FAQ for Customers Updating to BarTender 2021
If you have a current Maintenance and Support agreement, you can simply use your existing license key to proceed with the update process. BarTender 2021 can be downloaded from the BarTender Portal.
You will only need to contact your BarTender partner if your license is not under a maintenance and support contract. You can always reach out to us if you are unsure about your maintenance and support contract.
In BarTender 2021, any edition of BarTender is able to work with concurrent BarTender processes under RDP / Citrix. Previously, with BarTender 10.1 or older you would need to own an Automation or Enterprise Automation Edition of BarTender in order to run concurrent BarTender processes over RDP / Citrix sessions.
Note that in order to avoid printer duplication, you are required to install a component called License Server Remote Assistant. This component is still required for BarTender 2021. Click here if you want to download this component.
If your license is on active maintenance and support contract you will have access to standard or even premium support assistance (see available support plans).
Professional Services such as consultancy, training, template or integration design are also available. If you are interested in any of these services, please visit us at https://www.seagullscientific.com/solutions/integrations-and-technology/professional-services/
No, you don’t need a separate product key code when updating to BarTender 2021 if you have an active maintenance and support contract. You can simply use your existing product key code to activate.
For further recommendations, please visit our Updating to BarTender 2021 and What is Provisional Activation articles.
Provisional activation lasts for the following number of days:
- Professional and Automation Editions: 30 days.
- Enterprise Editions: 180 days.
We have simplified the BarTender Installer. By default, all the BarTender companion applications will be installed except Print Portal. You can optionally install Print Portal or the Licensing Service/Administration Console only. Additionally, BarTender 2021 can be installed as a 32- and 64-bit application.
If you have doubts as to which Installer architecture you should choose, please check our 32-bit vs 64-bit White Paper.
When you use your BarTender 10.1 / 2016 product key code to activate BarTender 2021 (only available for licenses under active maintenance and support contract) the equivalent BarTender 2021 Edition will be:
- BarTender 10.1 / 2016 Basic corresponds to a BarTender 2021 Professional, 1 printer license.
- BarTender 10.1 / 2016 Professional corresponds to a BarTender 2021 Professional, 2 printer license.
- BarTender 10.1 / 2016 Automation Edition corresponds to BarTender 2021 Automation Edition, same printer count.
- BarTender 10.1 / 2016 Enterprise Automation Edition corresponds to BarTender 2021 Enterprise Edition, same printer count.
There are no license equivalence differences between BarTender 2019 and BarTender 2021
Once the connection to the centralized BarTender License Server is lost from a BarTender PC, you can continue printing for up to 72 hours. If you are printing directly through BarTender, you will receive notifications of the lost connection and grace period. Additionally, you can setup email alerts. Configuring email alerts can be especially useful for customers who leverage print automation.
For more highly available configurations, you can set up a backup server license or triad configuration. The secondary Licensing Server will be used to keep printing operational. For more details, check License Server Redundancy.
Yes, Integration Builder (the middleware package that replaced Commander) allows you to import and convert your existing Commander task lists. The transactional data you are currently submitting will still work with your newly converted BarTender 2021 integration.
Replacing Commander is also a good opportunity for you to improve your current automated print processes. If you need assistance in migrating your Commander implementation to the new Integration Platform or improving functionality, do not hesitate to reach out to our Professional Services team: https://www.seagullscientific.com/solutions/integrations-and-technology/professional-services/