnsc's avatar
      julianafnsc
      New Contributor
      27 days ago

      Hi rraghvani! Thanks for replying me. Well, I am using a old version of TestComplete (15.10.445.7), which is before the id-based.

      • rraghvani's avatar
        rraghvani
        Icon for Champion Level 3 rankChampion Level 3
        26 days ago

        If I look at my old license on Sentinel Admin Control Center via http://localhost:1947 I can see that TestExecute v10, v12, v14 (and TestComplete) does in fact have a separate licenses.

        You need to check that the machine running Jenkins hasn't changed.

  • joseph_michaud's avatar
    joseph_michaud
    Icon for Staff rankStaff
    27 days ago

    To be certain, go back to the License Manager on your bare-metal physical machine and verify that your licenses are still present.  If you expect to run TestExecute then (naturally) you should have an active TestExecute license.

    (Note that the HASP-based TestExecute licenses were always floating, never node-locked).

    Then reexamine the base image used to create your Jenkins images.  There should be no licenses activated on it and it should be able to see your License Manager machine, and be able to access a TestExecute license from the License Manager.

    (Note: If you activated a license in your base image those licenses will not be valid in any cloned images derived from the base image. )

    If you can manually run TestExecute on your base image, try manually running TestExecute in a cloned Jenkins image on the machine where your tests are run.  Perhaps the problem is that the local License Manager in your Jenkins image cannot find the network License Manager (the one serving the licenses).  Maybe you need to configure the local License Manager on the base image (and cloned images) to explicitly specify where the network License Manager is.

    The License Manager software is always installed.  If you have a license activated on the machine, then the License Manager serves the license.  If you don't have a license activated on the machine, then the local License Manager acts as a broker and checks the network for a machine that is serving licenses.  Check the License Manager docs for more info on how to configure it:

    https://support.smartbear.com/testcomplete/docs/licensing/key-based/how-to/license-manager/index.html