Altera® FPGA Software Installation and Licensing

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ID 683472
Date 4/14/2025
Public
Document Table of Contents
Document Table of Contents x
Answers to Top FAQs 1. Introduction to Altera® FPGA Software Installation and Licensing 2. Determining System Requirements 3. Downloading Altera® FPGA Software 4. Installing Altera® FPGA Software 5. Licensing Altera FPGA Software 6. Next Steps After Installing and Licensing the Software A. Altera® FPGA Software Installation and Licensing Archives B. Document Revision History for Altera® FPGA Software Installation and Licensing
1. Introduction to Altera® FPGA Software Installation and Licensing x
1.1. Quartus® Prime Design Suite Overview 1.2. Altera® FPGA Software Download Center 1.3. Altera® FPGA Self-Service Licensing Center 1.4. Before You Begin
1.4. Before You Begin x
1.4.1. Navigate Content Through Tasks 1.4.2. Prerequisites 1.4.3. Acronyms
2. Determining System Requirements x
2.1. Reviewing the Quartus® Prime Software Release Notes 2.2. Determining Hardware Requirements 2.3. Determining Software Requirements
2.2. Determining Hardware Requirements x
2.2.1. Disk Space and Memory Requirements 2.2.2. Cable and Port Requirements
2.3. Determining Software Requirements x
2.3.1. Operating System Requirements 2.3.2. Questa*-Intel® FPGA Edition Software Requirements 2.3.3. Other Altera® FPGA Software Requirements 2.3.4. Third-Party Software Requirements
3. Downloading Altera® FPGA Software x
3.1. Software Available in the FPGA Software Download Center 3.2. Downloading Design-Specific Software Components 3.3. Determining the Download Type 3.4. Downloading Other Altera® FPGA Software 3.5. Downloading Docker Containers for Quartus® Prime FPGA Design Software
3.3. Determining the Download Type x
3.3.1. Downloading Software Using the Quartus® Prime Installer 3.3.2. Downloading Software Packages Manually
3.3.1. Downloading Software Using the Quartus® Prime Installer x
3.3.1.1. Accessing the Quartus® Prime Installer 3.3.1.2. Getting Started With the Quartus® Prime Installer GUI 3.3.1.3. Modifying the Installer Settings 3.3.1.4. Using CLI Commands
3.3.2. Downloading Software Packages Manually x
3.3.2.1. Downloading Software and Device Support Files 3.3.2.2. Downloading Copyleft Licensed Software
4. Installing Altera® FPGA Software x
4.1. Installing Altera® FPGA Software Through Quartus® Prime Installer 4.2. Installing the Altera® FPGA Software Manually 4.3. Using the Same Installation Files on Multiple Systems 4.4. Managing Multiple Versions and Copies of Altera FPGA Software 4.5. Setting Quartus® Prime Environment Variables 4.6. Starting the Quartus® Prime Software 4.7. Updating Altera® FPGA Software 4.8. Installing and Uninstalling a Software Patch 4.9. Uninstalling Altera FPGA Software 4.10. Troubleshooting Installation Issues
4.2. Installing the Altera® FPGA Software Manually x
4.2.1. Selecting the Installation Path 4.2.2. Installing Altera FPGA Software at the Command Prompt 4.2.3. Installing from .tar Files 4.2.4. Installing Device Support to Existing Installation 4.2.5. Installing Programming Cable Drivers 4.2.6. Installing and Configuring a JTAG Server
4.2.2. Installing Altera FPGA Software at the Command Prompt x
4.2.2.1. Command-Line Options
4.2.5. Installing Programming Cable Drivers x
4.2.5.1. Installing Drivers on RHEL 8/Ubuntu 18 and Above Versions
4.2.6. Installing and Configuring a JTAG Server x
4.2.6.1. Installing and Configuring jtagserver on Windows 4.2.6.2. Installing and Configuring a Local JTAG Server (jtagd) on Linux
4.9. Uninstalling Altera FPGA Software x
4.9.1. Uninstalling on Windows* 4.9.2. Uninstalling on Linux
5. Licensing Altera FPGA Software x
5.1. Summary of Altera® FPGA Software Licenses Required 5.2. Evaluating the Quartus® Prime Software 5.3. Acquiring Free, No-Cost Licenses 5.4. Licensing Altera® FPGA Software Walkthrough 5.5. Getting Hardware Information for License 5.6. Using the Altera FPGA Self-Service Licensing Center 5.7. About Altera® FPGA Software License Files 5.8. Checking the IP License Status 5.9. Viewing IP Core License Data 5.10. Configuring the License Manager Server 5.11. Troubleshooting License File Issues
5.1. Summary of Altera® FPGA Software Licenses Required x
5.1.1. Quartus® Prime Software License 5.1.2. Questa*-Intel® FPGA Edition and Questa*-Intel® FPGA Starter Edition Software License 5.1.3. Intellectual Property (IP) Cores Licenses 5.1.4. Siemens EDA* AXI Verification IP Suite License (Altera FPGA Edition)
5.3. Acquiring Free, No-Cost Licenses x
5.3.1. Refreshing License Server Token Automatically
5.4. Licensing Altera® FPGA Software Walkthrough x
5.4.1. Obtaining Necessary Hardware Information 5.4.2. Requesting a License File from the Altera® FPGA Self-Service Licensing Center 5.4.3. Setting up a Fixed License 5.4.4. Setting up a License in a Network License Server
5.4.4. Setting up a License in a Network License Server x
5.4.4.1. Setting up a License File in the License Server 5.4.4.2. Launching the Licensing Server 5.4.4.3. Specifying a Network License Server in the Quartus® Prime Software
5.5. Getting Hardware Information for License x
5.5.1. Identifying Host's NIC ID 5.5.2. Identifying the UNIX Host ID 5.5.3. Locating Your Hard-Disk Serial Number 5.5.4. Identifying the USB Software Guard ID
5.5.1. Identifying Host's NIC ID x
5.5.1.1. Finding the NIC ID for Windows 5.5.1.2. Finding the NIC ID on Linux 5.5.1.3. Finding the NIC ID in the Quartus® Prime Software 5.5.1.4. Finding the NIC ID on Windows* Using FLEXlm Utilities
5.5.3. Locating Your Hard-Disk Serial Number x
5.5.3.1. Finding the Hard-disk Serial Number on a Windows* PC 5.5.3.2. Finding the Hard-disk Serial Number if the Quartus® Prime Software is Installed on Your Computer
5.6. Using the Altera FPGA Self-Service Licensing Center x
5.6.1. Using the License Assistant 5.6.2. Getting a License File with Your New Purchase 5.6.3. Viewing Licenses 5.6.4. Filtering Your Licenses 5.6.5. Viewing and Generating a Legacy License 5.6.6. Viewing Licenses or License Files Associated to a Computer 5.6.7. Regenerating a License File 5.6.8. Generating a Temporary Checkout License 5.6.9. Generating a Companion License 5.6.10. Renewing Your License 5.6.11. Managing a Computer Profile 5.6.12. Rehosting a License on a Different Computer 5.6.13. Rehosting All Licenses from Current Computer to a Different Computer 5.6.14. Rehosting Multiple/Partial Licenses from Current Computer to a Different Computer 5.6.15. Sharing a License with Another User 5.6.16. Adding Delegate Administrators to Your Licenses and Computers 5.6.17. Splitting Seats on Your License and Generating Licenses 5.6.18. Merging or Adding Seats on Your License and Generating License 5.6.19. Adding Floating Seats 5.6.20. Signing Up for an Evaluation or No-Cost License 5.6.21. Signing Up For an Employee License
5.7. About Altera® FPGA Software License Files x
5.7.1. License File Components 5.7.2. Using a FLEXlm Options File 5.7.3. License.dat Example Files 5.7.4. Syntax of license.dat License File
5.7.1. License File Components x
5.7.1.1. License File Header 5.7.1.2. SERVER, VENDOR, and USE_SERVER Lines 5.7.1.3. FEATURE and INCREMENT Lines
5.7.3. License.dat Example Files x
5.7.3.1. Fixed PC Software Guard License Example 5.7.3.2. Floating Network License Example
5.10. Configuring the License Manager Server x
5.10.1. Installing the FLEXlm License Manager Server Software on Another License Server 5.10.2. Upgrading the FLEXlm License Manager Server Software 5.10.3. (Windows Only) Starting and Stopping the License Server 5.10.4. (Windows Only) Starting the License Server Automatically 5.10.5. Rereading an Existing License File on a License Server
6. Next Steps After Installing and Licensing the Software x
6.1. Additional Resources 6.2. Training
Answers to Top FAQs
1. Introduction to Altera® FPGA Software Installation and Licensing
2. Determining System Requirements
3. Downloading Altera® FPGA Software
4. Installing Altera® FPGA Software
5. Licensing Altera FPGA Software
6. Next Steps After Installing and Licensing the Software
A. Altera® FPGA Software Installation and Licensing Archives
B. Document Revision History for Altera® FPGA Software Installation and Licensing

5.1.3. Intellectual Property (IP) Cores Licenses

You only need to purchase a full production license for licensed FPGA IP cores after completing hardware testing and you are ready to use the IP in production. The rest of the time, you can use the Intel® FPGA IP Evaluation Mode feature to evaluate IP cores.

You must purchase the license and generate a full production license key before you can generate an unrestricted device programming file. During Intel® FPGA IP Evaluation Mode, the Quartus® Prime Compiler only generates a time-limited device programming file (<project name>_time_limited.sof) that expires at the time limit.

Altera® licenses IP cores on a per-seat, perpetual basis. The license fee includes first-year maintenance and support. You must renew the maintenance contract to receive updates, bug fixes, and technical support beyond the first year.

Purchase a license through your local sales office or distributor. Altera® FPGA partners can deliver third-party IP cores for evaluation with the appropriate license.

Important: IPs that require no-cost licenses are supported for license auto-fetching during Quartus® Prime Pro Edition software compilation during synthesis stage. For more information, refer to Method 3: Auto-Fetching During Quartus Prime Pro Edition Compilation Process.
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