Network requirements to activate or transfer a license (licenses.aplitop.com:443)

1. Who this page is for

System administrators and IT managers who run computers in a domain, with Active Directory policies (GPO), a perimeter firewall, a proxy server, content filtering or SSL inspection, and who need to prepare the environment so that users of TcpMDT and TCP PointCloud Editor (PCE) can activate or transfer their licenses.

2. Connection that must be allowed

3. When it is needed and when it is not

4. Do not confuse it with other license ports

A common mistake is to assume this requirement is already covered because the license manager ports have been opened. They are different things:

Opening 1947 or 6001 does not enable the activation or transfer of a standalone license, and opening 443 does not replace them in a network installation.

5. How to check that a computer has access

From the user's own computer, in a PowerShell window:

Test-NetConnection licenses.aplitop.com -Port 443

The result must show TcpTestSucceeded : True. If it shows False, the connection is blocked somewhere: the local firewall, the perimeter firewall, the proxy, or DNS resolution.

6. Common causes of blocking in corporate environments

• Perimeter firewall with a restrictive outbound policy that only allows destinations on an allowlist.

• Windows local firewall configured through GPO, with per-application outbound rules.

• Domain and Active Directory policies restricting outbound traffic from user computers.

• Proxy server, especially if it requires authentication and the application does not receive it transparently.

• Web category filtering: the domain may fall into an unclassified or blocked-by-default category.

• Antivirus or EDR with HTTPS traffic scanning, acting as an intermediary for the encryption.

• SSL inspection at the perimeter, replacing the server certificate.

• Guest WiFi networks or public-sector networks with very limited outbound access.

7. Request for the IT department

Text ready to copy into an internal ticket:

Subject: Allow outbound access to licenses.aplitop.com:443 for Aplitop license activation

Please authorize, on the computers listed below, the outbound connection to:

  Destination : licenses.aplitop.com  (authorize by domain name, not by IP)
  Port        : 443/TCP (HTTPS)
  Direction   : outbound, initiated by the computer

It is required to register/activate the Aplitop software license (TcpMDT /
TCP PointCloud Editor) for the first time and to transfer the license to
another computer. A transfer involves two computers: the one releasing the
license and the one receiving it; both need this outbound access.

If a proxy with SSL inspection is in place, please add licenses.aplitop.com
to the inspection exclusion list in addition to allowing the traffic.

Computers affected: <list names or organizational unit>

8. If the security policy does not allow this outbound access

There is an alternative that does not require the user's computer to reach the license server: the offline (activation) and manual (transfer) procedures, carried out through files exchanged between the computers with the RUS_APLITOP.exe tool.

Applicable procedures by product and version:

9. Typical symptoms when the connection is blocked

• Activation fails with error -3 ("Server response error").

• The online activation option does not appear in the activation dialog.

• The transfer process does not complete and no transfer code is received.

• The problem only occurs on the company network and disappears when the computer is connected to another network or to mobile data.

10. Related pages

• What to do when error -3 appears during license activation?

• How can I transfer a license?

• 03 03 SOFTWARE KEY AUTOMATIC ACTIVATION - MDT26

• 05 01 SOFTWARE LICENSE TRANSFER AUTOMATIC - MDT26

• 07 03 COMMON CAUSES OF LICENSE LOSS - MDT26

• 03 02 AUTOMATIC SOFTWARE LICENSE ACTIVATION - PCE

• 06 01 AUTOMATIC SOFTWARE LICENSE TRANSFER - PCE

• ANTIVIRUS - Recommendations During MDT Installation