What is the Portable License Utility?

Issue

You want to know more about the Portable License Utility (PLU).

Solution

The Portable License Utility (PLU) is a utility that enables you to check out a license from one stand-alone software-locked Autodesk product and use that license on another computer that has the same Autodesk product (and installation type) installed.

A common misconception about the PLU is that it can be used to check out a license from a network-licensed Autodesk product for use on another computer. Licenses for network-licensed products are managed by the Autodesk® Network License Manager (FLEXnet).  These network licenses cannot be accessed by the PLU. The PLU works only with standalone software-locked products that use Autodesk Product Activation technology.

Prior to AutoCAD 2005, the distribution of PLU-enabled Autodesk products was limited to software-locked products outside the continental United States.

Starting with the 2010 product releases the PLU is no longer available and stand-alone licenses can now be transferred using the License Transfer Utility.  Please refer to the following video solution for more information:

How to transfer stand-alone licenses in Autodesk products