Under group-based licensing, membership of a group grants a licence. Add the user to
the group and the platform assigns and provisions; remove them and it deassigns.
Nobody assigns licences by hand.
When it fails, it fails quietly — the user exists, signs in, and simply has no
services.
Assignment errors
The assignment error is recorded against the user and against the group. Read it
before doing anything else.
| Error | Meaning | Fix |
|---|---|---|
UsageLocationNotAllowed | Usage location is not set on the user | Set it; assignment retries automatically |
CountNotAvailable | Not enough licences of that SKU remain | Buy more, or reclaim from leavers |
MutuallyExclusiveViolation | Conflicts with another assigned SKU | Remove the conflicting licence or plan |
ProhibitedInUsageLocation | The service is not available in that country | Correct the usage location |
DependencyServiceNotEnabled | A required service plan is disabled | Enable the prerequisite plan |
Usage location is the one you will see most. Microsoft 365 licences cannot be
assigned without it, because service availability is country-dependent. Accounts
created by an HR-driven flow normally get it populated automatically; accounts
created by hand, out of hours, in a hurry, frequently do not.
Diagnosing "the new starter has no mailbox"
- User properties — are any licences assigned? Is usage location set?
- Group memberships — is the user in the licensing group, and does the group
membership show an assignment error?
- Mailbox properties — does a mailbox object exist at all, or has one never
been created?
If the user is in the group and has no licence, licensing did not fail to happen —
it happened and was refused. Read the refusal.
Fix the cause, not the symptom
Assigning a direct licence to the user will provision services and close the ticket
today. It also creates a second, independent assignment that will not follow them
when they change teams, will not be removed when they leave the group, and will
quietly consume a licence after they are offboarded.
Set the usage location instead. Group-based licensing re-evaluates automatically
within minutes and assigns through the group, which is where it belongs.
Provisioning is not instant
Once the licence lands, services provision at different speeds. The mailbox usually
appears within a few minutes; Teams can take up to an hour to catch up. Tell the
user that number, and check back with them rather than closing on the licence
appearing.
Related
- New starter checklist
- Mailbox quotas and archiving