AMPL is modernizing its academic licensing, solver access, and development environment to provide a simpler, cloud-based experience for teaching, research, and learning.
As part of this transition, legacy academic licensing and the AMPL IDE are being retired, while academic license management is moving to the AMPL Portal. This guide explains what is changing, what you need to do, and how to transition to the current AMPL academic environment.
Legacy fingerprinted single-machine and floating academic licenses are no longer being issued.
The AMPL IDE transition period ends. The AMPL IDE will no longer be distributed or supported.
Fingerprinted single-machine and floating licensing
Fingerprint-based single-machine and floating licenses are being retired. Current academic licenses are managed through the AMPL Portal and activated using a UUID, with no machine fingerprint or manually installed ampl.lic file required.
Move to the current academic license that fits your use.
AMPL for Courses (A4C) licensing
Offline course licensing is being replaced by AMPL for Courses (A4C) through the AMPL Portal. Professors receive a shareable UUID for the course, which enrolled students use to activate AMPL and included solvers. Course access is cloud-based and time-limited for up to 8 months.
AMPL IDE
The legacy AMPL IDE is being retired. For an IDE-like local experience, move to VS Code with the AMPL extension. Python users can also work with AMPL through amplpy, including in Jupyter notebooks and supported cloud notebook environments.
Commercial solvers
Eligible academic licenses now include additional commercial solvers at no additional cost.
I’m a professor, researcher, or student using AMPL individually
I’m teaching a course
A4C provides time-limited course access for up to 8 months.
My institution runs AMPL on shared infrastructure
This covers shared servers, clusters and other specialized institutional environments.
I’m using an old AMPL license or don’t know what I have
1. Sign in to the AMPL Portal
Create or update your profile and verify your academic affiliation.
2. Request or activate the license that applies to you
Use A4A for individual academic use, or A4C if you are managing access for a course.
3. Follow the activation and installation instructions provided through the Portal
The AMPL Portal is where academic users manage their AMPL and solver license requests and downloads, and verify academic affiliation.
Your .mod, .dat, and related files can continue to be used. What changes is the environment you use to open, run, and manage them.
Maintain an IDE-style workflow
For academics who want an experience similar to the AMPL IDE.
With VS Code + the AMPL Extension, you can:
.mod and .dat filesMove to a Python-based workflow
For academics who want to use Python to manage data, scripting, and optimization workflows while continuing to model with AMPL.
You can use amplpy in environments such as:
Current eligible academic licenses include additional commercial solvers at no additional cost. Sign in through the AMPL Portal to access them.
Not necessarily. The retirement of legacy products does not mean that academics lose access to AMPL. Most academic users can transition to one of the current AMPL for Academia offerings at no cost.
No. Eligible academic licenses include access to an expanded selection of commercial solvers at no additional cost.
Generally, no. The retirement of the AMPL IDE affects the development environment, not the AMPL modeling language itself.
The legacy IDE will remain available during the transition period but is scheduled for decommissioning January 1, 2027. We strongly recommend transitioning before then.
Existing legacy licenses with paid maintenance may remain usable for the period covered by that maintenance. However, AMPL is no longer issuing new legacy licenses, and users are encouraged to transition to the current academic licensing model.
New legacy floating licenses are no longer being issued. Individual users should generally transition to AMPL for Academics, instructors should use AMPL for Courses, and institutions with shared infrastructure should contact AMPL regarding an Academic Cluster License.
Some legacy workflows, including the legacy IDE, may not function efficiently on current macOS systems. Moving to the supported VS Code and AMPL workflow is recommended.
Students can transition to the current academic licensing workflow. Instructors should update course documentation and installation instructions before the start of a new term.
If your academic, research, teaching, or institutional environment does not fit the standard licensing options, contact AMPL. We can help determine the most appropriate transition path.