License Manager Diagnostics

AWS License Manager Diagnostics

When to use

Any AWS License Manager investigation — license configurations, rule enforcement, grants, host resource groups, dedicated hosts, Linux subscriptions, user subscriptions, cross-account sharing, or automated discovery.

Investigation workflow

Step 1 — Collect and triage

aws license-manager list-license-configurations --query 'LicenseConfigurations[*].{Arn:LicenseConfigurationArn,Name:Name,Status:Status,Count:ConsumedLicenses}'
aws license-manager list-received-licenses --query 'Licenses[*].{Arn:LicenseArn,Name:LicenseName,Status:Status,Issuer:Issuer}'
aws license-manager list-received-grants --query 'Grants[*].{Arn:GrantArn,Name:GrantName,Status:Status}'

Step 2 — Domain deep dive

aws license-manager get-license-configuration --license-configuration-arn <arn>
aws license-manager list-usage-for-license-configuration --license-configuration-arn <arn>
aws license-manager list-associations-for-license-configuration --license-configuration-arn <arn>

Step 3 — Detailed investigation

aws cloudtrail lookup-events --lookup-attributes AttributeKey=EventSource,AttributeValue=license-manager.amazonaws.com --max-results 20
aws license-manager list-resource-inventory --filters '[{"Name":"Platform","Values":["LINUX"],"Condition":"EQUALS"}]'
aws ec2 describe-hosts --query 'Hosts[*].{Id:HostId,State:State,Type:InstanceType,AutoPlacement:AutoPlacement}'

Read references/guardrails.md before concluding on any License Manager issue.

Tool quick reference

Gotchas: AWS License Manager

• License configurations track license consumption but do NOT enforce limits by default. Enforcement requires enabling hard limits which can block resource launches.
• Grants are the mechanism for sharing licenses across accounts. A grant must be ACCEPTED by the recipient before it takes effect.
• Host resource groups manage dedicated host allocation. Auto-placement must be enabled for automatic instance placement.
• Linux subscription discovery requires the Systems Manager inventory plugin. It discovers RHEL, SUSE, and Ubuntu Pro subscriptions.
• User-based subscriptions (e.g., Microsoft Visual Studio) require Active Directory integration and specific VPC configuration.
• Cross-account license sharing uses AWS RAM (Resource Access Manager) under the hood. Organization sharing must be enabled.
• Automated discovery uses Systems Manager inventory to find software installations. It requires SSM Agent on managed instances.

Anti-hallucination rules

1. Always cite specific license configuration ARNs, grant ARNs, or API responses as evidence.
2. License configurations and received licenses are different concepts. Configurations are self-managed; received licenses come from ISVs.
3. Grants must be accepted before they take effect. Never assume a created grant is active.
4. Hard limits block launches; soft limits only alert. Never conflate enforcement modes.
5. Spend no more than 2 minutes on any single hypothesis. Pivot if inconclusive.

12 runbooks