It was a key. And he had a door to open.
He clicked “Finish.”
A list of keys appeared. He right-clicked. “Install Short License.” ekb install tia portal v16
He ran it.
He had the legal DVD. He had the key file on a USB stick. But TIA Portal v16, in its infinite wisdom, refused to see it. The error message was typically German: precise, cold, and utterly unhelpful. "No valid license found." It was a key