License distribution and management
Here's an overview of the license distribution features offered with the License Vault component within Toolbox Enterprise.
To enable this component, refer to License Vault. For information on the available licensing and billing options, see Billing models.
Toolbox Enterprise with the License Vault component enabled automatically distributes JetBrains licenses within your organization. All a user needs to do is launch their product, enter the Toolbox Enterprise URL, and log in.
Licenses that are no longer in use are automatically released after 30 days. To transfer licenses more quickly, you can enable Floating mode, which releases unused licenses after just 20 minutes.
Floating mode helps maximize license utilization by quickly transferring licenses between users. With this feature, when a team member stops using their IDE, their license becomes available for someone else in 20 minutes.
Scenario | License release time | Explanation |
|---|---|---|
User closes their IDE | Immediately | Right before closing, the IDE notifies Toolbox Enterprise that the license is no longer in use, and it's released immediately. |
User's machine is switched off or goes offline | Within 20 minutes | How does Toolbox Enterprise determine that the machine is offline? Each IDE connected to Toolbox Enterprise sends a license refresh request every 10 minutes. That's how we know that the license is still in use. If Toolbox Enterprise fails to receive the scheduled request, it assumes that the machine is switched off or offline and that the license is no longer in use. Given the interval between requests, it can take Toolbox Enterprise up to 10 minutes to register this. When is the license released? Every 10 minutes, Toolbox Enterprise checks each license to see how long ago it was last refreshed. Licenses that have been refreshed within the last 20 minutes remain allocated. Licenses that have not been refreshed for 20 minutes or more are released. In total, it usually takes Toolbox Enterprise 20 to 30 minutes from the moment the user's machine goes offline to release the license. |
note
Users who keep an IDE running in the background without interacting with it are considered active. Their licenses remain allocated until the IDE is closed or goes offline.
A Toolbox Enterprise administrator can revoke licenses from users manually or via the API to make them available to other team members.
Depending on your billing model and settings, you might have a monthly limit on manual revocations.
When a user runs their product on two different machines simultaneously, only one license is required.
You can choose how Toolbox Enterprise handles each additional machine. Three options are available:
Allocate New – Toolbox Enterprise allocates an additional license for this user. This is the default behavior.
Take Oldest Out – Toolbox Enterprise revokes the license from the machine that hasn't been in use the longest and transfer it to the new machine.
Prohibited – Toolbox Enterprise doesn't allow users to run JetBrains products on more than two machines at a time.
With access rules, you can restrict or provide access to licenses for certain users or groups. You can also prioritize users who need to be able to obtain a license, even when none are available.
Built-in usage statistics and reports can help you analyze and optimize license usage in your organization.