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Importing Licenses Overview

Software Asset Management Guide
Importing Licenses

Importing Licenses Overview

Most teams have hundreds or thousands of licenses already in spreadsheets, contract files, vendor portals, and procurement records. The fastest way to get them into xAssets is bulk import. This chapter covers the import paths xAssets supports, the file formats they expect, and the key requirements to know about before you run your first import.

Pick the Right Import Path

Source Use This
Spreadsheet of licenses you already maintain Standard License Import
Microsoft License Statement (MLS) — the file Microsoft sends after a true-up Microsoft License Statement Import
Adobe VIP / ETLA license export Adobe License Import
First-time setup, multiple sources Preparing the Catalog before any import
Imports failing or producing odd results Troubleshooting Imports

Important Points

Two things to know before your first import:

  1. The data is pasted into a dialog, tab-separated. The simplest workflow is to copy-paste straight from Excel — when you copy cells from Excel they go to the clipboard tab-separated. You can also paste from a .txt or TSV file. For CSV-based loading use the general-purpose How to Import CSV workflow instead.

  2. The Software Product column must match an existing catalog entry's Product Code. Products are not auto-created on import — this is deliberate, so that typos in the spreadsheet do not silently create new catalog entries. The match is exact (casing differences are tolerated). If a row's product is not in the catalog, that row is skipped and the rest of the file imports normally. See Preparing the Catalog for the recommended pre-import check.

The Standard License Import page goes deeper on both.

Where the Import Buttons Live

All license imports are accessible from the Licensing → License Dashboard → Licensing Calculation Steps tab, in the Create and Import License Records panel:

  • New Software License — manual single-record entry form
  • Import Adobe Spreadsheet — Adobe-specific multi-step pipeline
  • Standard Import of Software Licenses — the general-purpose tab-separated import

The MLS import is reached separately from Licensing → Import in the navigation menu.

If you are loading SAM data from scratch:

  1. Build your catalog first (Preparing the Catalog). The catalog is the destination for license imports — it must be populated before licenses load successfully.
  2. Pilot with a small file of 10–20 licenses spanning your different products. Confirm every row imports cleanly.
  3. Import the bulk file once the pilot is green.
  4. Recalculate the licensing position (Licensing → Calculate Licensing Position).
  5. Verify on the Licensing Position page that the products you expect to be covered are showing the right seat counts.

What Gets Created on Import

The standard import creates one Asset record per row, with CategoryID = 10 (Software License). The lookups for Location, Custodian, Cost Centre, Department, and Supplier will auto-create those records if the values do not already exist. The Software Product lookup will not auto-create — products must be added to the catalog deliberately so that typos do not generate phantom entries.

After import, the licenses appear immediately in the Licenses query but do not contribute to the licensing position until you recalculate.