How to Manually Register Autodesk Applications

December 22, 2022 Shawn Heator

Issue:

There are many licensing errors that can occur with Autodesk 2020 and newer applications. Some of the licensing errors, such as the “License Checkout Timed Out” notification, can be caused by a variety of factors.

If the normal troubleshooting steps do not resolve the problem, then it may be necessary to manually register the Autodesk application to the Autodesk Licensing Service (AdskLicensingService.exe).

Solution:

To perform a manual registration, you must have administrator rights on the system and have the installation media for problem program available. The steps below can be used as a guide to manually register the problem application to the Autodesk Licensing Service using an Administrator Command Prompt. It will be necessary to edit some text to match your exact situation.

Requirements:

  1. The applications .pit file from the original installation media. If you fully downloaded the installation media, then a search in the installer folder for *.pit to find the Application’s .pit file. You may also find the .pit file in C:\Autodesk.

Example:

Search for *.pit. The name for AutoCAD 2023 is AutoCADConfig.pit.

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Right click on the result and select “Open File Location”.

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Copy the path of the folder that contains the .pit file.

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  1. The application’s Product Key. A full list of Autodesk Product Keys can be found via the link below.

https://www.autodesk.com/support/download-install/individuals/product-key/look-up-product-keys

  1. Administrator rights.

 

Process:

  1. Log into the computer as an Administrator.
  1. Find the .pit file. We recommend installing software using the Download method. The Download method will fully download the installation media. The .pit file may still exist using the default “Install” method in C:\Autodesk or it may exist in another location. You will need to obtain the exact path and name of the .pit file. If you do not have the .pit file on your system, then use the link below to obtain a full download of the installation files. Then obtain the exact name of the .pit file and the exact path where it resides.

Autodesk Download

  1. Find the Product Key for the problem application.
  2. Open a Notepad.txt file and copy the Register text below to edit as needed. The PRODUCTKEY, VERSION, PATH, and .PIT need to be modified to match the application you are registering.

AdskLicensingInstHelper register -pk PRODUCTKEY -pv VERSION.0.0.F -cf <PATH><.PIT> -el US

The example below is for AutoCAD 2023 and uses the default location in C:\Autodesk.

The PRODUCT KEY is 001O1.

The VERSION is 2023.

The name of the .pit file is AutoCADConfig.pit.

The path to the pit file is C:\Autodesk\AutoCAD_2023_English_Win_64bit_dlm\x64\acadprivate.

Use the above information to edit the Register text in Notepad.[HW2]  The results are below.

 

AdskLicensingInstHelper register -pk 001O1 -pv 2023.0.0.F -cf C:\Autodesk\AutoCAD_2023_English_Win_64bit_dlm\x64\acadprivate\AutoCADConfig.pit -el US

 

  1. To open an Administrator Command Prompt, type CMD into Windows search. When Command Prompt appears, select Run as administrator.

 

An Administrator Command Prompt will open.

 

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  1. Copy the text below, as a single line of text, and paste into the Administrator Command Prompt to change the directory to the Autodesk license helper. Hit Enter.

cd C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Autodesk Shared\AdskLicensing\Current\helper

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Copy your edited Register text and paste into the Administrator Command Prompt. Hit Enter. (For this AutoCAD 2023: AdskLicensingInstHelper register -pk 001O1 -pv 2023.0.0.F -cf C:\Autodesk\AutoCAD_2023_English_Win_64bit_dlm\x64\acadprivate\AutoCADConfig.pit -el US)

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  1. The Administrator Command Prompt should return to the license helper prompt if the entry was successful. If an error appears then the edited Register text may contain incorrect information.

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**A common source of an error is the path to the .pit file is not exact or it is on a network location. If the installation media is in a network location, copy the .pit file to a local folder on the hard drive such as C:\Autodesk. Then modify the PATH in the Register text to match the new location.**

If you do not see an error, then you have successfully registered your Autodesk application to the Autodesk Licensing Service.

 

About the Author

Shawn Heator

Technical Support Specialist

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