IronOCR License Setup in web.config

ByChaknith Bin

May 31, 2025

Updated June 22, 2025

The problem has been resolved as of IronZIP version 2024.3.3.

Exception: Unhandled exception. IronSoftware.Exceptions.LicensingException: IronZip must be licensed for development.

Exception: Unhandled exception. IronSoftware.Exceptions.LicensingException: IronZip must be licensed for development.

SHELL

For older IronZip versions, specifically those released before version 2024.3.3, there is a known licensing issue in:

ASP.NET projects
.NET Framework version >= 4.6.2

The key stored in a Web.config file will NOT be picked up and used by the product.

Workaround

To address this issue, it is recommended to retrieve the license key from the Web.config file using ConfigurationManager in the code, and then apply it to the License.LicenseKey property.

Example:

<configuration>
  ...
  <appSettings>
    <add key="IronZip.LicenseKey" value="IRONZIP.MYLICENSE.KEY.1EF01"/>
  </appSettings>
  ...
</configuration>

<configuration>
  ...
  <appSettings>
    <add key="IronZip.LicenseKey" value="IRONZIP.MYLICENSE.KEY.1EF01"/>
  </appSettings>
  ...
</configuration>

XML

With the XML file provided above, we can use ConfigurationManager to retrieve the license key value and pass it to the IronZip.License.LicenseKey property.

using System;
using System.Configuration;

class Program
{
    static void Main()
    {
        // Retrieve the license key from the web.config appSettings
        string licenseKey = ConfigurationManager.AppSettings["IronZip.LicenseKey"];

        // Apply the license key to IronZip
        IronZip.License.LicenseKey = licenseKey;

        // Verify that the license key is set properly
        Console.WriteLine("License key applied successfully.");
    }
}

using System;
using System.Configuration;

class Program
{
    static void Main()
    {
        // Retrieve the license key from the web.config appSettings
        string licenseKey = ConfigurationManager.AppSettings["IronZip.LicenseKey"];

        // Apply the license key to IronZip
        IronZip.License.LicenseKey = licenseKey;

        // Verify that the license key is set properly
        Console.WriteLine("License key applied successfully.");
    }
}

Imports System
Imports System.Configuration

Friend Class Program
	Shared Sub Main()
		' Retrieve the license key from the web.config appSettings
		Dim licenseKey As String = ConfigurationManager.AppSettings("IronZip.LicenseKey")

		' Apply the license key to IronZip
		IronZip.License.LicenseKey = licenseKey

		' Verify that the license key is set properly
		Console.WriteLine("License key applied successfully.")
	End Sub
End Class

$vbLabelText $csharpLabel

The using System.Configuration; directive allows access to configuration files, such as Web.config.
ConfigurationManager.AppSettings["IronZip.LicenseKey"] retrieves the license key stored in the appSettings section of Web.config.
IronZip.License.LicenseKey = licenseKey; assigns the retrieved key to the IronZip library to avoid licensing exceptions.
The Console.WriteLine() statement provides feedback to the developer that the license key application process is completed successfully.

Chaknith Bin

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Software Engineer

Chaknith works on IronXL and IronBarcode. He has deep expertise in C# and .NET, helping improve the software and support customers. His insights from user interactions contribute to better products, documentation, and overall experience.