Protection PLUS 5 SDK for .NET Standard

PLUSManaged for .NET Standard 2.0 lets you implement licensing from a single codebase across multiple platforms and modern .NET versions. The library targets .NET Standard 2.0, which is implemented by .NET Core 2.0+ and every modern .NET release — .NET 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10 (and later).

This is the build to use for any application that is not on the classic .NET Framework. If you are migrating an existing .NET Framework integration to .NET 8 or .NET 10, start here.

Where to find it

The .NET Standard assembly is installed with the SDK at:

%PROGRAMFILES%\SoftwareKey\Protection PLUS 5\Library\Standard2.0

Reference the PLUSManaged.dll from that folder. It is distributed as a single assembly and replaces both the .NET Framework PLUSManaged.dll and its companion PLUSManaged.XmlSerializers.dll — you do not add a separate serializers assembly with the .NET Standard build.

Access to the latest SDK is included with an active Protection PLUS 5 maintenance plan and can be downloaded from the Customer License Portal.

Supported platforms

When targeting .NET 5 or later, the library runs on Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, and Android. Some features are platform-specific — see the notes below.

Key differences from the .NET Framework build

1. No SOAP web service communication. The .NET Standard build does not use the legacy SOAP web service client. Code that relied on the SOAP-based service calls must be updated to the current web service calls shown in the .NET Standard samples.
2. Some APIs are unavailable. A small number of classes and methods present in the .NET Framework build are not available in the .NET Standard build, for cross-platform compatibility reasons.
3. NetworkFloatingSemaphore is Windows-only. As of version 5.23.4.0, the NetworkFloatingSemaphore feature in the .NET Standard library is supported on Windows only. Node-locked licensing and standard Network Floating licensing work across platforms; only the local-network semaphore feature is Windows-restricted. If you need floating licensing across non-Windows platforms, consider Cloud-Controlled Network Floating Licensing (requires an internet connection, since seats are managed by SOLO Server rather than on the local network).

Important: PLUSManagedGui is .NET Framework only

PLUSManagedGui — the ready-made Windows Forms licensing dialogs (Activate a license or renewal, Refresh my license, Deactivate this workstation) — is currently supported only on .NET Framework. It is not part of the .NET Standard build and will not run on .NET 5/6/7/8/9/10. An updated .NET Standard version is planned but not yet scheduled, so we cannot commit to a timeframe.

This is the most common item to address when migrating a desktop application. The good news: PLUSManagedGui is simply a set of Windows Forms dialogs layered on top of the core PLUSManaged API. Every operation those dialogs perform is available directly in the core library, which already runs on modern .NET.

Migration path: keep your UI in Windows Forms (or WPF) by targeting net8.0-windows / net10.0-windows, and rebuild the licensing dialog in your own project, calling the core PLUSManaged API directly. The dialog actions map to:

Because all of this logic already lives in the core library, you are re-implementing a single screen — not rewriting your application.

Samples

The latest SDK ships .NET Standard samples (including a command-line/console sample and a UWP sample) that demonstrate referencing the Standard2.0 library and calling the current web service endpoints. Use these as your reference when updating any SOAP-era code.

Migrating an existing .NET Framework integration — summary

1. Re-target your project to .NET 8/10 (net8.0 / net10.0, or the -windows variant if you have a Windows Forms / WPF UI).
2. Replace the reference to the .NET Framework PLUSManaged.dll with the one in Library\Standard2.0 (and remove the PLUSManaged.XmlSerializers.dll reference).
3. Replace any SOAP web service calls with the current calls shown in the .NET Standard samples.
4. If you used PLUSManagedGui, rebuild those dialogs in your own UI against the core API (see the mapping table above).
5. If you use Network Floating with the semaphore feature, confirm your deployment targets are Windows — or switch to Cloud-Controlled Network Floating Licensing for cross-platform support.