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Article - CS281516

License file is ignored in Disconnected Mode with "Valid license file missing. Expected location: <ThingWorx Platform>" following license renewal or upgrade of ThingWorx Platform / Apache Tomcat

Modified: 01-Oct-2026   


Applies To

  • ThingWorx Platform 8.5 to 10.1
  • Apache Tomcat

Description

  • License file is renamed to ignored_license_capability_response.bin and ThingWorx fails to start
  • ThingWorx is operating in Disconnected Mode for licensing and is not accepting a new license file
  • Upgraded Apache Tomcat and now ThingWorx Platform refuses to start citing license related errors
  • ThingWorx fails to start due to missing or ignored license file
  • Tried to upgrade to a compliant Apache Tomcat version and broke the ThingWorx server with a licensing error 
  • The new license is ignored while upgrading ThingWorx Platform
  • The license file present under <ThingworxPlatform> is not recognized
  • Encountering license error starting Apache Tomcat with systemctl but not with <tomcat_home>\bin\startup.sh on Linux
  • Unable to start Apache Tomcat with systemctl on a Linux-based host
  • Unable to access ThingWorx Composer after adding a new license
  • Platform fails to start following a license replacement upon executing AcquireLicense service via Postman/Rest API
    • Following error seen in <tomcat_home>/logs/localhost_access_log.txt 
      "POST /Thingworx/Subsystems/LicensingSubsystem/Services/AcquireLicense HTTP/1.1" 401 -
"POST /Thingworx/Subsystems/LicensingSubsystem/Services/AcquireLicense HTTP/1.1" 401 -
  • ThingworxStorage\logs\ApplicationLog.log shows one of the following:
    [L: INFO] [O: c.t.s.s.l.LicensingSubsystem] [I: ] [U: ] [S: ] [P: ] [T: pool-9-thread-1] Initializing license state machine
[L: WARN] [O: c.t.s.s.l.LicensingStateMachine] [I: ] [U: ] [S: ] [P: ] [T: pool-9-thread-1] Unable to fetch license file with device id ead59edd-7020-4795-9d45-e813879f003e (It's OK if system is in disconnected mode)
[L: ERROR] [O: c.t.s.s.l.LicensingStateMachine] [I: ] [U: ] [S: ] [P: ] [T: pool-9-thread-1] Unable to connect to the PTC license server.  Please make sure the LicensingConnectionSettings settings in the platform-settings.json in the ThingworxPlatform directory are correct. If your server is not connected to the internet please use the request file licenseRequestFile.txt created in the ThingworxPlatform directory to do a manual install of the license
[L: ERROR] [O: c.t.s.s.l.LicensingSubsystem] [I: ] [U: ] [S: ] [P: ] [T: pool-9-thread-1] ====================================================================
[L: ERROR] [O: c.t.s.s.l.LicensingSubsystem] [I: ] [U: ] [S: ] [P: ] [T: pool-9-thread-1] /appl/thingworxData/license.bin: license file does not exist!
[L: ERROR] [O: c.t.s.s.l.LicensingSubsystem] [I: ] [U: ] [S: ] [P: ] [T: pool-9-thread-1] ====================================================================
[L: WARN] [O: c.t.s.ThingWorxServer] [I: ] [U: ] [S: ] [P: ] [T: pool-9-thread-1] Shutting down the Platform.
    [L: WARN] [O: c.t.s.s.l.LicensingStateMachine] [I: ] [U: SuperUser] [S: ] [P: ] [T: main] Unable to fetch license file with device id #### (It's OK if system is in disconnected mode)
[L: ERROR] [O: c.t.s.s.l.LicensingStateMachine] [I: ] [U: SuperUser] [S: ] [P: ] [T: main] Unable to connect to the PTC license server.  Please make sure the LicensingConnectionSettings settings in the platform-settings.json in the ThingworxPlatform directory are correct. If your server is not connected to the internet please use the request fil
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