This page guides you through the process of sharing Floating licenses through the My Chaos portal.


Overview

Chaos products can be used with Fixed (or Solo) licenses and Floating (or Premium) licenses. While fixed licenses can only be used by one user on one device, Floating licenses can also be shared between multiple users and devices. Floating licenses can be used within a local network or over the Cloud where an Internet connection is the only requirement.

This article outlines the setup for using Floating (or Premium) licenses over the Cloud.

Cloud Floating Licensing allows you and your team to use a shared pool of Floating licenses entirely through the Cloud. This allows users to use licenses from any location without the need to be on the same local network or connect to an office network through a VPN.


Setup

To use this setup, both the Administrator (who owns the Floating licenses) and users (Members or Guests in the Organization who use the licenses) need to complete a short list of steps.

For further information on the roles and other terminology connected to the My Chaos portal, see this Guide.

Any Chaos Account is, by default, an Organization, and the account owner is an Administrator.

Administrators can add other users to their Organization and share floating licenses with them.


Administrators need to:

  • Add users to their Organization
  • Enable Floating License Sharing for their Organization

Floating Licenses can be shared within an Organization only when they are assigned to the Administrator.

If you have assigned floating licenses to members in your Organization, you will need to revoke them if you want those licenses to be part of the shared pool.


Users need to:

  • Be part of an Organization
  • Perform a default installation of the Chaos product(s) and sign in to the product with their Chaos Account

Users can follow the steps in the email they receive for being added to an Organization by the Administrator. If the user does not have an account, the email will lead them through the steps of creating one.


Administrator Workflow

The Administrator can share the floating licenses with all Members (or Guests) within their Organization. Any user added to the Organization can use shared licenses by installing the Chaos product with all default settings and signing in to the product with their own Chaos Account.


Log into my.chaos.com and go to the Organization tab on the toolbar.


Go to the three-dot menu next to Users and select Invite Users.


Invite users to your Organization. For instructions on this step, see the My Chaos Guide page.

To enable Floating license sharing, open the three-dot menu next to the option and click Enable Floating license sharing.


At this point, any user within the Organization can use a shared floating license.

Fixed (or Solo) licenses are not affected when Floating License Sharing is enabled. Instead, such licenses are assigned individually.


User Workflow

Once Floating License Sharing is enabled for the Organization, any user in the Organization can use the shared licenses by installing their Chaos product with all the default installation settings and signing in to the product with their Chaos Account. When added to an Organization, users receive an email confirmation. If the user does not yet have a Chaos Account, the user can create one by following the link in the email invitation that they receive.


Have the Administrator add you to their Organization.
The Administrator can add you to the Organization with your email. If you do not yet have a Chaos Account yet, you can create one by following the link in the email confirmation you receive.

Install the Chaos product(s) your Organization has a license for. Proceed with a default installation. This installs the Chaos license utility locally. Sign in with your Chaos Account when prompted.







Migrating to Cloud Floating Licensing

If you have already set up Floating licenses for your team with a centralized Chaos License Server and you want to move to the Cloud Floating Licensing setup:

  • The Administrator needs to enable the Floating License Sharing option in the Organization tab of the my.chaos portal.
  • All floating licenses need to be assigned to the Administrator. If you have assigned floating licenses to individual users in the organization and you want those licenses to be part of the shared pool - you will need to revoke the assignments.
  • The Administrator needs to add all users to the administrator's Organization through the my.chaos portal.
  • In case users have configured their Chaos product to connect to a centralized remote License Server, they will need to re-install the Chaos product and select Local Licensing in the installer's Advanced options. Users will then need to sign in to the product with their Chaos Accounts.


See the sections below for more detailed information on changing your floating license setup to the Cloud Floating Licensing one.


Remote Licensing

If you already have a floating license setup with a centralized License Server within your local network, your users have selected Remote licensing in the Advanced installer options. To move to a Cloud Floating License setup, users will need to switch to Local licensing by re-installing the product and selecting Local licensing in the Advanced installer options. If users are installing a Chaos product for the first time, they only need to install with all the default options without selecting any of the Advanced installer options.

Floating Licenses assigned to Users

In case floating licenses are assigned to individual users in the Organization and are needed to be used as Shared Floating Licenses, the Administrator has to revoke the assignments. Only floating licenses assigned to the Organization's Administrator are part of the shared floating pool. Then, enabling the Floating license sharing option through the my.chaos portal makes the licenses available to the users in the Organization.


Notes

  • Floating License Sharing only affects Floating or Premium licenses. Fixed or Solo license can be individually assigned, but cannot be part of a shared floating pool.
  • Only the Administrator's licenses are shared with the Organization. Individually assigned floating licenses are not part of the shared pool, unless the assignments are revoked.
  • Only licenses owned by the Organization can be shared. Licenses assigned to the Administrator from another Organization where the Administrator is a Member / Guest are not part of the shared pool.
  • Only Administrators can enable or disable Floating License Sharing for the Organization.

  • A Cloud Floating License cannot be borrowed for offline use by a Member or Guest. The License needs to be personally assigned to that user, to allow them to borrow the license. For more information, on how an Administrator can assign a product license to a user, see the User Management Actions page.

  • Shared licenses can be engaged by Organization users, but they will not appear in the users' list of licenses.