Resolving Siemens License Transfer Failures with VMware USB 3.0

Problem Details

Engineers running Siemens TIA Portal, STEP 7 (V5.x), or WinCC inside a VMware Workstation or Player virtual machine frequently encounter a hard failure when attempting to authorize or transfer a software license through a physical Siemens USB license stick (the orange/red "License Key" dongle that plugs into the Automation License Manager).

The reported symptom is consistent across multiple versions of VMware Workstation 9.x through 17.x and VMware Player:

• The host machine exposes only USB 3.0 ports (xHCI controller, e.g., on modern ASUS, Dell XPS, Lenovo ThinkPad, or HP EliteBook laptops that have dropped USB 2.0 ports entirely).
• The guest OS is Windows 7 (32-bit or 64-bit) running inside the VM.
• VMware Workstation shows the license stick as Unknown device in the Removable Devices menu, or the device is not enumerated at all when the USB controller is set to USB 3.0.
• Siemens Automation License Manager (ALM) cannot find the license key, even when the stick is visible to Windows Device Manager inside the guest.
• Setting the virtual USB controller to USB 2.0 does not change behavior because the underlying physical controller is xHCI only.

Without the license stick, TIA Portal V13-V18, STEP 7 Professional, WinCC Professional, and SIMOTION SCOUT refuse to load project editing surfaces, online commissioning, or download hardware configurations. Production commissioning stops.

Root Cause

The root cause is a layered compatibility stack. Each layer must satisfy the layer below it:

1. Physical layer: The host machine has no USB 2.0 (EHCI) controller, only a USB 3.0 (xHCI) controller. The Siemens license stick is a USB 1.1 Full-Speed device (12 Mbps), which requires USB 2.0 transaction translators on the host controller. Pure xHCI controllers without backward-compatible USB 2.0 ports cannot enumerate low-speed and full-speed devices without a companion USB 2.0 hub in the data path.
2. Hypervisor layer: VMware Workstation version 9 added USB 3.0 (xHCI) support for the virtual machine, but the virtual controller only operates correctly when the host driver stack exposes USB 3.0 to the guest natively. Some VMware Player builds (prior to Player 7) do not include xHCI virtual controller support at all.
3. Guest OS layer: Microsoft Windows 7 ships with a USB driver stack derived from Windows 98 SE that does not include native xHCI drivers. Native xHCI support was introduced in Windows 8. Windows 7 falls back to USB 2.0 only through a Microsoft QFE (KB 2862772) and only when an EHCI controller is present.
4. Application layer: Siemens Automation License Manager (versions 5.x through 6.x) uses the WinUSB or libusb interface to talk to the license stick. If the underlying USB stack does not enumerate the device, ALM cannot bind to the license even if the device appears in Device Manager with a yellow bang.

The combination of all four failures is what creates the well-known "Siemens USB stick not detected in VMware" symptom.

Affected Versions and Compatibility Matrix

Solution Path 1 - Offline License Transfer via Automation License Manager

This is the most reliable method when the license stick cannot be passed into the VM. It moves the license between two physical machines using a transferable license file (.zip or .tlic) generated by ALM, without ever mounting the dongle inside the VM.

1. Install Siemens Automation License Manager on a host PC that can physically read the USB license stick (any PC with USB 2.0 ports will work, including older office laptops).
2. Insert the Siemens license stick into the host PC. ALM will detect the license within 5-10 seconds and display the license number in the list view.
3. Right-click the license entry and select Transfer license > Generate offline transfer file.
4. Choose the target computer when prompted. ALM requires the Computer ID of the destination machine (a 12-character hexadecimal string generated by ALM on the target).
5. To retrieve the Computer ID on the target PC (the VM host machine): open ALM on the target PC > menu Help > Computer ID. Note this ID; the offline file is bound to it.
6. Save the generated .zip archive to a USB flash drive or network share.
7. On the target PC, open ALM and select Transfer license > Import offline transfer file.
8. Reboot the target PC. ALM writes the license to its local license store (default: C:\Program Files (x86)\Siemens\Automation\License Manager\sinamlicenses.bin or, for TIA Portal, C:\Program Files\Siemens\Automation\License Manager\axaliz.bin).
9. Launch TIA Portal. The license should be visible under Settings > License management.

The ALM help file documents this procedure in detail. Follow it exactly; the binding to the Computer ID is a one-way operation and an incorrect Computer ID renders the offline file unusable. If the import fails, regenerate the offline file from the source PC with the correct ID.

Solution Path 2 - Network License Transfer

Use this when both the source PC (with the license stick) and the target PC (the VM host) are on the same subnet and can be reached via TCP port 4410.

1. On the source PC, open ALM and select Settings > Connection.
2. Enable Allow remote access to license (sometimes labeled "Activate remote license handling") and confirm the service is listening on TCP/4410.
3. Disable the Windows Firewall on both PCs, or open inbound TCP/4410 with a scope rule limited to the engineering subnet.
4. On the target PC, open ALM and select Connect to remote computer. Enter the source PC hostname or IP address.
5. The licenses on the source PC appear in the ALM list on the target PC. Drag the desired license from the remote list to the local list to transfer.
6. Remove the USB stick from the source PC only after ALM confirms the license has been written locally on the target.

This method avoids the Computer ID binding step because ALM performs the transfer atomically over the network. It is the preferred path when transferring many licenses at once.

Solution Path 3 - Fix VMware USB 3.0 Enumeration for Windows 7 Guests

If the engineering environment requires the license stick to remain on the VM host (for example, when the VM host is the only machine with the license, or when floating licenses over a license server are configured), the VMware USB stack must be repaired.

1. Update VMware Workstation or Player to the latest 17.x release. Newer builds have improved xHCI enumeration and resolve known issues with USB 3.0 devices under Windows 7 guests.
2. Confirm the VM hardware compatibility: VM > Settings > USB Controller > set to USB 3.0 (xHCI). Do not use USB 2.0 emulation if the host has only xHCI ports.
3. Apply Microsoft KB 2862772 to the Windows 7 guest. This is a USB 2.0 stack update that improves enumeration of USB 1.1/2.0 devices on xHCI controllers.
4. Install VMware Tools to the current build. The Tools package includes the VMware USB arbitration service (vmusbbus, vmusb) which must match the Workstation version exactly.
5. Restart the VMware USB Arbitration Service on the host: net stop "VMware USB Arbitration Service" then net start "VMware USB Arbitration Service".
6. Reconnect the device: VM menu > Removable Devices > the Siemens license stick should now appear with a manufacturer string starting with Siemens AG or Aladdin Knowledge Systems (legacy HASP).
7. If the stick still fails to enumerate, switch the guest OS to Windows 10 or Windows 11. These have native xHCI drivers and resolve all known issues with USB 1.1 license devices on xHCI-only hosts.

Solution Path 4 - Use a USB 2.0 PCIe Add-in Card

When neither offline transfer nor VMware USB fixes resolve the issue, install a USB 2.0 (EHCI) PCIe add-in card or ExpressCard on the host machine. The card provides a separate USB 2.0 controller that VMware can attach to the VM directly via USB passthrough (PCIe passthrough is not required). The original xHCI controller remains in use by the host OS for keyboard, mouse, and storage.

1. Power down the host machine and install a USB 2.0 PCIe card (e.g., based on the Renesas NEC uPD720201 or VIA VL805 chipset).
2. Boot Windows and confirm the new EHCI controller appears in Device Manager under Universal Serial Bus controllers as USB 2.0 Enhanced Host Controller.
3. Insert the Siemens license stick into a port on the add-in card.
4. Configure the VM to use the EHCI controller via VM > Settings > USB Controller > USB 2.0 compatibility mode, then connect the device.

This path is the most reliable for production environments where the license stick must be live inside the VM and the host hardware cannot be re-imaged.

Verification

After applying any of the four solution paths, verify the license is correctly bound and visible to TIA Portal:

1. Open Siemens Automation License Manager on the target PC. Confirm the license appears with a green check, license type Single or Floating as expected, and the licensed software is in the Used by column (e.g., TIA Portal V18).
2. Launch TIA Portal. Open Settings > License management. The license should appear in the Installed software list with a green status indicator.
3. Open a TIA Portal project. Attempt to Go online to a SIMATIC S7-1200, S7-1500, ET 200, or SINAMICS drive. The software must not display the "Missing license" or "License not found" dialog.
4. For floating licenses, open a second TIA Portal instance and confirm the license moves from the first instance to the second when the first is closed. This validates the floating license server is functioning.
5. Reboot the target PC and repeat step 1. ALM should re-detect the license automatically within 30 seconds of boot.

Troubleshooting Matrix

Preventive Recommendations

• Always keep a USB 2.0 fallback path. Whether it is a USB 2.0 hub or a PCIe add-in card, do not deploy a Siemens engineering laptop without USB 2.0 capability if any team member uses VMware.
• Document the ALM Computer ID of each engineering workstation. Store it in a controlled location so offline transfer files can be regenerated quickly when a license needs to move.
• Match ALM version to TIA Portal version. Mismatched versions cause silent license lookup failures that look like VMware issues but are not.
• Prefer Windows 10 or Windows 11 guest OS for any new VMware deployment that hosts Siemens engineering tools. Native xHCI support eliminates the most common USB enumeration issue.
• Test the license transfer path on every laptop refresh. New laptop models drop legacy ports faster than ALM is updated.