What is the Hardware ID, and how do I find it?
Finding the Hardware ID:
The Hardware ID is the physical ID of the License Server computer or workstation, and is used by the ME License Server (MEls) software to control license access.
- For a license server computer running Windows, this will typically be the LANID, or MAC Address, of the computer (this will be a 12-digit number of hexadecimal characters (0-9, a-f) and will usually look like: 00-E0-29-44-9b-2b or 0x00E029449B2B).
NOTE: This may also be an external “dongle” or MSU purchased from PTC or CoCreate, which will have an ID similar to: MSU2841523.
The easiest (and most reliable) way is to use a web browser to connect to the license server computer and get the Hardware ID directly from the MEls software:
- First, determine either the name or IP address (i.e xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx) of your MEls computer
- Using a web browser, connect to your MEls machine on port 17171, i.e. http://pc343534.mydomain.com:17171 OR http://192.168.1.45:17171 (using the IP address you found above)
If MEls is running on the machine specified, you will see a window similar to the following image:
The Hardware ID being used by MEls is highlighted in the above image.
Other possible methods: If you can open a command-line shell on the MEls computer, you can also run the command
“mels -q”
or you may be able to simply read the ID from the MSU module (if available).
If you are unable to find the MAC Address of the license server computer running Windows, please refer to the following instructions:
Windows 10 or Windows 11
- Click on the Start button, and search for “Status” (no quotation marks)
- Select “Network Status”
- Click “Network and Sharing Center”
- Select the correct network (likely something like “Network 1”) and click “Ethernet”
- In the resulting window, click the “Details…” button
- The Hardware Address is labeled Physical Address
