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Administering and tracking licenses

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Applies To: Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2003 R2, Windows Server 2003 with SP1, Windows Server 2003 with SP2

Administering and tracking licenses

Tracking licenses manually within single domain or across multiple domains can be time consuming and expensive. Windows Server 2003 operating systems provide two utilities that automate this task and help you minimize the time and expense of license tracking. You can use these utilities to view data and manage licensing for server products and to ensure that you are complying with the Windows Server 2003 operating system licensing requirements.

Important

  • You must be an administrator or a member of the Administrators group in order to use either the Licensing option in Control Panel or the Licensing tool in Administrative Tools.

Licensing in Control Panel

The Licensing option in Control Panel manages licensing requirements for a single computer running a Windows Server 2003 operating system. Use it locally on the computer you are managing to:

  • Add or remove Client Access Licenses for a server product licensed in Per Server mode.

  • Change the licensing mode from Per Server to Per Device or Per User (one time only).

  • Configure the time or frequency of replication of the server's licensing information to the centralized database on the site license server.

For more information, see Manage Licensing on the Local Server.

Licensing in Administrative Tools

Use Licensing in Administrative Tools to manage licensing for the enterprise. It enables you to administer and track licensing data for a site in the centralized licensing database on the site license server. You can:

  • View Per Server and Per Device or Per User licenses for the site or a group in the site.

  • Manage the purchase or deletion of licenses for server products on network servers.

  • View usage statistics for each user.

  • Remotely manage licensing on servers for server products licensed in Per Server mode.

  • Manage license replication on the network.

For more information, see Administering licensing for the enterprise.