Manage licenses
Buy add-ons and licenses for a whole subscription as a pool of seats, assign the seats to instances, move them between instances, and turn off renewal.
Some add-ons and licenses are sold for a whole subscription instead of with one instance. You buy such an item as a pool of seats, and assign each seat to an instance. Add-ons and licenses that are sold per instance are selected when you create the instance. See Add-ons & licenses.
Before you begin
- To view the licenses of a subscription, you need any role with Read access to Billing & Cost, granted on the subscription.
- To buy a license, assign or move its seats, or turn off its renewal, you need the Owner or Billing Operator role, or a custom role with Manage access to Billing & Cost, granted on the subscription.
Licenses belong to the subscription, so every project of the subscription shows the same list.
How licenses work
- A pool of seats. You buy a license with 1 to 1,000 seats. Each seat can be assigned to one resource at a time, and a resource holds at most one seat of the same license.
- All seats are billed. Every period, each seat of the pool is billed, whether it's assigned or not. The price per seat is fixed when you buy the license: later price changes don't apply to it.
- Billing period. You choose hourly, monthly, or yearly, among the periods that have a price. An hourly license is billed per hour. A monthly or yearly license is billed a full period at the start of each period, counted from the purchase. See Billing units.
- Paid with your invoice. Nothing is charged when you buy a license. Its charges appear on your monthly invoice, together with your other add-ons and licenses.
- Terms that renew. A license runs in terms as long as its billing period. At the end of each term, it renews for another term, until you turn off renewal.
Buy a license
In the console, go to BillingLicenses.
Under Buy an add-on or licence, select the Item. The list shows the add-ons and licenses that are sold per subscription.
Select the Billing period. Only the periods that have a price for the item are offered.
In Seats, enter the number of seats. The form shows the price per seat and for the whole pool.
Select Buy.
The license is active at once, and appears under Your licences. Each purchase buys a separate license: to add seats, buy another one.
If the list of items is empty, no add-ons or licenses are sold per subscription.
Assign a seat to an instance
On the license's row, select Assign.
In Assign to, select an instance of the project that you're working in.
Select Assign.
The instance's name appears under Seats. When every seat of the pool is in use, you can't assign another one: release a seat first, or move one.
Through the API, you can also assign seats to volumes and load balancers.
Move a seat to another instance
On the license's row, select Transfer.
In Move from, select the instance that holds the seat. In Move to, select the instance to move it to.
Select Transfer.
The seat moves in one step, so it's never on both instances or on neither. This works even when every seat is in use.
Release a seat
Under Seats, select the remove icon next to the instance's name. The seat goes back to the pool. Releasing a seat doesn't change the license or its billing: the whole pool is still billed.
Turn off renewal
On the license's row, select Turn off renewal.
Read the confirmation, and select Turn off renewal again.
Turning off renewal doesn't end the license and isn't refunded:
- The license keeps working until the end of its current term, and that term is billed in full.
- You can assign and move its seats until the term ends.
- When the term ends, the license expires: it's no longer billed, and its seats can't be assigned anymore.
You can't turn renewal back on. To keep using the item after the term, buy a new license.
BillingLicenses keeps listing expired licenses, with the date they ended under Renewal.