No ArcSDE server license found or SDE run-time license has expired

Error Message

Attempts to connect to an existing database connection in ArcGIS Pro fail and return the following error:

Error: 
No ArcSDE server license found or SDE run-time license has expired.

Cause

The keycodes file used to create the connection from ArcGIS Server is expired. The expiration date can be identified by opening the file using a text editor, for example, Notepad++, and checking the date specified in the strings provided in the file as shown in the following image:

Solution or Workaround

To resolve the issue, generate and retrieve the new keycodes file.

1. Retrieve the latest version of the keycodes file depending on the following scenarios:
   • In ArcGIS Pro without ArcGIS Server installed, generate the new keycodes file. Refer to How To: Generate a keycodes file to authorize an enterprise geodatabase when an ArcGIS Server instance is unavailable for instructions.
   • If ArcGIS Server exists on the machine, the keycodes file can be found in the following folder location:

C:\Program Files\Esri\Licenses<version>\sysgen

2. Connect to the database. Refer to ArcGIS Pro: Database connections in ArcGIS Pro for more information.