Before being able to run any simulations with nextnano, you need a valid license. If you haven't purchased one yet, please contact us - you can for instance use the Need help button in the right lower corner.

For each PC where you want to use nextnano, you have to activate your license(s). For the online activation, you need an internet connection.

If you are using the nextnanomat for the first time, the license activation window will pop up automatically. If not, use Tools → Activate License from the main menu.

This form should pop up:

/* It is important that you specify your email address correctly because we have issued your license to a specific email address. This is a comment! /*

The destination to save your licenses is set automatically to a folder “License” in the same directory as nextnanomat.exe. If you are running nextnanomat in your program files or another directory with no write access (i.e. read only access), we recommend to specify a custom destination for your license file(s).

After filling out the dialog, press Generate and activate license key. Important, use the same email address which was used to purchase the license(s).

You can see the status of the activation process in a small window. (If an error occurs, it would be helpful to send us a screenshot of this dialog. Then we can identify the error quickly.) If successful, it should look like this:

Afterwards you just need to update the paths to your newly activated license(s). If you click yes, the nextnanomat progam is taking care of this automatically. Alternatively, you have to manually update the paths to your new license(s) under Tools → Options. Note that the license file for both nextnano++ and nextnano³ is called License_nnp.lic. (license.txt is the previous format.)

Congratulations, you can now start your actual simulations!

• If you don't have this main menu option, your nextnanomat executable is too old. Have a look into your files for a newer version. Else, contact us. (Need help in the right lower corner of this website.)

• If you have the main menu option but instead of the activation dialog this message appears… → The executable ClientSideActivator.exe has to be located next to nextnanomat.exe. You can either search for it manually, or just redo the operation after putting it in the correct place.

After clicking the “Generate and activate license key” of the activation dialog

• Instead of a server feedback dialog, you get this file browsing dialog… → The ClientSideServerActivation.exe must be located in the same folder as nextnanomat.exe. You can either search for it manually or put it in the correct location and restart the activation process. If you don't find this executable at all, you can use the offline activation and send us the generated fingerprint file per email - we will do the license activation for you and send you the license file by email.

• There is a server connection but no license is saved… → Verify that you are using the same email address which was used to purchase the license or if there are any spelling errors. (The email address is not case sensitive.)

• Couldn't connect to license server… → nextnanomat is currently using the port 8001 to establish a server connection. If this port is blocked by your IT department, a connection cannot be established. Either you can open the port or use the offline activation. If this port isn't blocked by your institution, our server may be inaccessible. You can try again later or use the offline activation.

In any case please notify us about occurring problems - we are always trying to improve the licensing process to make it as convenient as possible.

If no connection to the server could be established, you can tick the offline activation in the activation dialog.

Generate and save the fingerprint file to any convenient location and send it to us per email or any other support channel.

We will generate your license and send it to you.

You can do online (recommended) or offline activation using the Command Prompt.

Windows

1. Open cmd.exe (Windows Command Prompt)
2. Go to folder where ClientSideActivator.exe and ClientSideServerActivation.exe are located, e.g. cd C:\Program Files\nextnano\2020_04_14
3. Type in ClientSideServerActivation.exe -O D:\License\ -UF “Homer” -UL “Simpson” -UE “homer.simpson@nextnano.com” -E “homer.simpson@nextnano.com-2020-05-12-dt34” -In “Springfield Nuclear Power Plant” -A “license.nextnano.cloud” -Exe ClientSideActivator.exe

• -O: name of folder where your license will be written to, e.g. D:\License\ (Note: This folder must exist.) If using quotation marks (when containing blanks), it may be necessary to use doubled backslashes e.g. “D:\\License\\”
• -UF: Your First Name, e.g. “Homer”
• -UL: Your Last Name, e.g. “Simpson”
• -UE: Your Email Address, e.g. “homer.simpson@nextnano.com”
• -E: Your License Key, e.g. “homer.simpson@nextnano.com-2020-05-12-dt34”
• -In: Your Institute or Company, e.g. “Springfield Nuclear Power Plant”
• -A: Address of nextnano License Server, “license.nextnano.cloud”
• -Exe: Path to ClientSideActivator.exe, e.g. ClientSideActivator.exe if located in same folder

Linux (Wine has to be installed before)

Type in:

wine ClientSideServerActivation.exe -O ~/Documents -UF "Homer" -UL "Simpson" -UE "homer.simpson@nextnano.com" -E "homer.simpson@nextnano.com-2021-12-31-l1s4" -In "Springfield Nuclear Power Plant" -A "license.nextnano.cloud" -Exe ClientSideActivator.exe

You obviously have to replace homer.simpson@nextnano.com-2021-12-31-l1s4 with your name and your License key.

MacOS (Wine has to be installed before)

• (same as Linux)
• on macOS Catalina or higher use wine64 … instead of wine …

Finally, your license(s) should be saved within the folder you specified. Update the path to your license within nextnanomat Tools → Options → Licenses.

Windows

1. Open cmd.exe (Windows Command Prompt)
2. Go to folder where ClientSideActivator.exe is located, e.g. cd C:\Program Files\nextnano\2020_04_14
3. Type in ClientSideActivator.exe -O D:\user_fingerprint.txt -UF Homer -UL Simpson -UE homer.simpson@nextnano.com -In “Springfield Nuclear Power Plant” -E homer.simpson@nextnano.com-2020-05-12-dt34

• -O: name of file where your fingerprint will be written to, e.g. user_fingerprint.txt (Note: This folder must have write permission.)
• -UF: Your First Name, e.g. Homer
• -UL: Your Last Name, e.g. Simpson
• -UE: Your Email Address, e.g. homer.simpson@nextnano.com
• -In: Your Institute or Company, e.g. “Springfield Nuclear Power Plant”
• -E: Your License Key, e.g. homer.simpson@nextnano.com-2020-05-12-dt34

Linux (Wine has to be installed before)

Type in:

wine ClientSideActivator.exe -O user_fingerprint.txt -UF Homer -UL Simpson -UE homer.simpson@nextnano.com -In "Springfield Nuclear Power Plant" -E homer.simpson@nextnano.com-2020-05-12-dt34

MacOS (Wine has to be installed before)

• (same as Linux)
• on macOS Catalina or higher use wine64 … instead of wine …

In the older version of nextnano there will be an error Error: Wrong number of arguments which can be ignored as long as the fingerprint file user_fingerprint.txt has been generated. (Please also get an update of nextnano.)

Finally, the generated fingerprint file user_fingerprint.txt which contains your

• Computer Name
• Disk Hash
• CPU Hash

has to be sent to support@nextnano.com. We will then send you your license key within 24 hours.