Managing Visual Studio subscriptions

I'm a new administrator. Where is everything I need to know?

The administrator webpage has all your updates, videos and important links. Then, written guidance on being an administrator is in our documentation.

How do I manage administrators?

If you're a Super Admin, you can add or remove other Super Admins or Administrators. Administrators can only add or remove subscribers and don't see the Manage Administrators tab in the Admin Portal.

To manage administrators:

1. Select the Manage Administrators tab at the top of the page on manage.visualstudio.com.
2. To add:

• Select Add and type the name and email address of the person you would like to add
• Select the appropriate agreement from the drop down menu.
• Select the language that they should receive their welcome email in.
• Select Super Admin.

3. To remove, select the person you would like to remove and select Delete.

Administrators manage Cloud subscriptions in the Azure subscription used to purchase the cloud subscriptions. The owner of the subscription is automatically assigned as the first administrator.

To assign more administrators:

1. Connect to the Azure portal at portal.azure.com
2. Sign in with the account you used to purchase the Visual Studio Cloud subscriptions.
3. In the left navigation pane, scroll down to  Cost Management + Billing.
4. In the My subscriptions  list, choose the Azure subscription that you used to make the purchase.
5. Select Access control, which is located near the top of the list in the left navigation pane.
6. Select the  Add tab at the top of the page.
7. In the fly-out pane on the right, select on the name of the subscriber you wish to make an administrator.
8. Select on the  Role drop-down at the top of the pane, scroll down, and select  User Access Administrator.
9. Select Save.

Learn more about administration of cloud subscriptions.

How do I assign Visual Studio subscriptions?

You can assign subscriptions to your end users one at a time, or using the Bulk add feature to quickly and easily upload a larger number of subscribers at a time.

To assign subscriptions individually:

1. Select the Manage Subscribers tab at the top of the page on manage.visualstudio.com
2. Select Add and type the name and email address of the user you'd like to assign a subscription to.
   1. If your organization is using Microsoft Entra ID, the name field searches to find people in your current directory. You can select from the search results, or add someone manually.
3. If you want the subscriber to have access to software downloads when they sign into the Visual Studio Subscriptions Portal, make sure to leave the downloads toggle enabled in the Download settings section.
4. Complete the Communication Preferences section so that we know what language to send your subscribers assignment email in.
5. If you'd like to add any notes associated with the assignment, use the Reference selection.
6. Select Add at the bottom of the fly-out panel to complete your subscription assignment. Your subscriber receives an email and can begin using their Visual Studio subscription immediately. There's no activation needed from your subscriber.

To Bulk assign subscriptions:

1. Select the Manage Subscribers tab at the top of the page on manage.visualstudio.com.
2. Select Bulk add, download the Excel template, and save a local copy.
3. All fields are required, except for the Reference field.
   1. Ensure that none of the form fields contain commas.
   2. Remove spaces before and after form fields.
   3. Ensure names don't contain extra spaces between two-part first or last names. (A two-part first name such as 'Maggie May' should be entered as 'MaggieMay').
4. Return to manage.visualstudio.com, select Bulk add, and upload your saved copy of the Excel template.
5. When the upload is successful you see a confirmation page, and your subscriber list populated with your new subscribers. Your subscribers receive an email and can begin using their Visual Studio subscription immediately (there's no activation needed from your subscribers).

Read more information about assigning subscriptions in the Visual Studio Subscriptions Administrator portal to learn more about quickly and easily assigning subscriptions. Learn more about managing Visual Studio subscriptions with GitHub Enterprise.

What is the GitHub Enterprise setup process?

GitHub Enterprise is set up and managed separately from Visual Studio subscriptions. Following a Visual Studio subscription with GitHub Enterprise purchase, a GitHub Enterprise account setup process is initiated in parallel with (but separate from) establishing an agreement in manage.visualstudio.com. Establishing this GitHub Enterprise account may take some time.

After your company has set up a GitHub Enterprise account, subscribers with Visual Studio subscriptions with GitHub Enterprise receive an email from GitHub notifying them that their Visual Studio subscriptions have been linked. After subscribers receive this email, they can reach out to their GitHub organization administrator to receive an invitation to the appropriate organization.

Read more about managing Visual Studio subscriptions with GitHub Enterprise. Reference subscriber documentation for more details on the GitHub Enterprise set up process.

What is the difference between a Sign-in email address and a Notification email address?

Individuals who are assigned a subscription receive periodic communications from the Visual Studio team, including an email letting them know they have been assigned a subscription. If these emails should be sent to a separate email address than that which they should sign into the Visual Studio Subscriptions Portal or VS IDE you can add a notification email address when adding a subscriber, or when editing an existing subscriber.

I have a new agreement. How do I move my subscribers?

You can export subscribers from your previous agreement and add them to your new agreement using the Bulk add button.

Note: your subscribers receive an email when the new subscription is assigned to them. Learn more about exporting subscribers and using the Bulk add feature. If you have more than 200 subscribers on your previous agreement, our support team can assist you. Select Account, Subscription, and Billing Support and select your country/region. Depending on your location, support may be available via email, chat, or phone.

Why is the portal not showing the correct number of Visual Studio subscriptions for my agreement?

If you're not seeing the correct number of subscriptions for your agreement, you may have the wrong agreement selected in the portal. Select the drop-down in the top left to see all available agreements. If you're still seeing an incorrect number of subscriptions our support team can assist you. Select Account, Subscription, and Billing Support and select your country/region. Depending on your location, support may be available via email, chat, or phone.

How can I select an end date for a subscription?

Subscriptions are always assigned using the best available end date. For example, if your agreement has orders with an end date of June 20, 2020 and another with an end date of June 20, 2021, the first subscription to be assigned from those two available in the first order will end on in 2021. If you have a trusted agreement that's overallocated, the end date is three years from the date the subscription was assigned.

Why does my SLP agreement have an end date, and why is it sometimes different for my subscribers?

SLP and MPSA agreements don't expire, however our portal currently requires an end date when provisioning the agreement. We currently use an end date of 20+ years in the future for each order under your SLP. If you have multiple orders under your SLP agreement from different days, they have different end dates.

What is the GitHub setup process?

GitHub Enterprise is set up and managed separately from Visual Studio subscriptions. Following a Visual Studio subscription with GitHub Enterprise purchase, a GitHub Enterprise account setup process is initiated in parallel with (but separate from) establishing an agreement in the Management portal. Establishing this GitHub Enterprise account may take some time.
After your company has set up a GitHub Enterprise account, subscribers who have been assigned Visual Studio subscriptions with GitHub Enterprise will receive an email from GitHub notifying them that their Visual Studio subscriptions have been linked. They can then reach out to their GitHub organization administrator for an invitation to the appropriate organization.

Read more about managing Visual Studio subscriptions with GitHub Enterprise. Reference subscriber documentation for another details on the GitHub Enterprise set-up process.

Why am I not seeing an agreement while logged into the portal?

If you're logged into the subscription management portal and you don't see one of your agreements:

1. Verify you’re signed in with the correct email address and tenant in the upper right-hand corner of the portal page header.
2. Ask a super admin to verify that you're using the right sign-in address, you're shown as an admin, and the agreement isn't expired. If none of these simple solutions solve the issue, contact support to verify you're an admin on the agreement.