--- title: "About licensing Vicon Nexus 2" canonical: "https://help.vicon.com/space/Nexus220/897712419/About%20licensing%20Vicon%C2%A0Nexus%202" format: markdown --- From release 2.0, Nexus is licensed using Sentinel software and Vicon Product Licensing. > ⚠️ **Important** > ⚠️ ▪️ From April 2026, new Vicon software licenses are requested and activated through the [Sentinel EMS](https://vicon.prod.sentinelcloud.com/customer/login) (Entitlement Management System). > ⚠️ > ⚠️ ▪️ For information about licensing Vicon Nexus purchased before April 2026, see the *Installing and licensing* guide for the relevant version of Nexus, available from the [Vicon documentation website](https://help.vicon.com/page/nexus-docs). For an introduction to license types and other related information, see the following topics: > Macro (toc) > Macro (scroll-pagebreak) ## License types For information on the available types of license and to help you choose the one most suited to your environment, see the following descriptions: > Macro (toc) ### Standalone licenses A Standalone license is locked to a single machine that is running Vicon Nexus. A combination of the MAC address of one of the network interfaces and an ID from one of the hard disks in the machine is used to create a unique lock code. This type of license must be revoked before it can be moved to a different PC. **Suitable for**: End users, faculty and long-term students/employees For more information, see [Request and activate Standalone licenses](https://vicon-help.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/Nexus220/pages/897712446). ### Network licenses A Network license is installed on a license server (a host machine that runs Sentinel RMS License Manager), which serves multiple seats of Vicon Nexus running on different machines. It is locked to a specific machine, using a combination of the MAC address of one of the network interfaces and an ID from one of the hard disks in the machine. The number of licenses in the network is limited to the number of licenses purchased/available. For more information, see [Request and activate Network licenses](https://vicon-help.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/Nexus220/pages/897712489). After you have licensed Vicon Nexus, if required, you can check out (borrow) a seat from a network license so that it can be used for the number of days that you specify, on a machine that has access to the server/host machine. (The remote machine does not have to be continuously connected to the license server network.) This is known as commuter licensing. The number of licenses that can be checked out is limited to the number of license seats in the network license. To move a network license, it must be revoked from the server/host PC when all of the seats are checked in. You can check out seats from a network license to machines that are connected to your network or to those that are not connected: - **Commuter licensing** A seat from a network license can be checked out to a machine on your network, so that Nexus can subsequently be used when the machine is no longer connected to your network. A commuter license is issued with an end date of a maximum of 30 days and can be returned before the expiry date. - **Remote commuter licensing** A seat from a network license can be checked out to a remote machine that is not connected to your network. A remote commuter license is similar to a commuter license but cannot be returned prior to the end date. Although a connection to the server/host machine is not required, you (or someone else) must have access to the server/host machine's Vicon Product Licensing app. **Suitable for**: Users who wish to run Nexus on multiple machines within a short period of time, such as a school with student users, and short-term users For more information on all types of network licensing, see [Borrow a network license](https://vicon-help.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/Nexus220/pages/897712609) and [Examples of using network licenses](https://vicon-help.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/Nexus220/pages/897712635). ### Dongle licenses A Dongle license is installed on a single machine that is running Vicon Nexus. It is locked using a Thales USB dongle with a unique lock code. You must obtain the dongle and the lock code from Vicon. When you start Nexus, the presence of the dongle is checked to ensure that the standalone license will allow the software to run. You don’t need a dongle to license Nexus through the Sentinel EMS: use of a dongle is optional. > ⚠️ **Note** > ⚠️ You cannot use existing HASP dongles that were previously used to license some Vicon software. **Suitable for**: Users who may need to move a single license from one machine to another For more information, see [Request and activate Dongle licenses](https://vicon-help.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/Nexus220/pages/897712536). > Macro (scroll-pagebreak) > Macro (anchor) ## Network licensing You must install the Sentinel RMS License Manager software in addition to Nexus. You can install the Sentinel RMS License Manager software in the following ways. - Using the standalone Vicon Product Licensing installer: - Go to the Vicon website [downloads](https://www.vicon.com/downloads/) page, search for `licensing` and download and install **Vicon Product Licensing**. - Run the Sentinel RMS License Manager installer that is included with standalone Vicon Product Licensing, for example, *SentinelRMSLicenseManager9.8.1.msi*. - Using Thales' Sentinel RMS License Manager installer. You may obtain the installer from either Thales or through Vicon. You can install the Sentinel RMS License Manager on the same machine that is to run Nexus or (more usually) on a machine central to all machines that are to run Nexus. ## USB dongles When using a Thales USB dongle, you must install the correct dongle driver. This driver can be installed in the following ways: - Windows may automatically install the driver when the dongle is plugged in for the first time. - Using the Nexus installer (as part of the normal software installation procedure) - Using the Vicon Product Licensing installer - Using Thales' installer. This may have been sourced from either Thales or through Vicon. ## Running multiple instances of Vicon Nexus Usually, multiple instances of Nexus can be run on the machine from the same license. Multiple network seats are not used up when running multiple instances on the same machine.