--- title: Apply a Telegraf Enterprise license description: Apply a Telegraf Enterprise license to Telegraf Controller using the LICENSE_FILE_PATH environment variable at startup or by uploading the license through the UI. url: https://docs.influxdata.com/telegraf/controller/telegraf-enterprise/apply-license/ estimated_tokens: 1696 publisher: InfluxData canonical: https://docs.influxdata.com/telegraf/controller/telegraf-enterprise/apply-license/ date: '2026-06-24T05:47:49-07:00' lastmod: '2026-06-24T05:47:49-07:00' --- * Telegraf Enterprise Apply a Telegraf Enterprise license to Telegraf Controller either at startup through an environment variable or at runtime through the user interface. #### Telegraf Enterprise Unlock higher configuration and agent limits, enhanced security features, and official support for Telegraf and Telegraf Controller. [ Upgrade to Enterprise](/telegraf/enterprise/) * [Prerequisites](#prerequisites) * [About the license](#about-the-license) * [Apply a license at startup](#apply-a-license-at-startup) * [Apply a license through the user interface](#apply-a-license-through-the-user-interface) * [Verify the license is active](#verify-the-license-is-active) * [What happens if validation fails](#what-happens-if-validation-fails) ## Prerequisites * A Telegraf Enterprise license issued by InfluxData and provided to you as a “license key.” You can optionally store your license in a file with a `.jwt`or `.txt` file extension. > [!Note] > If you have already purchased Telegraf Enterprise, but have not recieved your > license, [contact InfluxData support](https://support.influxdata.com). * For the UI method: the **Owner** role on the Telegraf Controller instance. ## About the license Telegraf Enterprise licenses are signed JSON Web Tokens (JWTs). The license is text string that you can optionally store in a file with a `.jwt`or `.txt` file extension. Take care not to edit the actual license key. Any change invalidates the cryptographic signature. Telegraf Controller validates licenses in both connected and air-gapped environments. ## Apply a license at startup Save your license key to a `.jwt` or `.txt` file and use the `LICENSE_FILE_PATH`environment variable to apply a license when Telegraf Controller starts. This method is recommended for automated and infrastructure-as-code deployments. 1. **Place the license file on the Telegraf Controller host.** Copy the license file to a path the Telegraf Controller process can read, for example `/etc/telegraf-controller/license.jwt`. 2. **Set the `LICENSE_FILE_PATH` environment variable.** #### systemd #### Add an `Environment=` line to your systemd unit file (typically`/etc/systemd/system/telegraf-controller.service`): ``` [Service] Environment=LICENSE_FILE_PATH=/etc/telegraf-controller/license.jwt ``` Then reload systemd and restart the service: ``` sudo systemctl daemon-reload sudo systemctl restart telegraf-controller ``` Export the variable in your shell before starting Telegraf Controller: ``` export LICENSE_FILE_PATH=/etc/telegraf-controller/license.jwt telegraf_controller --no-interactive ``` Set the environment variable in PowerShell before starting Telegraf Controller: ``` $env:LICENSE_FILE_PATH="C:\ProgramData\telegraf-controller\license.jwt" ./telegraf_controller.exe --no-interactive ``` 3. **Start (or restart) Telegraf Controller.** On startup, Telegraf Controller reads the file, validates the license, and stores it in the database. Successful loads appear in the startup logs with the license ID. #### `LICENSE_FILE_PATH` is read only when the database has no license If the Telegraf Controller database already contains a license,`LICENSE_FILE_PATH` is ignored on subsequent restarts. To replace a license applied this way, either [upload a new license through the UI](#apply-a-license-through-the-user-interface)or [remove the existing license](/telegraf/controller/telegraf-enterprise/manage-license/#remove-a-license)first. If the file is missing, unreadable, or contains an invalid license, Telegraf Controller starts in free-tier mode and logs the validation error. See [Troubleshoot licensing](/telegraf/controller/telegraf-enterprise/troubleshoot/)for the error catalog. ## Apply a license through the user interface Use the Telegraf Controller UI to apply or replace a license at runtime without restarting the application. This method requires the **Owner** role. 1. Sign in to Telegraf Controller as a user with the **Owner** role. 2. Navigate to **Settings \> Enterprise**. Upload your Telegraf Enterprise license to Telegraf Controller 3. Provide the license in one of two ways: * **Drag and drop** the `.jwt` (or `.txt`) license file into the drop zone. * **Paste** the license key (JWT) string into the textarea. 4. Click **Upload license**. Telegraf Controller validates the license immediately. On success, the page refreshes to show the license ID, expiration date, and entitlements. No restart is required. Enterprise features and the new scale limits take effect for all in-flight and subsequent requests. If validation fails, an error message describes the reason. The previously active license (if any) remains in effect. Telegraf Controller never downgrades from a valid license because of a failed upload. ## Verify the license is active **In the UI**, navigate to **Settings \> Enterprise** to view the current license details: license ID, the date the license was loaded, the expiration date, the maximum configurations entitlement, and the maximum reporting agents entitlement. **From the API**, any authenticated user can call `GET /api/license/entitlements`to see the current entitlements and usage. This is the recommended endpoint for status checks in scripts and monitoring dashboards because it doesn’t require the Owner role. ```bash curl -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_TC_API_TOKEN" \ https://telegraf_controller.example.com/api/license/entitlements ``` Replace `YOUR_TC_API_TOKEN`with your Telegraf Controller API token. Example response when a license is active: ```json { "status": "valid", "licenseId": "Xxxx0oXx-Xx0o-00Xx-oXxX-xX0oXx0oXx0o", "expiresAt": "2026-12-31T00:00:00Z", "enterpriseEnabled": true, "entitlements": { "maxConfigs": 100000, "maxAgents": 18000 }, "usage": { "configs": 47, "agents": 183 } } ``` When no license is applied, `status` is `"unlicensed"`, `enterpriseEnabled` is`false`, and the entitlements show the free-tier limits. ## What happens if validation fails Telegraf Controller rejects malformed, unsigned, expired (beyond the grace period), or otherwise invalid licenses. See[Troubleshoot licensing](/telegraf/controller/telegraf-enterprise/troubleshoot/) for the full catalog of validation errors and how to resolve them. #### Related * [View and update a Telegraf Enterprise license](/telegraf/controller/telegraf-enterprise/manage-license/) * [Troubleshoot Telegraf Enterprise licensing](/telegraf/controller/telegraf-enterprise/troubleshoot/) * [Telegraf Controller configuration options](/telegraf/controller/reference/config-options/)