Types of Licenses

In this section:

Named-User Licenses

Named-User licenses allow for tokens to be reserved for and assigned to specific users. They can be reserved for users ahead of time and/or left unreserved and available to any user not currently denied access to reserve on a first-come, first-served basis. Token reservations for named-user licenses do not naturally expire and must be manually released.

Typical Use Case: "First come, first served"

In this scenario, suppose you have a two-token, named-user license. 

• Alice requests a license and is issued a token. A reservation is automatically created for Alice, guaranteeing the token is available for Alice to use in the future.
• At a later time, Bob requests a license and is issued a token. A reservation is automatically created for Bob, guaranteeing the token is available for Bob to use in the future.
• At a later time, Carol requests a license. Since all available tokens have already been reserved for Alice and Bob, her license request is denied.

Typical Use Case: "Reserve ahead of time"

In this scenario, suppose you have a two-token, named-user license. 

• A reservation is made for Alice, guaranteeing a token for her in the future.
• A reservation is made for Bob, guaranteeing a token for him in the future.
• Carol requests a license. Her license request is denied because both available tokens have been reserved for Alice and Bob.
• At a later time, Bob requests a license. He is issued a token. 
• At a later time, Alice requests a license. She is issued a token. 

How Identical Usernames from Multiple Machines are Handled

The behavior depends on whether Grant multiple tokens to same username is enabled for the license.

Suppose you have a two-token, named-user license and the following scenario occurs:

1. User "test" from machine1 requests a license.
2. User "test" from machine1 is issued a token.
3. A few seconds later, user "test" from machine2 requests a license.

If Grant multiple tokens to same username is enabled, user "test" from machine2 will be issued the second token.  

If Grant multiple tokens to same username is not enabled, user "test" from machine2 will be denied a token, even though there is one available.

For more information about reserving and releasing named-user license tokens, see Reserving Licenses.

Unusual Use Case

There is an unusual use case for you to be aware of. In this scenario, Grant multiple tokens to same username is enabled and user "test" has two reservations as described above, then Grant multiple tokens to same username is disabled. In this situation, user "test" will be able to get two tokens (or as many tokens as allowed by the reservations). If you no longer want user "test" to get multiple tokens, remove the existing reservations.

Floating Licenses

Floating licenses allow for X number of users to use the tool concurrently, where X is equal to the number of tokens. Tokens can be reserved for users who match a user pattern and/or host pattern or who belong to a pre-defined group and/or they can be left in an open license pool to be claimed on a first-come, first-served basis.

Typical Use Case: "Open License Pool"

In this scenario, suppose you have a two-token, floating license and none of the tokens have been reserved.

• Alice requests a license and is issued a token. 
• At a later time, Bob requests a license and is issued a token.  
• At a later time, Carol requests a license. Her license request is denied since both available tokens are already in use.
• At a later time, Alice stops using the tool. Her token is released back into the license pool.
• At a later time, Carol requests a license and is issued a token.

Typical Use Case: "Reserved License Pool"

In this scenario, suppose you have a two-token, floating license. Both tokens have been reserved for a group, "Alpha," which contains Alice and Bob.

• Alice requests a license and is issued a token.
• At a later time, Bob requests a license and is issued a token.
• At a later time, Alice stops using the tool. Her token is released back into the license pool.
• At a later time, Carol requests a license. Her license request is denied, even though not all tokens are currently in use, because she is not in group "Alpha."

For more information about reserving and releasing floating licenses, see Reserving Licenses.

Machine-Locked Licenses

Machine-locked licenses allow for tokens to be reserved for and assigned to specific machines. All machine-locked licenses are single-token licenses and that token can be reserved for a specific machine ID or left in a pool to be claimed in a first-come, first-served basis. Once reserved, the token does not naturally expire and must be removed manually, but this can only be done after a 30-day waiting period has passed.

Typical Use Case: "First come, first served"

In this scenario, suppose you have a machine-locked license. 

• CI/CD pipeline job requests a license from machine "static-analysis-machine" and a token is issued. A reservation is automatically created for "static-analysis-machine", guaranteeing a token to that machine for the next 30 days.
• At a later time, CI/CD pipeline job requests a license from machine "test-machine". This license request will be denied because the token is currently reserved for another machine.

For more information about reserving and releasing machine-locked licenses, see Reserving Licenses.

Upgrade Licenses

Upgrade licenses enable you to use the tokens of your base license to access both your current version of a tool and a newer version of that same tool. For example, suppose you originally purchased a 10-token license for a tool and eventually upgrade to the new version of that tool, but you're not ready to upgrade your entire infrastructure to the new version yet. By getting an upgrade license and linking it to the base license, you can use any or all of your tokens to access both versions of the tool at the same time. You might have four tokens reserved for the older version of the tool and six tokens reserved for the newer version. In this scenario, the license you originally purchased for the tool is the "base license" and the license for the new version is the "upgrade license."

Upgrade license tokens are reserved from within the base license to which they are linked. How to link and unlink an upgrade license to a base license is explained below. 

Linking an Upgrade License to a Base License

1. Add the Upgrade License. See Managing Tool Licenses for more information about adding licenses.
2. Go to Licenses > Tool Licenses. You will see any unlinked licenses at the top of the table.
   
3. Click Link license.
4. In the dialog that opens, select the base license.
   
5. Click Link.
6. In the table on Tool Licenses screen, you will see that the upgrade license is linked to the base license.
   

Unlinking an Upgrade License from a Base License

1. Go to Licenses > Tool Licenses and click the desired Upgrade License in the table.
2. On the License Details page of the Upgrade License, click Unlink license.
   
3.  In the dialog that opens, click Confirm.