With Chef Infra downloads now gated behind a license or serial key, how can a commercial customer configure a license key for Chef Workstation and local Chef testing? Is there a correct way to request and apply the license, since the knife license prompt redirects to the support portal and does not clearly document the process?

Step 1: Identify your license key

For commercial customers, the Chef license key is your Asset ID, which is a 26-character hexadecimal string.
This can be found in the Progress/Chef customer portal or via Progress Support if needed.

Step 2: Add the license key to Chef Workstation

Run the following command on your workstation:

knife license add --chef-license-key <license_key>

This command:

• Validates the license

• Creates a local license file at ~/.chef/licenses.yaml

• Persists the license for future Chef Workstation and local testing operations

Step 3: Verify license configuration

On successful validation, you should see output similar to:

✔ [Success] License validated successfully.
------------------------------------------------------------
License Details
  Asset Name       : Workstation
  License ID       : 6fe1e57f-d8a8-xxxx-989a-5d49xxxxxxxx
  Type             : Commercial
  Status           : Active
  Validity         : 115 Days
  No. Of Units     : 1 Node
----------------------------------------------------------

You can also confirm the license file exists:

cat ~/.chef/licenses.yaml

---
:file_format_version: 4.0.0
:licenses:
- :license_key: xxxxxxxx
  :license_type: :commercial
  :update_time: '2026-01-06T23:13:29+05:30'
:license_server_url: https://services.chef.io/licensing

Step 4: Removing the license (if needed)

To remove the configured license from your workstation, simply delete the file:

rm ~/.chef/licenses.yaml

Once configured, Chef Workstation will be able to authenticate downloads and support local Chef Infra testing without further prompts.

References

• Chef Workstation licensing release notes:
  https://docs.chef.io/release_notes_workstation/#24.12.1073-licensing

• Adding a license key:
  https://docs.chef.io/licensing/license_key/#add-a-license-key

• License acceptance for remote management products:
  https://docs.chef.io/licensing/accept/#remote-management-products