ArcGIS Desktop Single Use Licensing Tutorial

[Alyssa_H]

As many ArcGIS users know, licensing is a fundamental part of setting up and using ArcGIS software. But, as many ArcGIS users also know, there are many different ways you may need to use the software, in a variety of different environments, and the number of decisions to be made when licensing software can feel daunting.

The purpose of this 2-part series is to alleviate some of that stress by giving you a comprehensive overview of licensing for ArcGIS Desktop. In this post I'll be going over Single Use licensing, the licensing interface, and a tutorial for each file type you can choose after picking your license type. Part 2 on Concurrent Use Licensing can be found here.

Note: This post can also be used as a reference for ArcGIS Pro licensing, but the interfaces and processes are not identical so you may want to check out our ArcGIS Pro Licensing documentation as well, which will be linked beneath each video tutorial.

What are the different license types?

There are 3 possible license types your organization may be using, based on the number of users you have at once, the number of total users, and your environment. Below is a quick summary of each of these options.

Single Use licenses are assigned to a single person, and can be used by that individual on up to two machines. Further information on how Single Use licensing works can be found here. 

Concurrent Use licenses are utilized when an organization buys a pool of licenses that users can "check out" in order to use the software, similar to a library. When a user is done using the license, it gets returned to the license pool and can be utilized by someone else. Further information on how Concurrent Use licensing works can be found here. 

Named User licenses are assigned from ArcGIS Online to a single user, who can be using the license on up to 3 machines at one time. Users simply need to sign into ArcGIS Pro or ArcGIS Desktop using their ArcGIS Online credentials to have their license applied. These licenses can also be un-assigned and re-assigned to users by administrators through ArcGIS Online. Further information on how Named User licensing works can be found here. 

What is the difference between license file types?

After selecting the best licensing type for you or your organization to use, a license file type must be selected. In My Esri, there may be two different options depending on your organization. The first and most often used option is a License file, which is a text file that will supply all required information into the Software Authorization Wizard at once. The second option in My Esri that may be available is an ESLF - an Esri Secure License File. ESLFs were developed for environments with very strict security measures, so these files are used in an offline environment where files cannot be removed from a machine. This may not be available for every organization, so if you do not see an ESLF option, it's likely that your organization has not elected to use ESLFs.

The final licensing option that is available to users is an Authorization file, which is not seen in the My Esri options. Authorization files can be used when the machine that needs the license is not connected to the internet. The Authorization file is created on the machine needing the license, is transferred to an online machine, and a response file created in My Esri is transferred back over to the offline machine. This differs from the ESLF licensing method because while they are both on offline machines, machines that need to use ESLFs cannot have files removed from them, so the authorization file workflow would not work.

Once the product, license type, and file type have been selected, you can proceed to choosing the products you need to license and create the desired file. The first video includes a general overview of each licensing application, and the following videos are step-by-step walk throughs for creating the necessary file and applying it to a machine.

Single Use Authorization

Above is a comprehensive overview of the licensing application ArcGIS Administrator. This is not intended to walk through a specific process, but can be helpful with understanding each component of the licensing software. If you would like to watch a tutorial on a specific licensing process, your associated workflow can be found below.

Authorization File

Part 1: Generate the file

1. In the Desktop folder of ArcGIS Administrator, select your product to license and click Authorize Now
2. Select "I have installed my software and need to authorize it." and click Next
3. Select "Authorize at Esri's website or by email to receive your authorization file." and click Next
4. Enter the identification information of the license user
5. Finish entering the identification information of the license user
6. Enter your products Authorization number found in My Esri, and click Next
7. If licensing extensions, enter the Authorization number(s) and click Next
8. Select Save to generate the Authorization file and save locally
9. After saving, transfer the Authorization file to a machine with internet access

Part 2: My Esri

1. On the online machine that now has the Authorization file, log into My Esri and select the Licensing tab > Additional licensing tools
2. Click Select file to navigate to your generated authorization file, select the file, and click Open
3. Click Submit
4. Download the file and transfer the file to the Offline machine

Part 3: Finish authorization

1. On the offline machine, open the Desktop folder of ArcGIS Administrator
2. Select your product and click Authorize Now
3. Select the third option and click Browse to open your file explorer
4. Navigate to your file location, select your file, click open, and click next
5. Your software has been authorized!
1. To verify the license has been applied, navigate to the Availability folder and locate your license (Refresh if necessary)

OR

1. On the offline machine, open File Explorer and double-click the authorization file you just uploaded to the machine
1. Double clicking the authorization file will open ArcGIS Administrator with the license file path automatically filled in
2. Once the Software Authorization Wizard has opened with the file path filled in, select Next
3. Your software has now been authorized!
1. To verify the license has been applied, navigate to the Availability folder and locate your license (Refresh if necessary)

License File

Part 1: Generate the file

1. Log into My Esri and select the Licensing tab > Start Licensing
2. Select your product, version, license type (Single Use) and file type (License file) and click Next
3. If licensing core products, select your product and click Next
4. If licensing extensions, select desired extensions
5. Enter the End User's information and select Next
6. Review the license information, select your method of delivery, and add notes or tags (optional) to help keep track of licenses
7. Select Create File

Part 2: Apply license

1. Open File Explorer and double-click the license file
1. Double clicking the file will open ArcGIS Administrator with the license file path automatically filled in
2. Once the Software Authorization Wizard has opened with the file path filled in, select Next
3. Your software has now been authorized!
1. To verify the license has been applied, navigate to the Availability folder and locate your license (Refresh if necessary)

Esri Secure License File (ESLF)

Part 1: Generate the file

1. Log into My Esri and select the Licensing tab > Start Licensing
2. Select your product, version, license type (Single Use) and file type (ESLF) and click Next
3. If licensing core products, select your product and click Next
4. If licensing extensions, select desired extensions
5. Select the desired method of Authentication and enter the required information
1. If using Machine Authentication, the entered information needs to be associated with the machine that will be using the license
6. Select a File Timeout date and License Timeout date if desired
1. These provide limitations on when the file needs to be applied before, and at what date the license itself will expire on the machine
7. Review the license information, select your method of delivery, and add notes or tags (optional) to help keep track of licenses
8. Select Create File

Part 2: Apply license

1. Transfer the ESLF to the offline machine
2. On the offline machine, open the Desktop folder of ArcGIS Administrator
3. Select your product and click Authorize Now
4. Select the third option and click Browse to open your file explorer
5. Navigate to your file location, select your file, click open, and click next
6. Your software has been authorized!
1. To verify the license has been applied, navigate to the Availability folder and locate your license (Refresh if necessary)

OR

1. Transfer the ESLF to the offline machine
2. Open File Explorer and double-click the license file
1. Double clicking the file will open ArcGIS Administrator with the license file path automatically filled in
3. Once the Software Authorization Wizard has opened with the file path filled in, select Next
4. Your software has now been authorized!
1. To verify the license has been applied, navigate to the Availability folder and locate your license (Refresh if necessary)

ArcMap is entering Mature Support in March 2024, and we encourage migrating from ArcMap to ArcGIS Pro. To find resources on the migration process, check out this blog post.