# Why isn’t my 3- license key working?

When attempting to enter your license key into Portainer Business Edition, that starts with 3-, you may encounter the following error message:

`License is invalid`

#### Cause

This issue arises when using versions of Portainer 2.18.3 or older. These previous versions do not support the 3- license key type.

#### Fix

To resolve this problem, upgrade your Portainer version to 2.18.4 or newer.\
[Upgrade instructions](/start/upgrade.md)


---

# Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation

If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question.

Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter:

```
GET https://docs.portainer.io/faqs/licensing/why-isnt-my-3-license-key-working.md?ask=<question>
```

The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language.
The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation.

Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.
