I installed the key as suggested, but upon startup BX tells me that the key it found is invalid. Did you send me a bad key?

Possibly, but not likely. Typically, a key is not recognized for one of the following reasons:

  1. On UNIX, you have installed a BX 6 key and a BX 5 key is still in the FlexLM database. (See next question)
  2. A UNIX key is used for Linux (or the opposite). Linux keys start off with the word "LICENSE" while UNIX keys start off with the word"FEATURE".
  3. Some email readers wrap lines and only half the line gets pasted into the text field.
  4. People try to rearrange a Linux key to look like the example UNIX key that the dialog box requests (This is a bug in BX 6.0. In BX 6.1, the example used for Linux will be a Linux key, and the example used for UNIX will be a UNIX key).
  5. You have put the License file in a non-default location and have set the wrong environment variable. UNIX and Linux use different environment variables to specify the location of the license file. See the question How can I put the license file somewhere else? for details.
  6. If all else fails, remove the .builderXcessory6 directory in the user's home directory and try starting bx again. (It stores the license key in a file in the .builderXcessory6 directory and if you have a bad key, it will generate the error message you received.)

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