Altera® FPGA Software Installation and Licensing

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ID 683472
Date 1/27/2025
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 Intel® FPGA Software 6. Next Steps After Installing and Licensing the Software A. Intel 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 Pro Edition 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 Intel® 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 Intel 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 Intel 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 Intel 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 Intel 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 Intel FPGA Software x
4.9.1. Uninstalling on Windows* 4.9.2. Uninstalling on Linux
5. Licensing Intel® FPGA Software x
Navigating Content Through Tasks 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 Intel 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 (Intel 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 Intel 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 Intel® FPGA Software
6. Next Steps After Installing and Licensing the Software
A. Intel FPGA Software Installation and Licensing Archives
B. Document Revision History for Altera® FPGA Software Installation and Licensing

5. Licensing Intel® FPGA Software

Most Altera® FPGA software requires using a license to enable the software. Intel provides this license in a file named license.dat. The Quartus® Prime Lite Edition is free and does not require license. Questa*-Intel® FPGA Starter Edition is also free, but requires zero cost licenses.
When you purchase an Quartus® Prime software subscription, the license file supports:
  • The version of the Quartus® Prime software you purchase
  • All previous supported versions
  • All versions released within a year of the purchase date
Most license entitlements for Quartus® Prime software and IP cores are perpetual. Any exceptions for products or complementary tools such as Questa*-Intel® FPGA Edition are noted in the license file and on the Self Service License Center as having a license expiration date.

Altera® also uses licenses to enable additional software, such as purchased IP cores. For more information about licensing conditions of Altera® FPGA software, refer to Summary of Altera FPGA Software Licenses Required.

Navigating Content Through Tasks

Use the following table to navigate this guide through user-tasks:

Determine Hardware and Software Requirements Download Altera® FPGA Software through the installer or manually Install Altera® FPGA Software Review Next Steps

Section Content
Summary of Altera FPGA Software Licenses Required
Evaluating the Quartus Prime Software
Acquiring Free, No-Cost Licenses
Licensing Altera FPGA Software Walkthrough
Getting Hardware Information for License
Using the Intel FPGA Self-Service Licensing Center
About Altera FPGA Software License Files
Checking the IP License Status
Viewing IP Core License Data
Configuring the License Manager Server
Troubleshooting License File Issues

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