If I buy a new license for Next, can I downgrade back to 3.6?

[100%indifferent]

Hey there, hopefully this one can get answered by a CG tech. I have 2 gui licenses & 5 render node licenses, all running 3.6.04. These licenses are spread across 2 workstations;, one workstation has 1 gui license, the other workstation has the other gui & the 5 nodes & their licenses. All of these licenses are handled with dongles, one in each workstation.

So, my question is, if I buy a new render node license (they only seem to be selling Next at this point), can I downgrade that back to 3.6? I'm in production on a few jobs & cannot make the switch to Next just yet. Nor am I in a position to have all of the licensing online, as there seem to be a few issues with that feature. Thanks in advance.

[stefan.isakov]

V-Ray Next is backwards compatible with V-Ray 3.x, so you will be able to work with both V-Ray 3.x and V-Ray Next with the new purchased license. Let us know if more information is needed.

[GD3DESIGN]

So that means a new V-ray Next render node license will work fine with the rest of the workstations & render nodes running V-ray 3.6?

[ivan.slavchev]

So that means a new V-ray Next render node license will work fine with the rest of the workstations & render nodes running V-ray 3.6?

Yes. You have to use a license server 5.x version though, for the backward license compatibility to work - https://download.chaosgroup.com/license-server

[100%indifferent]

So, the fact that my licenses are on dongles prevents the backward compatibility? Basically I just want to buy another 3.6 render node license & your answer sounds like that is not possible. Am I reading that right?

[ivan.slavchev]

So, the fact that my licenses are on dongles prevents the backward compatibility?

No, it doesn't prevent it. What matters is the license server software version. Ver. 5 has a built-in table that "tells" the license server to use a V-Ray Next license if no V-Ray 3 license is found. Older license server versions don't do that since they're older than V-Ray Next builds/licenses.

Basically I just want to buy another 3.6 render node license

Yes, you can do that

[100%indifferent]

Ok. So, I'm on license server 4.3.1. There's no way to get another 3.6 render node license without changing the lic server to 5.x right? Does that also mean the licenses have to be online? I'm trying to stay on dongles until the online licensing in more stable.

[ivan.slavchev]

There's no way to get another 3.6 render node license without changing the lic server to 5.x right?

No, there's no way, you'll have to install a license server 5

Does that also mean the licenses have to be online?

No, you can continue working with a dongle.