Tecplot 360 Support FAQ
The following FAQ provides information for Tecplot 360 2010, Tecplot 360 2009, and Tecplot 360 2008 for single-user and network licenses only. For questions about older versions of Tecplot 360 or if you administer a site license, please contact technical support.
What new features does the latest version of Tecplot 360 include?
To read about the new features in the latest version of Tecplot 360, see the Release Notes. For older versions, refer to the release.pdf file in the Tecplot 360 installation folder.
What platforms does the latest version of Tecplot 360 support?
To read about the supported platforms in the latest version of Tecplot 360, see the Installation Guide. For older versions, refer to the install.pdf file in the Tecplot 360 installation folder.
What versions of Tecplot 360 does Tecplot, Inc. currently support?
The supported versions of Tecplot 360 are listed in our Support Policy.
Do I need a license key to run Tecplot 360?
Yes. Tecplot 360 licenses require a license key file in order to run.
Do I need to install a license manager to run Tecplot 360?
Only Tecplot 360 network licenses require a license manager installation. Single-user Tecplot 360 licenses do not. For more information on license management for network licenses, refer to the Tecplot License Manager Support FAQ.
Do I need a new license key to upgrade from Tecplot 360 2009 to Tecplot 360 2010?
If you already have a Tecplot 360 2009 license key, you can use it with Tecplot 360 2010. Otherwise, you will need to request a license key.
How can I get a license key?
The primary method for requesting a license key is through our automated Software Activation page, which is open to all customers with current Software Maintenance Service (SMS). In most cases, you will receive a license key immediately after requesting it, although it may take up to one business day.
If you do not have current SMS, you will need to contact technical support to request your license key.
When requesting your license key file, please include the following information:
- Your Tecplot 360 license number. It is in the form L#####.
- Your myhostids.txt file (or its contents copied into the e-mail), which Tecplot 360 creates in its installation folder when you install Tecplot 360. Use the myhostids.txt in this location for single-user licenses (if you have a Tecplot 360 2008 installation, the file is created in the bin folder inside the installation folder). For a network license key, include the myhostids.txt file from the license manager installation folder. For Tecplot 360 2008 license key requests, specify whether the license key is for a laptop or a desktop computer.
I installed the demo version of Tecplot 360 and now I want to install the purchased version. Do I need to uninstall the demo version first?
No, the installation of Tecplot 360 remains the same regardless of the license type you choose. You only need to request a license key and replace the demo license key with it. The myhostids.txt file will be required to complete the license key request. If you cannot find your myhostids.txt file in the Tecplot 360 installation folder, you can create it by doing the following:
For single-user licenses on Windows platforms, run the gethostids.bat batch file (double-click on it). This file resides in the bin folder in the Tecplot 360 installation folder. When you run the batch file, it will create a file called myhostids.txt in the same folder (for Tecplot 360 2008) or in the main installation folder (for Tecplot 360 2009 and Tecplot 360 2010).
For single-user licenses on Linux, Unix, and Mac platforms, you must reinstall Tecplot 360 and choose the single-user license type during the installation. The installation will create the myhostids.txt file and place it in the Tecplot 360 installation directory.
For network licenses, install the license manager and use the myhostids.txt file located in the license manager directory.
I tried to request a license key for Tecplot 360 2009 or Tecplot 360 2010 from the Tecplot Web site, but I was unable to complete my request. How can I request my license key?
It's possible that your myhostids.txt file has become corrupted. You can check it with the following steps.
Open your myhostids.txt file (in the Tecplot 360 installation folder) in a plain text editor. The file should resemble the following:
<hostid>
<disk>00000000</disk>
<ether>000000000000</ether>
<internet>000.00.000.000</internet>
<user>aaaaaa</user>
<host>aaaaaaa</host>
</hostid>
If you find that any pair of the tags (in the form <tagname> and </tagname>) appear more than once in the file, you can remove the duplicate content and try your license key request again. If you find the file appears empty, make sure that Tecplot 360 supports your operating system and verify that you installed the proper installation.
How do I install my license key after I receive it?
If you request your license key through our Web site, you should receive an e-mail with your license key file, named tecplotlm.lic, attached to it. If you requested a license key for a single-user license, place the license key file in your Tecplot 360 installation folder, replacing the default tecplotlm.lic file. If you requested a network license key, place the tecplotlm.lic file in the license manager installation folder.
If you received your key file from our technical support team, you may receive an e-mail with the key file information embedded in it, instead of in an attached file. In that case, replace the contents of your tecplotlm.lic file (in your license manager installation folder for network licenses, or in your Tecplot 360 installation folder for single-user licenses) with the text shown in the e-mail between the ** start ** and ** end ** markers.
I want to install Tecplot 360 on a new computer. Do I need a new license key?
If you have a single-user license, you will need a new license key. Install Tecplot 360 on the new computer and then request a license key (including the myhostids.txt file from the new computer's installation). If you have a network license, you will not need a new license key. Install Tecplot 360 on the new computer, choose the network install mode, and include your license server name when prompted. Tecplot 360 should run successfully, as long as your license manager is set up correctly.
Can I run the 2009 and 2010 versions of Tecplot 360 on the same computer?
Yes. Both versions of the product can run on the same computer and can use the same license key file.
Can I run Tecplot 360, Tecplot Focus, and/or Tecplot RS on the same computer?
Yes; the products can run on the same computer without conflicting with each other.
Can Tecplot 360 run on a virtual machine?
You can run Tecplot 360 on a virtual machine with a network license, but the single-user license key does not allow it. If you need to use Tecplot 360 on a virtual machine with a single-user license, please contact us and explain the situation.
When installing Tecplot 360 on a Windows platform, I receive a Windows system error message that halts the installation. How do I fix this?
A Windows system error (code 1935 or 1303) can occur when installing Tecplot 360 on the Windows 7 or Windows Vista platforms. This can be resolved by right-clicking the .exe installer file and choosing "Run as Administrator" from the context menu.
When opening Tecplot 360 on a Windows platform for the first time, I receive errors citing a missing configuration and/or font file. How do I fix this?
These errors indicate that Tecplot 360 cannot find the configuration file, tecplot.cfg, and/or the font file, tecplot.fnt, in the Tecplot 360 installation folder. This is usually resolved by restarting the computer.
If that doesn't work, Go to Start > Control Panel > System > Advanced System Settings and click on the Environment Variables button. Make sure there is an environment variable named TEC_360_YEAR, where YEAR is the Tecplot 360 product year. For example, the environment variable for Tecplot 360 2010 is TEC_360_2010. Make sure the value of this environment variable is the full path to the installation folder. If the error still occurs, check this folder for the tecplot.cfg and tecplot.fnt files. If they do not exist, locate the files in the factorydefaults subfolder and copy them to the main installation folder.
When opening Tecplot 360 on a Windows platform for the first time, I receive a "pythonutil.dll could not be loaded" error. How do I fix this?
This error indicates that Tecplot 360 cannot find the proper build of Python 2.5.x installed on the computer. This is often caused by the existence of a 32-bit version of Python on the computer prior to installing the 64-bit version of Tecplot 360 (or a 64-bit version of Python with a 32-bit version of Tecplot 360). If you uninstall Python 2.5.x and Tecplot 360 and then reinstall Tecplot 360, the problem should be resolved. Alternatively, you can upgrade to Tecplot 360 2010, which embeds the Python install directly into Tecplot 360 to avoid issues with standalone installations of Python.
How can I get started using Tecplot 360?
If you're new to Tecplot 360, we recommend that you start by working through the tutorials in the Getting Started Manual or watching the Getting Started Videos, which present step-by-step demonstrations of tutorials from the Getting Started Manual.
Your Tecplot 360 installation has an "examples" folder, which contains several sample data files in Tecplot format. To open them, go to File > Load Data File(s), select the Tecplot Data Loader, and choose a data set.
For questions on how to perform specific actions in Tecplot 360, we recommend referring to the Product Documentation, especially the User's Manual. You can also view this information by choosing Tecplot 360 Help from the Help menu.