Getting Started

12 min

This guide explains how to set up and manage software licenses in Activate using license assets and service catalogue items. It covers initial configuration, creating license instances, and consuming licenses through services, including automatic handling when licenses are exhausted.

Initial Setup

Open Activate Studio and navigate to Assets > System.

Locate the Licenses asset and move it to the root of Assets using cut and paste. This makes license assets easier to locate and manage.

Create the First Software License Asset

In this section, a software license asset is created using Microsoft Project as an example.

Create a License Asset

In Activate Studio, navigate to Assets > Licenses.

Create a new asset named Microsoft Project.

The default license form includes the following fields:

Publisher

Serial Number

Purchase Date

Maintenance Expiry Date

These fields can be customised if required. For this example, the default configuration is used.

Create a License Instance

License assets represent the software product, while license instances represent actual purchased licenses.

Create an Instance

Open the Activate web portal.

Locate the Microsoft Project asset.

Select Create Instance from the toolbar.

Enter the following:

Publisher: Microsoft

All other fields are optional and can be left blank for this example. Many software licenses do not have a unique serial number and are managed purely by available count.

Click Next, submit the job, and wait for it to complete.

Verify the License Instance

From the Microsoft Project asset in the web portal, select Manage Instances.

Confirm that the newly created license instance is listed.

Create a Service Catalogue Item to Consume the License

Activate services are service catalogue items. In this section, a service is created and linked to the software license so that requesting the service consumes a license once approved and completed.

Create the Service

Open Activate Studio.

Navigate to Services > Applications.

Create a new service named Microsoft Project.

Set the following parameter:

ManagerApprovalRequired = 1

This ensures manager approval is required when the service is requested.

Configure Service Parameters

Right-click the Parameters list and select New Parameter > License.

Create a parameter named License with type Reference.

Open the parameter and set the reference to the license asset:

=//Assets/Licenses/Microsoft Project

Right-click the Parameters list again and select New Parameter > Flags.

Open the Flags parameter and select ValidLicenseOnly.

This ensures the service cannot be fulfilled unless a valid license is assigned.

Publish the Microsoft Project service.

Configure Procurement Team

To enable license creation and assignment when no valid licenses are available, a procurement approver must be configured on the license asset.

In Activate Studio, add an AssetManager parameter to the license asset. This can be configured either:

On the specific license asset (for example, Microsoft Project), or

On the root Licenses asset to apply to all child license assets through inheritance.

The AssetManager value can be set to either a role or an individual user. The assigned role or user is responsible for approving and actioning license-related sub-jobs, including creating new license instances or selecting existing ones when services are requested and available licenses are exhausted.

If no AssetManager is configured, procurement sub-jobs will default to the Service Desk role for approval and action.

This configuration ensures procurement workflows are routed to the appropriate approvers and can be completed without administrative intervention.

Testing License Consumption

Request the Service (First User)

Order the Microsoft Project service for a test user.

Approve the request as required.

Because a license instance already exists, the service completes successfully and the license is assigned to the user.

Request the Service (Second User)

Order the Microsoft Project service for another test user.

Because only one license instance exists and ValidLicenseOnly is enabled, a sub-job is created for the procurement team.

This sub-job requests either:

Selection of an existing license (if available), or

Creation of a new license instance

Action the Procurement Job

In the web portal, locate the procurement job as the procurement approver or an administrator.

Select Create New Microsoft Project.

Enter the license details and submit the step.

Submit the approval action to create license and assign it to the target user.

Confirm License Assignment

Verify that:

The new license instance appears under Manage Instances for the Microsoft Project asset

The license is assigned to the correct user

The service request completes successfully

Summary

This approach allows software licenses to be centrally managed while enabling automated consumption through services. When licenses are exhausted, Activate automatically triggers procurement workflows, ensuring compliance and accurate license tracking.