User Guide: Activate an IDE through License Vault

Last modified: 14 March 2025

This section walks you through the process of obtaining a product license from License Vault.

Before activation

Before you activate your JetBrains product, go through the following checklist to make sure you have everything necessary to successfully obtain a license.

Do you have the IDE Services link?

You will need this link to connect to your IDE Services instance via the Toolbox App for automatic activation.

If you don't have the link, try to activate your IDE manually using the automatic server discovery at step 5 of the instructions. If that doesn't work, contact your administrator for your IDE Services link.

Are you connected to the internet?

An internet connection is required both to obtain a license from License Vault and to continue using it.

You can work for up to 48 hours without an internet connection, as long as you don't restart your IDE. After 48 hours, you will have to reconnect to the internet to continue using your IDE.

If you restart your IDE while disconnected, you will immediately lose access to your license and won't be able to use the IDE until you reconnect to the internet.

Is your IDE version 2021.1 or later?

Activation via IDE Services is not supported in earlier versions of JetBrains products.

Do you have your login credentials?

To obtain a license from License Vault, you will need to log in through the authentication provider configured by your administrator. If in doubt about which credentials you should use, contact your administrator.

Activating your IDE via Toolbox App

If your organization uses the Toolbox App, install it on your computer to connect to IDE Services. To do so, follow the IDE Services link provided by your administrator. Once you've installed the Toolbox App, your JetBrains tools will be automatically activated through the IDE Services License Vault.

For detailed instructions, refer to User Guide: Connect to IDE Services Server.

Activating your IDE manually

If your organization does not use the Toolbox App, follow the instructions below to activate your IDE manually using the IDE Services link provided by your administrator.

  1. Open your IDE, making sure to use version 2021.1 or later.

  2. If you don't yet have a license, the activation dialog will appear straight away. If you don't see the dialog, select Help | Register to pull it up.

  3. If your IDE is already activated, click Activate New License.

    The button to activate a new license in an IDE that is already activated

  4. In the activation dialog, select Activate <Your IDE Name> | License server.

    The license activation dialog in a JetBrains IDE

  5. Paste the IDE Services URL into the Server address field.

    note

    Make sure the URL includes https://

    Alternatively, you can click Discover Server. If your administrator has configured the automatic discovery, the IDE Services URL will appear in the field automatically.

  6. (Optional) Click Test Connection to confirm that IDE Services is available. Once your product connects to IDE Services, you will see the Connection successful message.

    The message indicating a successful connection to IDE Services

  7. Click Activate.

  8. Your browser will open and take you to the user authorization page.

    If the authorization page doesn't open straight away, click the link in the Authorization required message at the bottom of the dialog.

    The 'Authorization required' message in the activation dialog

  9. Enter your credentials and wait for the Authorization successful message to appear on the page.

  10. Return to your IDE. You will see your license information displayed in the activation dialog.

    The activation dialog shows the license information

    If you see the Activate button instead, click it once again to obtain a license.

  11. You're good to go! Click Continue to start using your IDE.

Troubleshooting

If you couldn't obtain a license, check this section for possible reasons.

  • No matching licenses left on the server. You can get this message when IDE Services doesn't have an available license for the product you're trying to activate. Contact your administrator.

  • You are not allowed to use this product. This message means that your IDE Services administrator has restricted your access to the product you're trying to activate. Contact your administrator.