Will the license file verions 2018"A" support / allow a 2018"B" client to check out licenses?

In otherwords, is the version instance just considered the YEAR number of MATLAB or does version compatability include the letter designation as well? Can a client 2018 "B" installation checkout license features from a MATHWORKS license server that has ONLY the 2018 "A" level licenses for checkout?

[Rik]

If I understand your question correctly:

R2018a and R2018b are separate versions, so you'll need a license that covers both if you want to use features from both (or two licenses that cover a single each).

Answer 1

[Jitender Gangwar]

Hi Kirk,

I understand that you have license for MATLAB R2018a and would like to use the MATLAB R2018b with that license. You can use MATLAB R2018b if you have valid Software Maintenance Service.

To clarify, MATLAB licenses are not release specific but are for time durations and you can use any version of MATLAB if you have an active valid MATLAB license.

For more information you may want to refer to the following answer:

https://www.mathworks.com/matlabcentral/answers/283191-what-happens-when-my-license-expires

I hope this information helps.

Thanks

[Walter Roberson]

"To clarify, MATLAB licenses are not release specific but are for time durations"

That is not correct for most licenses; It applies to certain MOOC licenses, and applies to some corporate and academic licenses when term limits are paid for instead of purchases; and historically applied to certain student licenses that were available for 8 months or 1 year at a time.

For all other licenses (the ones with "Perpetual" duration), the license purchase covers a release; for some classes of licenses ("Standard", and most Academic) there is also an entitlement to use any previous release. (I have received no information yet as to whether that entitlement extends to Home licenses; it does not appear to extend to Student licenses.)

Now, also available from Mathwork is Software Maintenance Service (SMS), which is a contract with a fixed duration. For Standard and Academic licenses but not Student licenses (not sure about Home licenses), SMS entitles placing technical support cases, and entitles access to documentation archives. For all license types including the ones mentioned before, SMS is also an entitlement to upgrade to any new release that is made during the duration of the contract.

Upgrade entitlement is not coded into the license files. If you download an R2018a license file, and have paid for SMS, then the R2018a license file will be usable with R2018b. However, SMS is recorded at MATLAB Central, so that when R2018b was release, you became able to download it and an appropriate license for it.

A R2018a license does not permit access from R2018b clients. The toolbox versions coded into the R2018a license file on the server will be invalid with R2018b. To permit R2018b clients, the license file on the server would have to be updated to R2018b -- something that would be no extra cost if you are under SMS. You would also need to update the flexlm license daemon version for R2018b use (license daemon updates are not needed every release, but are needed most releases.) When you have updated the license file to R2018b, all existing clients including R2018a will be able to use the R2018b license (in accordance with maximum counts and so on) due to the backwards entitlements.