ISV keys, licenses and certificates

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Posted on by Arcadi

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Hello, I'm having a hard time understanding the concept of configuration keys and certificates.

So lets say I'm working developing a generic solution that may be sold to different clients. Some of them may buy the solution per life, others on a monthly basis and some others on a yearly basis.

If in my solution I have a configuration Key, a license code and a certificate (signed by a third party...) should I have this certificate to expire in one month, and then constantly ship new solutions to those clients who renew their license? Or should I branch the solution just to have multiple certificates?

Maybe I'm missing something, any help will be appreciated.

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André Arnaud de Cal... 305,455 Super User 2026 Season 1 on at

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Hi Arcadi,

The code signing certificate is used to generate a license key which can be validated when a customer imports the license. Preferably, the code signing certificate will be generated e.g. once per 3 years and will be shipped within the solution, linked to the license code.

While generating the license, you can specify an expiry date for the license key. In that way, you can manage the validity period. Note that a monthly renewal of the license is a cumbersome process for customers as it would require a deployment on a production environment using an all-in-one deployable package including all ISV solutions, customizations and the new license. That would require preparation of a new package using a build pipeline at the customers' DevOps and have a validation on UAT and downtime on production.

You can read more about the license generation and expiry date on the next page: Independent software vendor (ISV) licensing - Finance & Operations | Dynamics 365 | Microsoft Learn

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Arcadi 796 on at

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Thanks André,

That's the guide I followed to generate a test certificate but I wasn't sure how the process worker in the real world aka production. I see now I shouldn't worry too much about monthly licenses and maintaining them for different periods.

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CU27011421-0 on at

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You’re mixing concerns that should be kept separate.

Configuration keys are for enabling or disabling features. Not for license duration.

License codes should handle monthly, yearly, or lifetime entitlement and expiry

Certificates are only for security and trust (signing, encryption). They should not expire with subscriptions.

Best practice is to use one long-valid certificate, and handle renewals through license validation at runtime (license file, database, or license server).

This avoids shipping new builds, branching solutions, or reissuing certificates for every renewal.

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