| name | license-manager-diagnostics |
| version | 1.0.0 |
| last_updated | 2025-04-12 |
| description | Use this skill to investigate and troubleshoot AWS License Manager problems by analyzing license configurations, rule violations, grants, host resource groups, dedicated hosts, Linux subscriptions, user subscriptions, cross-account sharing, organization settings, automated discovery, and following structured runbooks. Activate when: license configuration errors, rule violations, grant failures, host resource group issues, dedicated host management, Linux subscription discovery, user subscription issues, cross-account sharing, organization settings, automated discovery, or the user says something is wrong with License Manager.
|
| compatibility | Requires AWS CLI or SDK access with license-manager, iam, ec2, organizations, ram, cloudtrail, and cloudwatch permissions.
|
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
| Tool / API | When to use |
|---|
license-manager list-license-configurations | List license configs |
license-manager get-license-configuration | Get config details |
license-manager list-received-licenses | List received licenses |
license-manager list-received-grants | List grants |
license-manager list-usage-for-license-configuration | Check license usage |
license-manager list-resource-inventory | Inventory resources |
ec2 describe-hosts | Check dedicated hosts |
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
- Always cite specific license configuration ARNs, grant ARNs, or API responses as evidence.
- License configurations and received licenses are different concepts. Configurations are self-managed; received licenses come from ISVs.
- Grants must be accepted before they take effect. Never assume a created grant is active.
- Hard limits block launches; soft limits only alert. Never conflate enforcement modes.
- Spend no more than 2 minutes on any single hypothesis. Pivot if inconclusive.
12 runbooks
| Category | IDs | Covers |
|---|
| A — License Config | A1-A2 | Configuration errors, rule violations |
| B — Grants | B1-B2 | Grant creation failures, grant acceptance |
| C — Dedicated Hosts | C1-C2 | Host resource groups, dedicated host management |
| D — Subscriptions | D1-D2 | Linux subscription discovery, user subscriptions |
| E — Cross-Account | E1-E2 | Cross-account sharing, organization settings |
| F — Discovery | F1 | Automated discovery |
| Z — Catch-All | Z1 | General troubleshooting |
