Installation and licensing workflow

To use Tekla Structures, you must have an online subscription or an on-premises license. The installation steps are different depending on the type of subscription or license that you have.

For on-premises licensing, you must install additional tools. These tools are not necessary when you use online subscriptions.

Click to expand the section relevant to you and follow the links in the text for detailed instructions.

Tekla Structures license types

There are two types of licenses: online subscriptions and on-premises licenses.

An online subscription is connected to your Trimble Identity. The subscription is delivered directly to the Tekla Online Admin tool, where your company's Tekla Online account administrators can assign the subscriptions to individual users. When Tekla Structures starts, you sign in to Trimble's cloud to reserve your subscription.

For a free Tekla Student subscription to try out and learn Tekla Structures, visit the Tekla Campus site. Using a Tekla Student subscription for any commercial work is prohibited.
If you have on-premises or on-demand licenses, you must install a license server on your computer or on a separate server in your internal network. Tekla Structures connects to your local license server to check your license.

If you manage your own installation of Tekla Structures

Note: To ensure a good experience using our software, ensure that your computer meets the Tekla Structures 2021 hardware recommendations .

If your organization has no main user who manages Tekla Structures for you, your installation proceeds like this:

Ensure that you have set up your Trimble Identity:
- If you have received an email invitation from Trimble to create a Trimble Identity, follow the instructions in the email to create your account to ensure that you have the correct access rights.
  
  If you want to use a different email address for this account, create the account using your invitation first, then change the email address.
- If you have not received an invitation, create a new Trimble Identity to download the software. Click here to create a new Trimble Identity.
  
  To have access to your online subscriptions, you must be added to a Tekla Online organization group by your company's account administrator. For more information, see GUID-B7671BDD-6345-43AF-A90C-1090EBCEC950.html#GUID-00A4288E-7EEA-45DD-B54C-89B61D9E1C51__GUID-B7671BDD-6345-43AF-A90C-1090EBCEC950.
Verify your Trimble Identity using the verification code from the email from no-reply@account.trimble.com.
Sign in at https://account.tekla.com/, fill in all the required profile information, and click Save.
Download the installation package for Tekla Structures and at least one of the Tekla Structures environments from Tekla Downloads. At the site, click Download for a guided experience that ensures you have all necessary files.
Install the software:
1. Run the Tekla Structures installer and ensure that the installation finishes successfully.
  
  See Install the Tekla Structures software if you need more detailed instructions.
2. Run on or more environment installers.
  
  If you do not install any environment, only the Blank environment is available. Do not use the Blank environment to edit models or drawings. The Blank environment is only a basis for building your own full customized environment and does not contain all of the tools and configurations that you need to work efficiently.

After you have completed the Tekla Structures and environment installation:

If you have an online subscription, you can now start Tekla Structures and select the default Use your Tekla online license licensing option.

After you sign in, you can select from the licensed configurations that have been activated for you. Licenses can be from your Tekla Online organization, or assigned to you as an external license user in some other organization. If you purchase your own licenses, you can manage them in the Admin tool.

For more information about the Admin tool and online subscriptions, see Manage user accounts for Tekla products.
If you have on-premises licenses, install the license server software on your computer and activate your license before starting Tekla Structures.

For details, see Tekla Structures on-premises licensing.
Start learning how to use Tekla Structures:
- For a brief overview, see Get familiar with Tekla Structures.
- Find the Instructor side pane on the right-hand side of the Tekla Structures modeling or drawings view to see instructions for each command as you activate them.
- Take one of our free online eLearning courses.

If someone manages Tekla Structures for you

If your organization has a Tekla Structures administrator (IT administrator or main user), follow their instructions for installation and licensing. You might still need to consider the following points:

You need an account to access Tekla online services and online subscriptions. If your company's administrator has not invited you to your organization and assigned online subscriptions to you, ask to join so that you have access to all Tekla online services and licenses:

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In most cases, your company's Tekla Structures administrator prepares a customized installation package for you or installs the software for you. Ask your administrator for further instructions.

Start learning how to use Tekla Structures:

For a brief overview, see Get familiar with Tekla Structures.
Find the Instructor side pane on the right-hand side of the Tekla Structures modeling or drawings view to see instructions for each command as you activate them.
Take one of our free online eLearning courses.

If you manage Tekla Structures for other users

The general workflow for a new Tekla Structures deployment generally goes like this:

Ensure that you have set up your Trimble Identity. For instructions, see GUID-B7671BDD-6345-43AF-A90C-1090EBCEC950.html#GUID-00A4288E-7EEA-45DD-B54C-89B61D9E1C51__GUID-B7671BDD-6345-43AF-A90C-1090EBCEC950.
Install Tekla Structures for your own use and start customizing it for your organization. See Install the Tekla Structures software.
If you are responsible for managing Tekla Structures users and online subscriptions, add users to your organization group in the Tekla Online Admin tool to give them full access to Tekla online services and the necessary online subscriptions.

For more information about the Admin tool and online subscriptions, see Manage user accounts for Tekla products.
Deploy Tekla Structures to the users in your organization.
Continue developing your organization's customizations and redeploy as needed.

For administrator instructions, see the Manage Tekla Structures section of our product guides.