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How to Activate Microsoft Defender for Business Licenses on Linux Servers?

Artur Kaim 0 Reputation points
2025-04-15T11:32:33.1533333+00:00

I work for an organization and we are using Microsoft. I have access to admin panels.

We have purchased a number of licenses for "Microsoft Defender for Business" with the idea of using them on some of our Linux-based servers.

We have set up a machine to test it out. Microsoft Defender itself works: it's managed by organization policies, it's visible in Microsoft Security panel and you can get it to do scans etc.

We set it up using this document: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/defender-endpoint/linux-install-manually

But we could not figure out how to get the license for Defender to activate on those machines. All the purchased licenses remain unused.

Is there a way to officially activate purchased licenses on Linux machines?

Btw. I had issues finding a matching tag

Microsoft Security | Intune | Security
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  1. Prathista Ilango 515 Reputation points Microsoft Employee
    2025-10-14T19:04:54.3233333+00:00

    Hello Artur Kaim,

    Hope your issue is resolved. If not, here is a quick clarification that might help,

    1. Microsoft Defender for Business servers is an add-on to Defender for Business
    2. You need one license for each instance of Linux server. You don't need to assign these licenses to users or devices

    Refer to: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/defender-business/get-defender-business?tabs=findpartner#how-to-get-microsoft-defender-for-business-servers

    Hope this helps!

    If you found the information above helpful, please Click Yes. This will assist others in the community who encounter a similar issue, enabling them to quickly find the solution and benefit from the guidance provided.

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