# LicenseException: A valid q license must be in a known location (e.g. \`$QLIC\`) to run q code via 'pykx.q'. **URL:** \ **Category:** Community Support\ **Tags:** pykx\ **Created:** [August 8, 2023, 7:20pm UTC](https://forum.kx.com/t/licenseexception-a-valid-q-license-must-be-in-a-known-location-e-g-qlic-to-run-q-code-via-pykx-q/12972 "2023-08-08T19:20:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Amod1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/65b543/32.png) [@Amod1](https://forum.kx.com/u/Amod1)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2023, 7:20pm UTC](https://forum.kx.com/t/licenseexception-a-valid-q-license-must-be-in-a-known-location-e-g-qlic-to-run-q-code-via-pykx-q/12972/1 "2023-08-08T19:20:00Z")
I am trying to run q commands through a jupyter notebook. However, I am running into the exception, whenever I am using pykx.q.  ``` LicenseException: A valid q license must be in a known location (e.g. `$QLIC`) to run q code via 'pykx.q'. ```  Even while importing, I am encountering the issue ``` :241: PyKXWarning: Failed to initialize PyKX fully licensed functionality. To access all functionality of PyKX please download an evaluation license from[https://kx.com/kdb-insights-personal-edition-license-download/]("https://kx.com/kdb-insights-personal-edition-license-download/")Full installation instructions can be found at[https://code.kx.com/pykx/getting-started/installing.html]("https://code.kx.com/pykx/getting-started/installing.html")Falling back to unlicensed mode, which has limited functionality. Refer to[https://code.kx.com/pykx/user-guide/advanced/modes.html]("https://code.kx.com/pykx/user-guide/advanced/modes.html")for more information on licensed vs unlicensed modalities. Captured output from initialization attempt: '2023.08.08T18:49:30.065 licence error: embedq ```   I am able to use q through CLI normally. The license file is there. But somehow the exception pops up whenever I am trying to run q commands through pykx.q. I have made sure that QHOME and QLIC are pointing to the folder containing kc.lic file.  Any help or guidance to fix this issue will be great.   ---
**Author:** ![powerpeanuts1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b4bc9f/32.png) [@powerpeanuts1](https://forum.kx.com/u/powerpeanuts1)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2023, 6:34am UTC](https://forum.kx.com/t/licenseexception-a-valid-q-license-must-be-in-a-known-location-e-g-qlic-to-run-q-code-via-pykx-q/12972/2 "2023-08-09T06:34:00Z")
I have similar issue as well, already set QLIC pointing to license folder, but get license error: upd, not sure if same root cause as yours. ---
**Author:** ![rocuinneagain1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/fbc32d/32.png) [@rocuinneagain1](https://forum.kx.com/u/rocuinneagain1)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2023, 1:07pm UTC](https://forum.kx.com/t/licenseexception-a-valid-q-license-must-be-in-a-known-location-e-g-qlic-to-run-q-code-via-pykx-q/12972/3 "2023-08-09T13:07:00Z")
You license will need the flags `insights.lib.embedq` and `insights.lib.pykx`to run `pykx.q` You can check your license flags in q using:       q).z.l 4 "insights.lib.embedq insights.lib.pykx insights.lib.sql insights.lib.qlog ins..         If you have an older trial license you simply need to request a new one at: https://kx.com/kdb-personal-edition-download/ [[https://kx.com/kdb-insights-personal-edition-license-download/](https://kx.com/kdb-insights-personal-edition-license-download/)](“[https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fkx.com%2Fkdb-insights-personal-edition-license-download%2F&data=05|01|rocuinneagain%40kx.com|6f9711c69dae4cf1149108db98e86f6d|8b006032f7cd404e8f6f4719f041417b|0|0|638271896306917562|Unknown|TWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D|3000|||&sdata=%2Ba%2FLEYbCQZkAEtP0LacT5Ol8EDUWCZr0eqG5plhEwds%3D&reserved=0](https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fkx.com%2Fkdb-insights-personal-edition-license-download%2F&data=05%7C01%7Crocuinneagain%40kx.com%7C6f9711c69dae4cf1149108db98e86f6d%7C8b006032f7cd404e8f6f4719f041417b%7C0%7C0%7C638271896306917562%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=%2Ba%2FLEYbCQZkAEtP0LacT5Ol8EDUWCZr0eqG5plhEwds%3D&reserved=0)” "“Original”)   Then replace the old with new on your machine. New licenses come with all the flags enabled.   If it is a commercial license then your designated contact can reach out to licadmin@kx.com to have a new license issued: https://code.kx.com/q/learn/licensing/#commercial   ---
**Author:** ![rocuinneagain1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/fbc32d/32.png) [@rocuinneagain1](https://forum.kx.com/u/rocuinneagain1)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2023, 1:11pm UTC](https://forum.kx.com/t/licenseexception-a-valid-q-license-must-be-in-a-known-location-e-g-qlic-to-run-q-code-via-pykx-q/12972/4 "2023-08-09T13:11:00Z")
As well as a licence expiry date each kdb+ licence also has a maintenance update date. - licence expiry: You cannot use kdb+ after this date gives `exp` error - maintenance update expiry: You cannot use versions of kdb+ newer than this date. Gives `upd` error https://code.kx.com/q/basics/errors/#:~:text=format%20not%20recognized-,upd,-Function%20upd%20is   .e.g if you have a maintenance expiry date of 2021.12.31 but a licence expiry of 2022.06.01 this means you can use kdb+ up to 2022.06.01 as long as the version of kdb+ was released before 2021.12.31 The dates of your licence are included in the email you got from licadmin@kx.com   As of 1.6.0 PyKX is based on 2023.04.17 version of q https://code.kx.com/pykx/1.6/changelog.html#pykx-160   To get a new license with a more open maintenance expiry date your designated contact can reach out to licadmin@kx.com to have a new license issued: https://code.kx.com/q/learn/licensing/#commercial     ---
**Author:** ![Amod1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/65b543/32.png) [@Amod1](https://forum.kx.com/u/Amod1)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2023, 1:23pm UTC](https://forum.kx.com/t/licenseexception-a-valid-q-license-must-be-in-a-known-location-e-g-qlic-to-run-q-code-via-pykx-q/12972/5 "2023-08-09T13:23:00Z")
 I checked for the flags but I got an empty string for the command.  I also ran python -c “import pykx;pykx.util.debug\_environment()”, based on one of previous answer. There also I got an empty string where flags are expected. However, I think the license is not an older version as I got it just a few days back.          ---
**Author:** ![rocuinneagain1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/fbc32d/32.png) [@rocuinneagain1](https://forum.kx.com/u/rocuinneagain1)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2023, 4:07pm UTC](https://forum.kx.com/t/licenseexception-a-valid-q-license-must-be-in-a-known-location-e-g-qlic-to-run-q-code-via-pykx-q/12972/6 "2023-08-09T16:07:00Z")
I’ve corrected my link. You specifically need the **insights** free trial license to get the flags: [[https://kx.com/kdb-insights-personal-edition-license-download/](https://kx.com/kdb-insights-personal-edition-license-download/)](“[https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fkx.com%2Fkdb-insights-personal-edition-license-download%2F&data=05|01|rocuinneagain%40kx.com|6f9711c69dae4cf1149108db98e86f6d|8b006032f7cd404e8f6f4719f041417b|0|0|638271896306917562|Unknown|TWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D|3000|||&sdata=%2Ba%2FLEYbCQZkAEtP0LacT5Ol8EDUWCZr0eqG5plhEwds%3D&reserved=0](https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fkx.com%2Fkdb-insights-personal-edition-license-download%2F&data=05%7C01%7Crocuinneagain%40kx.com%7C6f9711c69dae4cf1149108db98e86f6d%7C8b006032f7cd404e8f6f4719f041417b%7C0%7C0%7C638271896306917562%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=%2Ba%2FLEYbCQZkAEtP0LacT5Ol8EDUWCZr0eqG5plhEwds%3D&reserved=0)” "“Original”) ---
**Author:** ![Amod1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/65b543/32.png) [@Amod1](https://forum.kx.com/u/Amod1)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2023, 9:59pm UTC](https://forum.kx.com/t/licenseexception-a-valid-q-license-must-be-in-a-known-location-e-g-qlic-to-run-q-code-via-pykx-q/12972/7 "2023-08-09T21:59:00Z")
 I updated the license from here. Now I can see the flags by running .z.l 4 in q. However, I am running into a new problem when executing python -c “import pykx;pykx.util.debug\_environment()” as shown in the screenshot below. Same error message pops up if I am importing it in python.    ---
**Author:** ![rocuinneagain1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/fbc32d/32.png) [@rocuinneagain1](https://forum.kx.com/u/rocuinneagain1)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2023, 2:03pm UTC](https://forum.kx.com/t/licenseexception-a-valid-q-license-must-be-in-a-known-location-e-g-qlic-to-run-q-code-via-pykx-q/12972/8 "2023-08-10T14:03:00Z")
Does the import work in unlicensed mode? set QARGS=“–unlicensed”   ---
**Author:** ![Amod1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/65b543/32.png) [@Amod1](https://forum.kx.com/u/Amod1)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2023, 12:15pm UTC](https://forum.kx.com/t/licenseexception-a-valid-q-license-must-be-in-a-known-location-e-g-qlic-to-run-q-code-via-pykx-q/12972/9 "2023-08-11T12:15:00Z")
Yes. Following is the screenshot for the same.  Everything seems fine, but again it fails with no license exception when I run a simple q command. I don’t know how relevant it is but I’m using a Windows machine with windows 11 OS.     ---
**Author:** ![rocuinneagain1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/fbc32d/32.png) [@rocuinneagain1](https://forum.kx.com/u/rocuinneagain1)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2023, 1:26pm UTC](https://forum.kx.com/t/licenseexception-a-valid-q-license-must-be-in-a-known-location-e-g-qlic-to-run-q-code-via-pykx-q/12972/10 "2023-08-11T13:26:00Z")
It’s expected that you cannot run `pykx.q('1+1')` when in unlicensed mode.   Can you try again for licensed mode after making a copy of: `C:\Users\Amod Shanker\anaconda3\envs\python396\python.EXE` The copy should be `python3.EXE`: `C:\Users\Amod Shanker\anaconda3\envs\python396\python3.EXE`   - just to confirm: 1. How did you install PyKX? 2. What version have you installed? `pykx. __version__ ` or view it in `conda list` ---
**Author:** ![Amod1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/65b543/32.png) [@Amod1](https://forum.kx.com/u/Amod1)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2023, 2:53pm UTC](https://forum.kx.com/t/licenseexception-a-valid-q-license-must-be-in-a-known-location-e-g-qlic-to-run-q-code-via-pykx-q/12972/11 "2023-08-11T14:53:00Z")
I tried with python3.exe, but the behaviour remains same. I can import in unlicensed mode but it fails with licensed mode throwing .nyi error.   I installed pykx using pip. I have tried it with different versions of python, i.e. 3.9.6 and 3.8 in different conda environments. They both are behaving similarly.   They pykx version is 1.6.1 in my system.