You can now move Chromebook management licenses between devices

Google has just updated its licensing model for Chromebooks and other Chrome OS devices. If you want to enrol a Chromebook in your Google Apps domain, you need to buy a Chromebook management license. Licenses can be bought through Google Apps Certified Retailers, and once applied to your domain give you centralised control over your fleet of Chromebooks. It’s a bit like Group Policy for Chromebooks.

Today Google has updated the rules for its management licensing. The new system allows you to deprovision Chromebooks from your Google Apps domain and move the license to another device. This means you can now reuse a Chromebook management license for another device when it is disposed of. This is limited, however, devices of the same model.

From Google:

In October, we announced a change to the license model that now gives you the ability to revoke and reassign device licenses. When you encounter a malfunctioning Chrome device that must be replaced, you can simply deprovision that device, freeing up its license and enrol its replacement. Note: Perpetual license transfers should be only used for same model replacements and will be audited per the license policy.

If you currently have the Forced Re-Enrolment feature enabled (it’s on by default), you should deprovision your enrolled devices before you submit them for repair, sell, or give them to another party. Forced Re-Enrolment ensures your enrolled devices remain in a managed state and are unusable without credentials for your domain. By deprovisioning your device, it ensures that repair centres can complete the necessary tests during the return process, or the new owner can use the devices you resell.

How to deprovision a Chromebook

1. Login to your Google Apps admin panel.
2. Click Device Management > Chrome > Devices — from this page you can also see how many free licenses you have.
3. Select the Chromebook you wish to remove from your domain.
4. Select Deprovision.
   

The license from the deprovisioned device will now be available to enrol a new Chromebook.