How to Manage Microsoft Licensing in Certero

Introduction

The Microsoft Licensing module in Certero for Enterprise SAM provides specialist compliance capability for Microsoft products. Unlike Generic Licensing, Microsoft transactions are defined by part numbers from a catalog of over 25,000 entries, and entitlements are automatically calculated across dedicated compliance grids.

This guide walks through the key tasks: adding entitlements, importing license statements, and managing compliance across all Microsoft license types.

Before you start

Microsoft Licensing builds on the same Suppliers and Agreements you use in Generic Licensing. Make sure you have:

• Inventory data collected via Certero agents and/or connectors

• Your Microsoft License Statement (MLS) or purchase records available

• Suppliers and Agreements configured under Licensing > Suppliers and Licensing > Agreements

1. Understand the compliance grids

Microsoft entitlements flow into dedicated compliance grids based on the license type. Each grid compares entitlements to deployments for a specific category of Microsoft product.

All grids share the same compliance columns: Effective, Used, Available, Overspend, Required, Licensed, Variance, and Exposure.

2. Add Microsoft transactions

Volume License transactions

Volume License transactions are the most common way to add Microsoft entitlements. Each transaction is defined by a Microsoft part number and must be linked to an Agreement.

1. Navigate to Microsoft Licensing > Transactions.

2. Select New to create a transaction.

3. Choose a part number from the catalog. Some part numbers provide entitlements to multiple categories.

4. Select the Agreement. This is mandatory for Volume License transactions.

5. Enter date fields (PO, start, end) as required. These may be mandatory depending on the Product Type (maintenance, subscription).

6. Entitlement quantities are automatically scaled based on the part number definition.

7. Save the transaction.

Product types include: license-only, license plus maintenance, maintenance only, subscription, and version/edition upgrades (step-ups).

Retail transactions

Use Retail transactions to track boxed products and OEM licenses (e.g., a Windows Server license bundled with server hardware).

1. Navigate to Microsoft Licensing > Retail Transactions.

2. Select New to create a transaction.

3. Retail transactions may be entered without part numbers.

4. Select the License Type to determine which compliance grid receives the entitlements.

5. Save the transaction.

Retail transactions carry additional audit risk (e.g., proof of purchase). Where possible, use Volume License transactions instead.

3. Import a Microsoft License Statement (MLS)

An MLS import quickly populates your Microsoft entitlements in bulk. Agreements are automatically created during import as needed.

1. Obtain your Microsoft License Statement. Only English-language statements are supported.

2. Navigate to Microsoft Licensing > Import.

3. Choose an import mode:

   • Replace previously imported transactions only (manual transactions remain unaffected)

   • Replace all Microsoft transactions (wipes and replaces everything)

   • Advanced mode (for addressing Software Assurance gaps created by EA transitions)

4. Upload the MLS file.

5. Review the import results. Transactions marked as Invalid indicate unrecognized part numbers. This may be a temporary gap in the Certero catalog (Microsoft frequently releases new numbers) or a product that is no longer licensable.

6. For unrecognized part numbers, raise a Customer Center ticket to request additions.

After import, verify that the entitlement results in Certero match your expectations. Microsoft License Statements are not always accurate.

If you use Zones to create license pools, select the required Zone before importing.

4. Manage Client Operating System compliance

Client Operating Systems are non-server Windows categories. Requirements come automatically from Computer System inventory.

1. Navigate to Microsoft Licensing > Client Operating Systems.

2. Review the compliance grid. Each row is a Windows OS category with entitlements versus detected deployments.

3. Double-click a record to explore entitlement origins: base licenses, Software Assurance upgrades, and step-ups.

4. Consider excluding virtual machines if they are licensed through user subscriptions rather than device licenses.

5. Manage CALs and Named Users

Requirements for Device CALs, User CALs, External Connectors, and Named Users cannot be determined automatically from inventory. You declare requirements using Set Criteria.

Device CALs and External Connectors

1. Navigate to the relevant compliance grid (e.g., Microsoft Licensing > Device CALs).

2. Right-click a category row and select Set Criteria.

3. Build criteria against the Computer System data type. For example: all Computer Systems where the Operating System contains "server" and the hostname contains "RDS" require a Remote Desktop Services External Connector.

4. Use Static Groups if you cannot devise dynamic criteria from inventory properties (naming standards, AD OU membership, network ranges, etc.).

User CALs

1. Navigate to Microsoft Licensing > User CALs.

2. Right-click and select Set Criteria against the AD User data type.

3. User CALs are typically assigned to larger, dynamic groups. For example: all active, enabled, real user accounts require a Windows Server CAL.

Named Users

1. Navigate to Microsoft Licensing > Named Users.

2. Right-click and select Set Criteria against the AD User data type.

3. Named Users are typically managed using Static Groups. For Microsoft 365 subscriptions, maintain group membership by importing from M365 exports (matching on email address).

4. If you have the Certero Microsoft 365 module, there is no need to manage M365 subscriptions here.

You can add a new category row (for a category and version you have no entitlements for yet) to track a license deficit before purchasing. Add the category, then configure requirements using Set Criteria.

6. Manage Software compliance

The Software compliance grid covers device-based desktop products (Office, Project, Visio) and device, processor, and core-based server products that fall outside Windows Server and SQL Server.

1. Navigate to Microsoft Licensing > Software.

2. Requirements come automatically from categorized Software Product inventory on Computer Systems.

3. Virtual installs of device-based Office, Project, and Visio do not consume licenses in this manner. Manually exclude them if needed.

4. If you have an SRDB license and Apps Monitor, the grid shows suggested savings based on software installs with no EXE file usage.

7. Manage Windows Server licensing

Windows Server license assignments are managed in a dedicated grid that feeds compliance results back to the Server Operating Systems compliance screen.

1. Navigate to Microsoft Servers > Windows Servers.

2. Each row represents a physical server or cluster. For clusters, the licensable record reflects the sum of host processors and cores.

3. Review the key columns:

   • The Windows Server version and edition detected (or the highest across a cluster)

   • The calculated license requirement

   • The applied license category and metric

4. Drill through the guest VM column to see virtual machines and manage exclusions.

5. Right-click to adjust license assignments. Automatic category selection can be manually overridden, and license minimums are enforced by the platform.

6. Enable host affinity for VMware and XenServer VMs (if affinity configuration is found by virtualization connectors) via Global Settings. This affects how license requirements are calculated across clusters.

7. VMs with unresolved hosting indicate a missing VMware connector, a Hyper-V host with no inventory, or incorrect duplicate VMware VM UUIDs. Investigate and resolve these for accurate compliance.

There is also the option to license at the VM level instead of the physical host.

8. Manage SQL Server licensing

SQL Server assignment works similarly to Windows Server.

1. Navigate to Microsoft Servers > SQL Servers.

2. Drill through rows to manage categories and exclusions per VM and review core minimums.

3. Use the Miscellaneous > SQL Instances grid for a comprehensive view of SQL Server inventory, including Express and Developer editions that may not appear on the assignment grid.

9. Use compliance actions

All Microsoft compliance grids share common right-click actions:

• Set Unit Cost: Enter a unit cost to express Available (surplus) as Overspend and Variance (deficit) as Exposure in currency terms.

• Set Comments: Add notes to a category compliance record.

• Set Criteria: Define dynamic requirements using Query Builder (not available on Client Operating Systems, Server Operating Systems, or SQL Servers grids, where requirements are calculated automatically).

• Set Additional Requirements: Override or supplement device and user requirements with manual quantities and comments.

• Exclude/Include: Remove or restore individual requirement records from compliance calculations.

• Manual Allocation: Assign specific licenses to specific devices or users, overriding automatic allocation. Manual allocations take priority over automatic allocation.

10. Report on Microsoft compliance

Use Certero reporting capabilities to:

• Track agreement, subscription, and maintenance expiry dates

• Report on purchasing costs, deployments, and compliance position

• Sum Overspend and Exposure to track financial risk

• Filter compliance grids by vendor and product

• Chart compliance data by version and edition

• Use Trends to track changes over time

• Build dashboards for stakeholder views

Tips and common pitfalls

• Certero maintains the Microsoft part number catalog and software recognition. You do not need to perform your own categorization for Microsoft products.

• Always verify MLS import results against your actual agreements. MLS files are not always accurate.

• Set Unit Costs consistently (e.g., annual costs for subscriptions, current list price for perpetual) to make Overspend and Exposure figures meaningful and comparable.

• Remember that Set Criteria requirements and installed software requirements are cumulative on the same compliance row.

• Check the Archived view if a category appears to be missing from a compliance grid.

• Use the Update button on compliance grids to process recent entitlement changes into compliance calculations.

Version History