Local PRO Subscriptions
SFx Desktop provides support for offline licenses for your assets. With an activated local PRO subscription, you can output the data stream of your asset in a format that complies with the MTConnect standard protocol without internet access.
A local PRO subscription allows activation of PRO features, such as MTConnect output and unencrypted MQTT stream output without internet access.
A local PRO subscription can be applied to the following types of assets: CMMs, laser trackers, and machine tools.
To get a local PRO subscription, do as follows:
Install SFx Desktop on the computer that is connected to your asset. See Installing SFx Desktop for details.
Open SFx Desktop from the Windows Start menu or double-click the
icon in your system tray.Note
Ensure your asset is connected to your computer that installed the SFx Desktop application either in an intranet or internet network.
From the Add Asset dialog box, click Begin Tour.
Select the type of your asset.
Tip
For CMMs, refer to 3a. Connecting Your CMM to Your SFx Account. But when you go to Step 9, DO NOT click Agree and connect to my SFx account!. Instead, click No thanks, maybe later.
For trackers, refer to 3b. Connecting Your Laser Tracker to Your SFx Account. But when you go to Step 7, DO NOT sign in to your account.
For machine tools, refer to Connecting an MTConnect Enabled Machine to SFx. But when you go to Step 15, DO NOT sign in to your account.
Click the Home button in the upper left corner of the toolbar.
From the SFx Desktop toolbar area, click the SFx Pulse drop-down and select All My Assets.
On the All My Assets screen, you can find your asset in the list, and its SFx Connection status shows Ready to connect.
Note
Only in the Ready to connect status can you find the Local Subscription option.
Move your mouse cursor to the row of your asset, click the More (
) icon.From the drop-down menu, select and click the Local Subscription option.
From the line of texts at the bottom, click here to apply for a local subscription for your asset.
SFx Desktop generates a snippet of code based on your asset ID and hardware information of your computer.
If you have installed an email application on your computer with internet access, click Send Email to open your default email app. Then click Send.
The Hexagon support team will check and issue a local PRO subscription for you, and you'll be informed by email shortly.
If not, you can click Copy to Clipboard and paste and save the Asset Terms somewhere. Then send it to the Hexagon support team in other ways.
Tip
If you need to extend the valid period of a local subscription (the default value is 1 year), before sending this snippet of code out, you can edit the Expiration Date based on your need.
If you don't want to bind a local subscription with a computer as you may need to change a new computer, before sending this snippet of code out, you can remove the first two lines of code, which contains information of HardDrive ID and CpuID of your current computer.
If you have an un-activated local PRO subscription, do as follows to activate and apply it to your asset.
Note
An authorized local PRO subscription is a snippet of code with the signature provided by the Hexagon support team. See the image below as an example.
An authorized local PRO subscription can only be applied to an asset and cannot be applied to other assets after activation. If you have to, please apply a new local subscription.
Open SFx Desktop from the Windows Start menu or double-click the
icon in your system tray.Move your mouse cursor to the row of your asset, click the More (
) icon.From the drop-down menu, select and click the Local Subscription option.
Then copy and paste the local PRO subscription into the input box.
Click Activate.
Tip
How to confirm my asset is upgraded to a PRO asset?
After activation, you can re-open the Asset Local Subscription dialog, and find this line at the bottom: The asset is already granted a subscription.
Alternatively, under Settings in the Service and interfaces drop-down menu, click the MTConnect Adapter tab. You can find your asset is labeled with a PRO indicator.
Now the local PRO subscription is activated and applied to your asset.
After applying a local PRO subscription to your asset, you must enable the MTConnect Adapter functionality for your asset.
Tip
An asset with a PRO subscription, either the type of which is local or online, can enable the MTConnect Adapter functionality and transfer data through SFx Desktop.
Open SFx Desktop from the Windows Start menu or double-click the
icon in your system tray.Click on the Settings icon (the bigger gear icon) in the upper right corner of the toolbar.
On the Settings page, under the Service and interfaces drop-down menu, click on the MTConnect Adapter tab.
This tab is used to send data from SFx Desktop to your MTConnect Agent.
Mark the checkbox in front of your asset, which has already been upgraded to a PRO asset, and click Save Changes.
Note
For assets with Lite subscriptions, the checkbox is disabled and cannot be selected.
Now you can output your asset data in a format that complies with the MTConnect protocol from SFx Desktop to your internal system as needed.