DSim 2026 on-prem licensing issue: Student Edition has no DSim feature and Free Individual License c

Question

Hello Altair Support/Community,

I am a student using Altair DSim 2026 on Linux for RTL verification. DSim previously worked with a Free Individual License stored at:

$HOME/metrics-ca/dsim-license.json

That license has now expired. When I run DSim, I receive:

Altair License Manager: License error

Feature(s): GlobalZoneAP, HyperWorks, HWDSim
Error Code: 9
Feature not found

Feature: DSim
Error Code: 9
Feature not found

Altair Managed Licensing: License error

Feature: DSimFreeFeature
Error Code: 1
Invalid config file

Could not acquire Altair license

I have an active Altair Student Edition activation key. The activation succeeds and the license appears in the user license store, but it does not contain the DSim or HWDSim feature.

According to previous Altair guidance, DSim is not included in the Student Edition bundle, and students should instead use the DSim Free Individual License from the DSim Cloud Portal. However, DSim Cloud/free-license services now appear to be unavailable or no longer supported, so I cannot generate or renew dsim-license.json.

Could you please clarify:

* What is the currently supported way for a student to license DSim 2026 on-premises?
* Is there a replacement for the former DSim Free Individual License?
* Can the DSim/HWDSim feature be added to an academic or Student Edition license?
* Is there a new portal or procedure for regenerating dsim-license.json?
* If DSim Free Individual licensing has been discontinued, is an academic license available for university thesis and non-commercial RTL verification?
* Should DSim 2026 use Altair Units licensing exclusively, or is DSimFreeFeature still officially supported?
* Can an existing expired Metrics/DSim Cloud license be migrated to the current Altair licensing system?

Environment:

Operating system: Linux
DSim version: 2026
License Manager: Altair License Manager 2026.0
Use case: University thesis, non-commercial RTL simulation
Current Student license: activated successfully
Missing features: DSim, HWDSim
Free license error: DSimFreeFeature - Invalid config file

Reinstalling DSim and Altair License Manager and reactivating the Student Edition key did not resolve the issue. The key is accepted, but the required DSim feature is absent.

Thank you for clarifying the current academic licensing path for DSim.

Shaun_Altair · Answer

In response to the questions:

What is the currently supported way for a student to license DSim 2026 on-premises?

* As with all customers, use the Free Individual License

Is there a replacement for the former DSim Free Individual License?

* No

Can the DSim/HWDSim feature be added to an academic or Student Edition license?

* No

Is there a new portal or procedure for regenerating dsim-license.json?

* Same portal (https://app.metricsvcloud.com/security/licenses), same procedure (https://help.metrics.ca/support/solutions/articles/154000146984-licensing)

If DSim Free Individual licensing has been discontinued, is an academic license available for university thesis and non-commercial RTL verification?

* No

Should DSim 2026 use Altair Units licensing exclusively, or is DSimFreeFeature still officially supported?

* DSim Free Individual License is supported until September 1, 2026

Can an existing expired Metrics/DSim Cloud license be migrated to the current Altair licensing system?

* No. Users of DSim are encouraged to migrate to Siemens Questa One Sim after Sept. 1st.

Ankita_v · Answer

@Newjeansneverdie DSim is not supported with the free Altair Student Edition license.

For access to additional tools or features not covered in the Student Edition, please have your faculty contact us directly regarding the university license (Academic Edition) request.

You can also view a comparison of Altair's academic software editions here -

https://community.altair.com/discussion/61861/altair-software-offerings-for-academics-comparison-of-editions-provided-to-students-and-faculty

Thanks