Can't activate a license using the legacy method (old versions or serial keys)

If you're using a very old version of a product (before 2017) or an unsupported tool such as MySQL Compare, user account licensing (logging in with your Redgate ID) doesn't work. You'll need to activate using the legacy serial key method instead. This covers the two errors you might hit along the way.

Failed to activate the license

If you've been invited to use a license in the customer portal and try to activate it on one of these older or unsupported tools, you will see the error 'Failed to activate the license'.

To fix this, remove yourself (or the affected user) from the license in the portal, then install the product using the appropriate installer from our website and activate with the serial key instead.

• Go to the customer portal and log in with your Redgate ID.
• Select Licenses > Legacy licenses, then click the product tile you need to remove a user from.

• Tick the box next to the user's email address and click Remove. If you're not the license owner, you will need to ask a license owner to do this for you.

• Once the user is removed, you can try the serial key activation again.

The serial number (xxx) is not valid for this product

This error usually means you're entering your license ID rather than your serial key. Serial keys follow the format 123-456-123456-1234.

With user account licensing you don't need a serial key at all. Click the tool on the toolbar and click Sig In to activate with your Redgate ID instead. This also means you will never run out of activations.

If you're activating an old license on a machine with no internet connection, you still need your serial key. These are no longer shown by default in the customer portal, so click the Licenses tab and switch to the old licensing view. 

Click the tool you need and you will find your serial number under the Serial Numbers tab.

Upgrading

If you would like to upgrade an old license instead of continuing with legacy activation, contact sales@red-gate.com and they will be happy to help.