Portable Roon Core - when not using home system

[Julian_Shepard1 (Julian Shepard)]

Core Machine (Operating system/System info/Roon build number)

Roon Ver. 1.6 (Build 401) Stable 64 bit.

Network Details (Including networking gear model/manufacturer and if on WiFi/Ethernet)

All Cisco Ethernet - wired router and switches

Audio Devices (Specify what device you’re using and its connection type - USB/HDMI/etc.)

Laptop will use a portable DAC headphone amplifier

Description Of Issue

I want to probe the risks of setting up a laptop as a Core for use in travel. I have a Rock server at home.

If I turn off the Rock while I’m traveling, will I be able to operate a separately-installed Core on my laptop under my single lifetime Roon license?

The idea is to use the same license on the road to avoid having to purchase two licenses, which would be totally wasteful for this purpose.

My laptop has all the music files on its SDD that are in the library on the Rock.

What are the downsides of this approach?

It’s burdensome, but I do not want to set up a VPN to access my LAN to use the Rock when I am traveling.

Can it be done?

What happens when I return home and turn on the Rock server again? Do I need to uninstall the Core on the laptop first? Each time?

[Carl]

If I turn off the Rock while I’m traveling, will I be able to operate a separately-installed Core on my laptop under my single lifetime Roon license?

Yes, when you authorise the Roon Core on the laptop it will de-authorise the Core on Rock … or vice versa.

What happens when I return home and turn on the Rock server again? Do I need to uninstall the Core on the laptop first? Each time?

No, just re-authorise it.

[noris]

Hi @Julian_Shepard1,

As @Carl mentioned, you can switch between Cores as often as you’d like and you can leave Roon installed on both.

When you will be on the road, all you need to do is sign in to the Laptop Core and you will be presented with an Authorizations page similar to the following:

You can click the Unauthorize button and re-authroize the laptop and then perform the reverse process once you are back at home.

I would also highly suggest that you follow our Migration Guide (<-- clickable link) as to transfer the current database from the ROCK to the laptop and ensure your edits + metadata transfer over.

– Noris

[Julian_Shepard1 (Julian Shepard)]

Thanks. Helpful info.