License manager
Our goal is that you'll never need to read this section. Most of DiffPlug is free, and if the action you are taking needs a license then DiffPlug will guide you through the process automatically. But if for some reason you want to manually open the license manager, you can do so by clicking the hamburger icon 
(or Ctrl+Shift+P), then select License manager.
If you take an action that requires you to get a license, DiffPlug will show you an Open license manager link like so:
The license manager will look like this for a fresh install.
When you click Get a license now, it will open a web browser with a magic link. You can open that link on any computer. If you are on an air-gapped network, it is fine to copy that link onto a disk and open it on a different computer. Once you create an account and login, it will look something like this:
Click the Copy to clipboard button, and you'll have a big blob of letters to bring back to the machine. DiffPlug's license dialog will now have a box for you to paste that giant code into (and a link to get the code again if something goes wrong).
And once you do the paste, you're all set!
Floating vs locked
As you can see in the image above, the current activation has a cloud icon, and there is a button Work offline. If you click that Work offline button, the dialog will switch to the image below. Now the button will say Unlock and float. Click that again and the dialog goes back to how it was.
Notice in particular the Next check-in time.
- 60 minutes from now for float
- 11 months from now for locked (depends on how much time is left on your license)
With DiffPlug, you don't have to choose between a node-locked license or a floating license - DiffPlug only offers one kind of license, and you can lock it to a single machine ( locked) or float it between multiple users ( floating). There is one limitation - a single license cannot transfer between users more often than once every 24 hours. This is essentially a daily-active user limit. If you expect to have 10 different people using DiffPlug in a single day, then you'll need 10 licenses. If you need to stretch your licenses further than that, you have the option to lock a license to a single computer which could then be used by multiple people.
| Activation type | floating | locked |
|---|---|---|
| transfer between machines | unlimited | once per 24 hrs |
| transfer between users | once per 24 hrs | anyone on the machine¹ |
| check-in with license server | once per hour | only once to initiate the activation |
¹ simultaneous sessions on a single networked machine are not allowed - sequential access only
We do not offer an on-premises license server. However, we do support offline activation for air-gapped or firewalled computers using an easy method of copy-pasting a magic URL to a web browser.
Proxy and firewall settings
DiffPlug attempts to detect your proxy settings automatically, but your proxy may require a username and password. If DiffPlug has any connection problems, you will automatically be prompted to Debug connection and proxy settings, which will open this dialog:
If you are not being prompted but you want to examine the proxy settings anyway, you open them from the license manager using More options... then Proxy setup as shown below in more options.
Licensing emergencies
Sometimes things go wrong - maybe somebody locked the machine to their computer and then spilled coffee on it. Just let us know at support@diffplug.com and we'll reset your license to make sure it's available again. But if it's the weekend and we don't see your email right away, there is an emergency workaround. Select More options..., then Emergency temporary activation. You will be presented with this confirmation dialog.
As the dialog indicates, this is not a long-term solution to your licensing problem. But if you're in a licensing pinch, our license manager will never stop you from getting your work done.
More options
Air-gapped activation
The best way to activate an air-gapped computer is with a standard copy-paste activation, described above. However, this requires copying an approximately 300 character alphanumeric code from the air-gapped computer to the public internet. If that is not possible, then you can select More options..., then Air-gapped activation. You will be presented with a dialog which is amenable to pen-and-paper. However, this method obviously does not allow a floating activation.
Legacy licenses
DiffPlug's old license management systems are deprecated, and are not guaranteed to exist in future versions of DiffPlug. We recommend that you migrate to the new license manager at your earliest convenience.
In the meantime, click More options..., then Legacy xml license.