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Offline Mode

SIMBA_OFFLINE_MODE disables telemetry and optional online features. It does not disable license activation, renewal or validation, and does not guarantee that SIMBA makes no network requests.

When enabled:

  • Telemetry, license usage reports and crash reporting are disabled.
  • Version update checks and the online assistant are disabled.
  • The UI displays an "OFFLINE MODE" indicator.
  • Online activation and explicit license checks remain available, including while a signed offline license file is installed.
  • Automatic online license checks are limited to once per hour for multi-user licenses and once per 24 hours for individual online licenses.

Enabling Offline Mode

Offline mode is enabled only by an explicit user or administrator setting. SIMBA never enables it automatically after a network failure or when loading an offline license file. It is disabled by default.

Set the SIMBA_OFFLINE_MODE environment variable to true or 1 before starting SIMBA or importing the Python module. Values are case-insensitive. SIMBA caches the setting for the process lifetime; restart it after changing the variable.

License Checks and Network Restrictions

Desktop and Python share the same automatic server-check intervals:

License type Offline mode enabled Offline mode disabled
Multi-user Every hour Every five minutes
Individual online Every 24 hours Every 24 hours, with earlier renewal near expiration

In offline mode, failed automatic checks also wait for the hourly or daily interval before retrying. Explicit activations and forced checks remain available at any time. Without offline mode, failed checks can be retried after five minutes. Individual offline license files are validated locally. Signed offline multi-user files are checked with the server at the multi-user interval, without replacing their signed duration.

Online activation by deployment key remains available, including when an offline file is already loaded. A stored key can also be used to attempt online activation after a stored offline file expires.

Machine permissions, firewall rules or lack of connectivity can prevent license requests. Network failures do not revoke or extend an existing signed license: it remains usable only until its signed expiration. Explicit account revocations received from the server remove local rights. Compute licenses require their normal server lease acquisition and renewal even in offline mode.

For an environment that must prohibit outgoing connections, configure those restrictions on the machine or network and obtain a suitable signed offline license file. SIMBA_OFFLINE_MODE alone does not enforce network isolation.

License Activation

To activate from a signed file without requiring an online activation response, use the existing "OFFLINE ACTIVATION" workflow:

Step 1: Save license request file

Step 2: Generate license file via your SIMBA account (from a connected machine)

Step 3: Load license file in SIMBA

For help obtaining a signed offline license file or choosing its validity period, contact SIMBA support.