Extension License migration

Extensions
#1

I can’t put it off anymore, and must move to a new machine. Besides the issue of SketchUp licenses and number of installations, the same issues can come up with extensions, which can be quite bewildering. Which extensions must I go back and remove a license from in order to install on a different machine?

  • Medeek
  • Profile builder (v2&v3)
  • Placemaker
  • Flextools
  • Fredo tools (various)
  • SU Podium (v2.5 installed vs.moving to v2.6)
  • ThomThom stuff (various)

I also have SU versions from v8, 2013-2019 on the old machine with various different plugin’s installed in each.

Edit: And/or, if you just you Apple’s Migration Assistant to move your user account from one machine to the next, does it drag licensing stuff with it? Creating problems?

#2

If extensions are under your Gmail account, the only one of those that is paid is Profile Builder 2. Given that you can’t get that in EW, you might have to work out a deal with Dale, or don’t worry about PBv2 if you already have a v3 license direct with Dale.

The other ones you either have a deal direct, or it’s with Sketchucation. I’m not sure how the extension licensing works for those.

#3

Most extensions that use licensing have an menu item in [menu] Extensions > Name of Extension > license/activation/etc.

Do you plan to get rid of the machine, or keep it as ‘backup’ or memory lane?
Presuming you have a classic license, only one SketchUp version will survive the transfer.

#4

I was thinking that too. Each thing is a unique situation.

#5

“School!? Not today!” - Greg, Over the Garden Wall

I’ve been saying that about migrating to the new machine, for so long, it’s taken years. As it it, the new one has installations of SU 2017, 18, 19, & 20 on it. I’ve installed 2021, but I haven’t put in the license yet. I’ll keep the old machine around for as long as it keeps working. The old versions of SU still keep working on the old machine as long as it doesn’t die, right?

#6

yeah, right! So no real new machine?

#7

I think it was a re-furbished machine when I bought it. It’s gotten so little use, it’s still in mint condition.

#8

@colin, is it possible to export a report from the Extension Manager window? Something like a tab delimited text file? Something someone to do with yet another extension, or maybe a useful tech support tool if SketchUp Team created it an bundled it with a default installation.

#9

I don’t know, but the list is the same as the file list in these two locations:

~/Library/Application Support/SketchUp 2019/SketchUp/Plugins
/Library/Application Support/SketchUp 2019/SketchUp/plugins

#10

Good point, though MacOS lost the ability to print Finder windows some time ago, and the Extension Manager window has better information with better organization, like version # and serial #.

I see up a level in:

/Library/Application Support

that Skatter has it’s own folder, so it’s main installation is more global than each specific version of SU (e.g. 2019), though each SU version gets a Skatter plugin. Install/remove the license for that and you do so for all versions on that machine and all users, I think.

#11

Um … there is a diagnostics tool that @tt_su wrote awhile back. It has not been updated since 2015 …

1 Like
#12

So, someone on the inside did consider such a diagnostic tool as valuable.

#13

RTCool,
Here’s a first stab at an extension license reporter tool. I’m guessing that someone familiar with the SketchUcation license scheme could add to this code.

# Dump Extension Licensing Info
data = ''
KEY_SIZE = 32

if Sketchup.respond_to?(:extensions)
  extension = Sketchup.extensions
else
  extensions = []
  ObjectSpace.each_object(SketchupExtension) { |extension|
    extensions << extension
  }
end

data << "Name                             Version     Loaded? License Controller      License State\n"
         
for extension in extension
  loaded = (extension.respond_to?(:loaded?) && extension.loaded?) ? 'LOADED  ' : '        '
  data << "#{extension.name.ljust(KEY_SIZE)} (#{(extension.version + ")").ljust(10)} #{loaded}"
  ext_lic = Sketchup::Licensing.get_extension_license(extension.id)

  if ext_lic.licensed?
    data << "Extension Warehouse     "
  else
    data << "                        "
  end 
 
  case  ext_lic.state
  when Sketchup::Licensing::LICENSED
    data << "LICENSED"
    
  when Sketchup::Licensing::EXPIRED
    data << "EXPIRED"
  
  when Sketchup::Licensing::TRIAL
    data << "TRIAL"
  
  when Sketchup::Licensing::TRIAL_EXPIRED
    data << "TRIAL_EXPIRED"
  
  when Sketchup::Licensing::NOT_LICENSED
    data << "NOT_LICENSED"
  end
  
  data << "\n"
end

puts data
nil
#14

Why not add it to the diagnostic tool and file a PR to the GitHib repo ?

#15

Hey Dan,
Since updating paid extensions will now be an annual exercise for all users I’m hoping for further discussion of what is needed for this tool to be useful.

#16

Doh! I stand corrected! So, I guess I knew this, but didin’t have it straight in my head. What I was thinking was that SketchUp was licensed to a machine with a specific MAC address; the license would continue to work as long as you kept working on a specific machine (identified by it’s MAC address). It seems the SU license is installed PER USER account (not globally), so the user account migrated from the old machine to the new machine can’t use the already installed versions of SketchUp despite the fact that Administrator account on that machine can run them. Right now, I’m just fed up with all this.

#17

What you thought was correct. What you’re saying now seems wrong. The Classic license is tied to the MAC address of the computer. So long as you haven’t changed the hardware SketchUp should still be licensed.

What I think Mike was talking about is that you only have one active Classic license. Without some help from support you would only be able to move the latest version you have licensed to a new machine. Earlier versions of SketchUp would not activate on a new computer.

With extension licenses it’s down to the MAC address and the email that is currently signed in. I think, but haven’t tested to make sure, that if on your computer you were to sign into SketchUp with the email that had bought an extension, you should be able to add the extension to more than one user account on that machine. But, each different version of SketchUp would be seen as a new activation.

#18

Embarrassingly, I’ve had this “new” machine to move to for multiple years. I last tried to jump to it just days before 3D Basecamp 2018 and realized there were too many outstanding issues to resolve and not enough time before the trip, so I fell back to the old one and have been stuck postponing all this since. In the mean time, I’ve installed SU 2017, 2018, and 2019 on the new machine, so there are my two-machine installations.

I used Apple’s Migration Assistant, not being entirely sure what would result. It potentially brings all your preferences with it, so your tool palettes are in familiar places etc. It also seemed to drag a license with it, so, in the transfered user account, SketchUp 2019 says, this license was created on another computer and isn’t valid. Back to the administrator user account on the new machine, SU 2019 runs fine, so the user seems to matter.

#19

I did some testing, and because the license file is stored in a user specific location, you would want to add the license to SketchUp for each user you have on a Mac. Doing that doesn’t add to your activation count. On Windows it’s slightly easier because the license file is in a shared location.

I’m going to send you a message to ask some questions about versions of SketchUp you are using. For example, I’m curious why you’re not using 2021 yet. But I’ll ask that in a private message because we may end up talking serial numbers and such!