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1.2.2. Activation Keys
Activation keys are a way to preconfigure subscriptions for a system before it is registered (or, when used with provisioning systems like kickstart, before the system is even created). This grants a great deal of flexibility and control to administrators over which subscriptions to attach to new systems, while simplifying the registration process for users.
1.2.2.1. The Environment: Preconfigured Systems
Section 1.2.1, “Direct Subscription Assignments” summarizes the benefits of using Subscription Asset Manager in general, and those same benefits apply, generally, to using Subscription Asset Manager to create activation keys.
In additional to the organization framework that Subscription Asset Manager can create using Subscription Asset Manager to create activation keys makes the overall registration and subscription process simpler, almost transparent, for users. They can pass the activation key to register the system and have all of the configured subscriptions apply and the user never has to know what those subscriptions are or what quantities are required.
Preconfiguring systems allows administrators to define system configuration consistently. For example, using activation keys and pre-configured subscriptions is common when supplying company-configured laptops or workstations to employees.
Activation keys create a set of subscriptions that can be attached to a system, without attaching them directly to a system. The activation key can be associated with a system group, within the Subscription Asset Manager configuration. From there, it can be used with any system. This results in several benefits for both users and administrators:
- Administrators have control over which subscriptions are installed to a system without having to create and configure every system first.
- Because activation keys are created within Subscription Asset Manager and do not rely on system settings or architecture, the target system does not have to exist yet.
- Users can register their system in a single step and automatically have all the proper subscriptions attached, without having to select and attach subscriptions manually and potentially miss a subscription.
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