The SLU is returning a strange error when trying to get a license. What could be the cause?

Question

In some cases, when the Server Licensing Utility (SLU) is run, it may return an error similar to the following:

"Server License Utility – Auto register failed

Failed to auto-register. Extra code
#0100-20(RCN=Accusoft.ULF.LicenseService.GenerateLicenseKey,
RC=-56, REC=428). Contact Accusoft support. Error #1"

If, on the other hand, you manually register, you might see a message such as this:

An error has occurred: object (Accusoft.ULF.LicenseService.GenerateLicenseKey), value1 (-56), value2 (429)

What could be the cause?

Answer

A possible cause for this error is if you have a license with an expiration date and you have not specified the Access Key in the field on the SLU main window. Since these particular keys expire, our licensing needs to know which specific Access Key to use to differentiate it from any other licenses you may have with different expiration dates or OEM licenses. So, supplying the Access Key will point the license utility to the specific license in the license pool, and should resolve this error.