Link this PC to your BioTrack account

BioTrack collects attendance only on a PC that is linked to your organisation’s BioTrack account. This page explains how to link a PC, what a licence is, and what to do if the PC asks to be linked again. It is for the person installing BioTrack and for the administrator of your BioTrack account who approves the link.

Licences in short

• One licence per PC. Alcra adds licences to your BioTrack account when you buy them. Linking a PC uses one of them for as long as that PC is in use.
• Licences never expire. Once linked, the PC keeps collecting even with no internet connection.
• Linking needs the internet once. The PC asks for a code from the BioTrack cloud, and an administrator approves it in the BioTrack portal. See Network and firewall.
• Cloud reporting is separate. A linked PC collects attendance on site whether or not it has a paid cloud subscription. See Licences and billing.

Your BioTrack account, its first administrator and its licences are set up by Alcra before you link the first PC.

When the PC asks to be linked

After installing BioTrack on a new PC, the window opens on Link this PC to your BioTrack account. This comes before the setup wizard and before sign-in, and nothing on the terminal is contacted until the PC is linked. You do not need a BioTrack sign-in to start linking: the approval in the portal is what authorises it.

1. On the PC, select Get a link code. BioTrack shows an 8-character code such as K7QM-4XPD, and Waiting for approval….

2. Open the portal. Either select Open the portal on this PC, which opens the link page with the code already filled in, or on any other computer or phone go to app.biotrack.alcra.co/link.

3. Sign in with your passkey. Only an administrator of your BioTrack account can approve a PC. See Signing in.

4. On Link a PC, enter the code shown on the PC and select Continue.

5. Check the details: the PC’s name, its BioTrack version and when it asked. Only continue if the PC is showing the same code. If you did not just start linking a PC, or someone sent you the code, select Refuse.

6. Choose the Organisation (if you administer more than one) and the Site where this PC is. Attendance it collects is reported for that site. The page tells you how many licences the link uses, for example Uses 1 of your 3 licences (2 left afterwards).

7. Select Link this PC and confirm with your passkey.

The portal shows The PC is linked to the site. On the PC, the screen continues by itself within a few seconds: on a new installation it moves on to the setup wizard.

Use the alcra.co address

Sign in and approve links at app.biotrack.alcra.co. The portal is also served at app.biotrack.co.zw, but passkeys only work at app.biotrack.alcra.co for now.

If linking does not finish

What you see	What to do
The code expired	Codes work for 15 minutes. Select Get a new code on the PC.
Linking was refused	Someone selected Refuse in the portal. Get a new code if that was a mistake.
All n licences are in use (in the portal)	Every licence on the account is held by a PC. Contact BioTrack to add a licence, or ask BioTrack to release one from a PC you no longer use.
Only an organisation’s administrators can link a PC (in the portal)	You are signed in as a viewer. Ask one of your administrators to enter the code.
This version of BioTrack cannot be licensed (on the PC)	Install the latest BioTrack from Alcra.

Cancel on the PC stops waiting for the current code.

Codes from BioTrack support

Where nobody at the site can sign in to the portal, BioTrack support can give you a one-time support code instead. It is 43 characters long.

1. On the link screen, open Have a code from BioTrack support?.
2. Paste the code and select Use code.

There are two kinds:

• An activation code links this PC to your account and site. It uses one of your account’s free licences; if none is free, nothing changes and the code stays unused.
• A replacement code moves an existing installation, with its data and its licence, to this PC. Support issues one when BioTrack has moved to a different computer, for example after restoring a backup. The old PC stops sending to the cloud as soon as the code is used.

Ask for the code through a private channel your organisation has approved. Do not paste it into tickets, shared chats or screenshots.

After linking

Settings → Cloud reporting shows a Licence group with the status Licensed, the Account, Site, Licence and when it was Issued. Linking also sets up the PC’s cloud identity, so there is no cloud address or activation code to type.

When it is online, the PC checks at most once a day that its licence is still current. Collection never waits for that check, and a network failure changes nothing. Select Check now to check straight away.

PCs set up on BioTrack 1.1

BioTrack 1.1 had no licences. A PC that was set up on 1.1 keeps collecting without a licence until the end of 31 October 2026 (Harare time), so that installing 1.2 does not stop collection before anyone can link it.

Until then, every page shows Link this PC to your BioTrack account by 31 Oct 2026 with Link now, and Settings → Cloud reporting shows the licence as Not linked. The link screen offers Not now (or Continue without linking while a code is waiting) to go back to BioTrack.

Link before 31 October 2026

After that date, an unlinked PC stops collecting until it is linked. BioTrack does not fetch scans from the terminal afterwards, so scans made while the PC is not collecting can be lost. Make sure your organisation, its administrator and its licences are ready, and link every PC before the date.

The grace period only applies to PCs that were set up on 1.1 and never linked. A new installation must be linked straight away.

When the PC stops and asks to be linked again

The window returns to the link screen if the licence is no longer valid on this PC. The heading tells you why.

Heading	Why	What to do
This PC’s licence was released	BioTrack support released the licence this PC used, for example at your request when the PC was retired.	Link it again. It needs a free licence.
This installation moved to another PC	A replacement code moved this installation and its data to another computer.	Contact BioTrack support if that was a mistake.
This BioTrack data belongs to another PC	The database was copied or restored from another computer, so its licence does not work here.	Ask BioTrack support for a replacement code and enter it under Have a code from BioTrack support?.
This PC’s licence could not be verified	The stored licence is damaged.	Link the PC again. If it keeps happening, contact BioTrack support.

While the link screen is showing, BioTrack does not collect from the terminal. A released PC stops the next time it reaches the cloud; a PC that stays offline keeps its licence until then.

Setup wizard Connect the terminal, create the administrator and record the first scan.

Licences and billing Licences, cloud subscriptions and Paynow payments in the portal.