STEP 7 Professional License Not Found Despite ALM 'OK' Status: Field-Proven Resolution

When TIA Portal reports 'License STEP 7 Professional was not found' while the Siemens Automation License Manager (ALM) clearly displays the key with a green 'OK' status, the fault is almost always license location, not license validity. The license exists, the license is valid, and the license is reachable — but TIA Portal cannot bind to it because the key is parked on a removable or network volume that ALM treats as ephemeral storage.

This reference covers the exact transfer workflow, the version-compatibility rules that re-trigger the same symptom, the network-server flags that must be set on the client, and the verification sequence that proves a clean fix.

1. Problem Definition

Symptom signature observed in the field:

• Launching TIA Portal V16 / V17 / V18 / V19 produces the dialog 'License STEP 7 Professional was not found'.
• Opening Automation License Manager (ALM) shows the STEP 7 Professional key with status OK and a valid expiration date.
• Restarting TIA Portal does not clear the error.
• The license is stored on a USB stick, a network share, or a server-side location that is not a fixed local disk on the engineering station.

The TIA Portal startup sequence requests the license through the local almsrv service. If the service returns a path the runtime considers non-persistent, the binding fails silently and TIA Portal falls back to the 'license not found' message even though ALM itself reports the key as healthy.

2. Root Cause Analysis

Siemens licenses are bound to a volume serial number at activation. The TIA Portal runtime will only consume a key whose container is hosted on a permanently installed, fixed-disk volume (typically C:\ or a named internal partition). The following locations are valid; everything else will display in ALM but be rejected by the runtime:

When the key is on a USB stick, Windows reports the volume as Removable. ALM enumerates it and the GUI shows OK, but the TIA startup binding call returns E_LICENSE_NOT_AVAILABLE internally and surfaces the user-facing message. See the official license handling guide on the Siemens Industry Online Support portal for the underlying service model.

3. Prerequisites

Before executing the fix, confirm the following on the engineering station:

1. Local administrator rights (required to move the license container and to restart the almsrv service).
2. Automation License Manager installed and matching the TIA Portal version family. The current installer is documented at Siemens KB 109811462 — Automation License Manager.
3. Sufficient free space on the target local disk (a STEP 7 Professional license key container is typically < 50 MB; reserve at least 500 MB for headroom when transferring multiple keys).
4. All TIA Portal instances closed. A live TIA session will not see a license moved under it; the runtime cache points at the original path until the process is recycled.
5. Source media accessible (USB stick inserted, or network share reachable with the original credentials).

4. Step-by-Step Resolution

4.1 Move the License to a Fixed Local Disk

1. Close TIA Portal and any running HMI/PLCSim instances. Verify in Task Manager that S7TGTOPX.exe and Siemens.Automation.Portal.exe are not present.
2. Launch Automation License Manager from the Start menu or via C:\Program Files\Siemens\Automation\WinCC\Bin\almsrv.exe.
3. In the left-hand tree, navigate to the source — for example USB Drive (E:) or \\FILESERVER\Licenses$. Locate the STEP 7 Professional key row.
4. Right-click the key and select Transfer (not 'Copy' and not 'Move' on a removable volume — Transfer is the supported operation).
5. In the transfer dialog, select the destination Local Disk (C:). The default ALM repository on the local fixed disk is C:\Program Files\Siemens\Automation\WinCC\almsrv\. Confirm with OK.
6. Wait for the progress bar to complete. A successful transfer appends the key to the destination repository and removes it from the source if the source is local; if the source is removable, the original container is left intact (safe rollback).
7. Close ALM.

4.2 Restart the License Service

After the transfer, restart the almsrv service so the runtime cache is invalidated:

net stop "almsrv"
net start "almsrv"

Or via PowerShell:

4.3 Verify the Transfer

1. Re-open ALM and confirm the key now appears under Local Disk (C:) with status OK.
2. Launch TIA Portal. The startup license check should complete without the 'not found' dialog.
3. Open the project and confirm Project > Properties > Protection reports the license as available, and that the portal ribbon no longer displays the warning triangle.

5. Network License Server Configuration (Floating Licenses)

If the key is intentionally hosted on a server, the engineering station must be configured as a client, not as a local consumer. The TIA Portal runtime will not pull a remote license transparently — it requires the ALM client flags to be set, otherwise the runtime behaves exactly like the missing-local-license case.

5.1 Server-Side

1. Install ALM on the license server (can be a Windows Server 2016/2019/2022 host or a Windows 10/11 workstation with a static IP).
2. Activate the STEP 7 Professional key on the server. The server's fixed local disk is the only valid residence.
3. In ALM on the server, select Settings > Activate License Server. Note the listening port (default 4410) and confirm the Windows Firewall allows inbound TCP 4410.

5.2 Client-Side

1. Install a matching ALM version on the engineering station.
2. Open ALM, right-click in the left tree, and choose Connect to License Server. Enter the server hostname or IP and the port.
3. Confirm the server appears with a green dot. The key should be listed under the server node with status OK.
4. On the client, both of the following ALM options must be enabled (under Settings > License Server):
   • Use License Server
   • Search for License Server automatically (or explicitly set the server address)
5. Restart TIA Portal.

Reference the floating license setup in the Siemens TIA Portal installation manual, available at Siemens KB 109770916 — TIA Portal Installation.

6. Diagnosing 'Unknown' Status and Yellow-Triangle Entries

An Unknown status in ALM is distinct from a 'not found' runtime error. Unknown means the key is registered but the ALM service has not yet verified its signature — typically because the key is on a removable volume that was not present at ALM startup, or because the service started before the network share was reachable.

Resolution sequence:

1. Right-click the key and select Check. ALM re-queries the signature and reports OK or an explicit error code.
2. If OK returns and the key is still on a removable/network volume, the runtime will still reject it. Transfer the key to a fixed local disk as described in Section 4.
3. If Check returns a license error, capture the hex code. Common codes:
   • 0xC004F009 — Software protection platform failure (license service not running)
   • 0xC004F00F — License not for current OS / hardware hash mismatch
   • 0xC004F014 — License signature invalid (corrupted container)

When the key is corrupted (0xC004F014), transfer will not save it. Re-activation via the original CoL certificate (Certificate of License) is required. See the re-activation procedure at Siemens KB 109758955 — License Reactivation.

7. Version Compatibility Matrix

Even with the key on a fixed local disk, TIA Portal will reject a license whose major version is lower than the portal version. A V16 license does not authorize V18 portal. A V18 license does authorize V18 portal. The rule is license major version >= portal major version.

Verify the portal version via Help > About in TIA Portal, and the license version in ALM's detail pane. If the portal is newer than the license, the symptom is identical to the 'not on fixed disk' case — the runtime cannot find a usable match.

8. Active TIA Session Conflicts

A subtle failure mode: the user transfers the license while a TIA Portal session is still running. The transfer succeeds and ALM shows the new location, but the running TIA process still holds a handle to the original path. The portal will not rebind to the new location until it is restarted, and any attempt to open a project during the active session fails with the same 'not found' message.

Rule: close TIA Portal before transferring, transfer, then open TIA Portal. If a transfer is performed in the wrong order, the remediation is to fully exit TIA (not just close the project), wait 10 seconds, and re-launch.

9. Verifying a Clean State

Run the following checks after the transfer and restart:

1. ALM shows the key under Local Disk (C:) with status OK.
2. Registry key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Siemens\Automation\License\Repository points to the local path.
3. Service almsrv is in the Running state (sc query almsrv).
4. TIA Portal launches without the license dialog.
5. Opening a sample project with a STEP 7 Professional feature (e.g., configuring a S7-1500 CPU) succeeds without a license warning.
6. On a multi-user system, confirm no other user/process is leasing the key. ALM's Active Licenses tab shows the current borrower.

10. Troubleshooting Matrix

11. Frequently Asked Questions