License Manager Guide

Configure License Manager for use with ArcGIS Enterprise Portal

For installation of ArcGIS License Manager, refer to the topic License Manager Installation and Startup. Installation procedures for ArcGIS License Manager software have not changed with the introduction of support for named user licenses.

After installing the ArcGIS License Manager, named user licenses may be added for ArcGIS Pro and Premium Apps with a license file. The license file can be obtained from the My Esri website. The workflow for obtaining these license files differs depending on the version of ArcGIS Enterprise portal. For Portal 10.7 and later, named user licenses for ArcGIS Pro and Premium Apps are included in a single license file (*.json) with the Enterprise portal license. This license file is used to authorize the portal and named user licenses in the ArcGIS License Manager. The workflow for portal 10.6.x and earlier versions has not changed. Obtain a named user license (*.lic) and authorize it in the ArcGIS License Manager. Following successful authorization of the named user entitlements on the License Manager, a portal configuration file (*.json) must be generated and exported to the Enterprise portal instance.

Creating a license file in My Esri for Enterprise portal 10.7 and later

For creating the named user license file in My Esri, the Host Name, MAC Address or Cloud Instance ID (for use in cloud and virtualized environments), and port number for the License Manager must be provided as part of the process. This information can be obtained from the ArcGIS License Manager:

  1. Open the License Server Administrator from Start > All Programs > ArcGIS.
  2. In the Authorization panel of the License Server Administrator, press the Machine IDs button.
  3. Copy and paste or note the MAC address or Cloud Instance ID of the License Manager to which the file is going to be applied.

Be aware that a machine can have multiple MAC addresses. If this is the case for your machine, they will be listed separated by spaces. Any one of the listed MAC addresses can be used when creating the license file.

If the Machine IDs popup of the License Server Administrator displays a Cloud Instance ID, this should be used instead of MAC address. The Cloud instance ID required will start with "VM_UUID=~", which forms part of the whole required string, for example "VM_UUID=i-0103f3ac8ae2f99e1".

The port number can be obtained from service.txt file in C:\Program Files\ArcGIS\LicenseManager\bin (default location for ArcGIS License Manager 2021.0 and newer installations). Open the file in a text editor. The port number is located on the SERVER line. By default it uses port 27000.

When creating a license file (*.json) on My Esri for the portal at ArcGIS Enterprise 10.7 and later, you will select ArcGIS Pro and Premium Apps licenses along with your portal named users.

Follow the steps in Obtain a portal license file from My Esri to create a license file for portal and the ArcGIS License Manager.

Authorizing the named user authorization file in the License Manager for use with Enterprise portal 10.7 and later

Following the creation of the portal authorization file (*.json) in My Esri, the file must be authorized on the ArcGIS License Manager:

  1. Open the License Server Administrator from Start > All Programs > ArcGIS
  2. In the Authorization view, choose Named User in the drop-down and then click Authorize Now. The Software Authorization Wizard will now be launched.
  3. In the Software Authorization Wizard choose the option I have received an authorization file from Esri and am now ready to finish the authorization process and then click the Browse button.
  4. Browse to the portal authorization (*.json) file, select it, and then click Open.
  5. In the Software Authorization Wizard, press Next to complete the authorization process.
  6. A pop-up will be displayed confirming the named user licenses have been applied. Click OK to continue.
  7. A Re-reading Licenses message will be displayed for a few seconds.
  8. Once the re-read is complete, the ArcGIS Pro and Premium App named user licenses that were authorized can be inspected by going to the Availability view of the License Server Administrator and clicking the Named User drop-down in the upper right - hand corner. All authorized ArcGIS Pro and Premium App named user licenses will be listed here.

For more information on named user licenses in the Availability view of the License Server Administrator, please see the Useful Information and Best Practices topic.

Creating an authorization file in My Esri for Enterprise portal 10.6.x and earlier

To create the named user license file in My Esri, the MAC address or Cloud Instance ID (for use in cloud and virtualized environments) of the License Manager must be provided as part of the process. To identify the correct MAC address of the License Manager:

  1. Open the License Server Administrator from Start > All Programs > ArcGIS.
  2. In the Authorization panel of the License Server Administrator, press the Machine IDs button.
  3. Copy and paste or note the MAC address or Cloud Instance ID of the License Manager to which the file is going to be applied.

Be aware that a machine can have multiple MAC addresses. If this is the case for your machine, they will be listed separated by spaces. Any one of the listed MAC addresses can be used when creating the license file.

If the Machine IDs popup of the License Server Administrator displays a Cloud Instance ID, this should be used instead of MAC address. The Cloud instance ID required will start with "VM_UUID=~", which forms part of the whole required string, for example "VM_UUID=i-0103f3ac8ae2f99e1".

To create an ArcGIS Pro named user authorization file, login to My Esri and click My Organizations > Licensing > License Esri Products. Next:

  1. Select Product and Licenses. For Product, select ArcGIS Pro, and from the dropdown select ArcGIS Pro (for Portal use). Press Next to continue.
  2. In the Products dialog, allocate the number of ArcGIS Pro core entitlements you require and press Next.
  3. In the Extensions dialog. Allocate the number or ArcGIS Pro extension entitlements you require and press Next.
  4. In End User Information, add applicable end user information and press Next.
  5. Review the contents of the license file. When satisfied, enter the MAC address or Cloud Instance ID of the ArcGIS License Manager. Select the delivery method and optionally provide a File Note or Tag your license file. Press Create File to complete the process.

Authorizing the named user authorization file in the License Manager for Enterprise portal 10.6.x and earlier

Following the creation of the named user authorization file (*.lic) in My Esri, the file must be authorized on the ArcGIS License Manager:

  1. Open the License Server Administrator from Start > All Programs > ArcGIS.
  2. In the Authorization view, choose Named User in the drop-down and then click Authorize Now. The Software Authorization Wizard will now be launched.
  3. In the Software Authorization Wizard choose the option I have received an authorization file from Esri and am now ready to finish the authorization process and then click the Browse button.
  4. Browse to a named user authorization (*.lic) file, select it, and then click Open.
  5. In the Software Authorization Wizard, press Next to complete the authorization process.
  6. A pop-up will be displayed confirming the named user licenses have been applied. Click OK to continue.
  7. A Re-reading Licenses message will be displayed for a few seconds.
  8. Once the re-read is complete, the named user licenses that were authorized can be inspected by going to the Availability view of the License Server Administrator and clicking the Named User drop-down in the upper right hand corner. All authorized ArcGIS Pro and Premium App named user licenses will be listed here.

For more information on understanding named user licenses in the Availability view of the License Server Administrator, please see the Useful Information and Best Practices topic.

Creating a Portal configuration file for Enterprise portal 10.6.x and earlier

Once the License Manager is authorized with named user licenses, a portal configuration file can be generated and transferred to portal to complete the licensing configuration. To generate the portal configuration file:

  1. In the License Server Administrator, go to Authorization view and click on the Generate... button under the Generate a configuration file for Portal 10.6: item.
  2. A pop-up will provide the option to save the portal configuration file to a preferred location. The default file name (portal.json) may also be changed here. Use the created *.json file to authorize the portal instance which will support ArcGIS Pro and Premium App named users.

For more information on authorizing and configuring the portal for supporting ArcGIS Pro and Premium App named users, please see the ArcGIS Enterprise help documentation. For configuring the ArcGIS Pro application for use with the Enterprise portal, see the ArcGIS Pro help topics. For configuring applicable Premium Apps for use with the portal, please see the relevant documentation for specific applications.

Performing an in-place upgrade of an existing License Manager with named user licenses

Named user licenses for use with a portal instance remain the same with ArcGIS License Manager 2024.0. If you perform an in-place upgrade of the ArcGIS License Manager software from versions 10.5-10.6, or 2018.0-2023.0 to 2024.0, there is no need to re-authorize your valid named user licenses or export the Portal JSON file to the portal. The in-place upgrade instructions for ArcGIS License Manager software can found in the License Manager Installation and Startup topic.

If ArcGIS License Manager 2024.0 for use with a portal is installed on a new host machine, then the named user licenses must be authorized on the new License Manager and if applicable, a new Portal JSON file must be exported to the portal (ArcGIS Enterprise portal 10.6.x and earlier). Similarly, to enable increased cloud support with ArcGIS License Manager 2020.0 and newer, a new license file must be created in My Esri using the Cloud Instance ID of the license server and authorized on ArcGIS License Manager 2020.0 and newer.