Upgrading to the ArcGIS License Server 2022.0 or later breaks the trusted storage causing the existing licenses to become invalid

Description

Note:
The issue only occurs on virtual machines in the Microsoft Azure Cloud environment.

After installing the ArcGIS License Manager 2021.1 or lower and authorizing it with Concurrent Use licenses, the Availability folder displays all the licenses authorized on the machine. The numbers of licenses authorized are displayed under the Total column and the Available column. The number under the Available column indicates how many of the total licenses are available to be checked out.  

After upgrading to ArcGIS License Manager 2022.0 or later and going back to the Availability folder, notice that the value is “0” for all licenses under the Available column. The licenses were authorized but there are no licenses to check out.  

Cause

ArcGIS License Manager uses a third-party component called FlexNet Licensing Service. For ArcGIS License Manager 2022.0, we upgraded the license service from version 11.18.2.0 to 11.18.3.0 to address existing bugs and related issues. Unfortunately, the upgrade included a change in the FlexNet Licensing Service and how it detects and reads the unique machine number (UMN), one of the components used by the trusted storage to identify the machine. This change also affected the Cloud Instance ID, another component used to identify the machine. The change broke the trusted storage and the existing licenses became invalid as a result.

Steps to Reproduce

1. Install the ArcGIS License Manager 2021.1 or earlier version.
2. Authorize with ArcMap or ArcGIS Pro licenses.
3. Go to the Availability folder and verify there are a number of licenses listed under the Available column, indicating they are active and ready to be checked out.
4. Upgrade to ArcGIS License Manager 2022.0 or later.
5. Go back to the Availability folder.  Notice the number of Available licenses were replaced by the value No, indicating that there are no licenses to be checked out.

Solution or Workaround

1. Downgrade and then upgrade the license manager.
   1. Downgrade to the previous version of the license manager.
   2. Deauthorize the existing licenses.
   3. Upgrade to ArcGIS License Manager 2022.0 or later.
   4. Re-authorize the licenses.
2. Contact Esri Technical Support. An analyst will walk you through the process to:
   1. Fill out the request to Recover Lost Licenses.
   2. Remove all contents in the trusted storage.
   3. Authorize with the new Concurrent Use licenses.