I have Azure DevOps Server '19 installed for our company. We have Microsoft subscription and licenses for Visual Studio, not sure whether we have Azure DevOps licenses though. I cannot find this information within neither the application nor the mgmt console. I don't want the system to suddenly stop working after some trial license expires, so I want to have the licensing sorted before onboarding onto AzDO.
Note: Azure DevOps Server was previously named Visual Studio Team Foundation Server.
In earlier versions, TFS included code which required a valid product key to be present in order for the server to start up.
Since TFS 2015.2, TFS no longer distinguish the versions in this way, so there is no product key left on the TFS Admin console Product Information Summary page to display. And the TfsConfig License command is not available since TFS 2015.2.
If your TFS is in a trial, it will not stop work immediately. If your trial expires, you will see a banner in most pages of the TFS Web UI. You would have enough time to complete trial. After you get the trial expiration warning message, you could select the 'complete the trial of my TFS Deployment'. There does not have a field to let you input the TFS Key.
What's more, when the trial is completed, all users should be assigned an appropriate access level based on the licenses they have. An unlimited number of users who only need access to work items can be added as Stakeholders and will not require any license. Most other users who access your server will require a license.
To license TFS server, you’ll need a TFS server license and a Windows operating system license (Windows Server is best) for each machine running TFS, plus a client access license for each person connecting to TFS. Client access licenses (CALs) aren’t required for people who just access work items – assign them “Stakeholder” access, which is free.
Extensions to TFS such as Test Manager, Package Management, and Private Pipelines require an additional purchase. Some TFS Extensions are included with Visual Studio Enterprise subscriptions and many others are free. Paid extensions can also be purchased monthly, no Visual Studio subscription is required.
Besides, unlike the Classic Purchasing above, if you don't want to buy a MSDN subscription. Suggest you to use Modern Purchasing.
The most advantage: No need to make a 3-year purchasing commitment for TFS—you can pay month-to-month and cancel any time. For example: Buy VSTS for TFS CALs. When you buy VSTS users (starting at $6/month), those same users have a TFS CAL and can connect to any TFS in your organization. If those users also need TFS extensions like Test Manager or Package Management, or if you need additional Private Pipelines for your team, you can purchase these through the Visual Studio Marketplace. All VSTS charges are month-to-month. See detailed instructions.
For more info you could take a look at this official doc: Team Foundation Server Pricing
Lastly, If you want to double confirm this and know more information about TFS license, you could call 1-800-426-9400, Monday through Friday, 6:00 A.M. to 6:00 P.M. (Pacific Time) to speak directly to a Microsoft licensing specialist, and you can get more detail information from there. Worldwide customers can use the Guide to Worldwide Microsoft Licensing Sites to find contact information in their locations: http://www.microsoft.com/licensing/
Hope it's clearly!