KRE license “Failed to activate” even after admin assigned 4 floating seats (license pool)

[ramiromarcos]

Hi everyone, I need help with KRE activation.

My administrator assigned the available 4 Katalon Runtime Engine floating licenses (it appears as a pool of 4 seats in KatOne).
However, after that, I generated a new API Key from my own account and tried to run KRE from the terminal using this command:

katalonc -noSplash -runMode=console ^
  -projectPath="C:\Users\rmarcosm\Katalon Studio\EmailTest\test.prj" ^
  -testSuitePath="Test Suites/TS_HelloWorld" ^
  -browserType="Chrome" ^
  -apiKey=""

But Katalon still shows:

Failed to activate with API key  
Failed to activate with Katalon Runtime Engine license  

I’m confused about how floating licenses work.
Do floating KRE licenses need to be assigned to specific users?
Or should any user inside the organization be able to consume one seat automatically when running KRE?

Questions:

1. What else should the admin configure so my API Key can activate KRE?

2. Does the API Key need to be created inside the same organization that owns the floating KRE licenses?

3. Is there any additional configuration required in KatOne/TestOps for users to use floating KRE seats?

Any guidance would be very helpful. Thanks!

[dineshh]

Floating KRE licenses are tied to your org/account, not to a specific machine, but your user must be allowed to use that pool and your API key must belong to the same org that owns those licenses. If either of those is wrong, KRE activation will fail with “Failed to activate with API key / KRE license”.​

Key points and what to check:

1. API key and organization must match

• The API key you pass with -apiKey must be:

  • Generated from the same Katalon account/org that owns the KRE floating licenses (in KatOne/TestOps).​

• Floating behavior:

  • Licenses live in a shared pool at account/org level.
  • Any allowed user in that org can “grab” a seat when running KRE via API key, up to the number of seats purchased.​

• Ask the admin to:

  • Open Organization → Licenses → Katalon Runtime Engine.
  • Confirm that:
    • There are 4 floating seats.
    • Your org has dedicated licenses or access to the pool.
    • “Assigned User”/“Available” shows that your user can actually consume a seat.​

• Do not leave -apiKey=“” empty and ensure there are no extra spaces or hidden characters.

If after these checks activation still fails, share with your admin:
Raise a ticket with dedicated Katalon Support portal/email

[ramiromarcos]

Hi, thanks a lot for your explanation.

I have two follow-up questions so I can properly validate the setup on our side:

1. How can we verify if a specific user actually has permission to consume a seat from the KRE floating license pool?

Is there a screen or menu in KatOne / TestOps where the admin can confirm:

• whether the user is part of the organization that owns the pool,

• and whether that user is allowed to use the KRE floating seats?

2. How can I generate an API Key inside the correct organization?

Right now I am not sure if my current API Key was created inside the org that holds the KRE licenses.

Is there a way to explicitly choose the organization when generating an API Key, or a way to confirm in which org the key belongs?

3. If possible, could you share a short video or step-by-step guide showing where the admin needs to check user permissions for the floating pool, and where I should generate the API Key so it matches the correct organization?

This would help us ensure everything is configured correctly.

Thanks again for your support!

[ramiromarcos]

Hi, any response? Thanks

[quan.trinh]

Hi @ramiromarcos , we do apologize for the delay in responding. I would like to answer your questions as below:

1. How can we verify if a specific user actually has permission to consume a seat from the KRE floating license pool?

=> As long as you’re belong to a paid account / organization which contains the KRE floating license, you will be able to consume the KRE licenses from that account / organization. To verify this, your Katalon admin can navigate to TestOps, look for User Management tab, whoever in this list are supposed to consume the KRE licenses.

2. How can I generate an API Key inside the correct organization?

=> You don’t need to create an API key inside any organization, the API keys are tied to your specified Katalon email account, as long as your Katalon account is belong to any organization that means with the created API key from your Katalon account, you can use that API key to verify the KRE license.

3. If possible, could you share a short video or step-by-step guide showing where the admin needs to check user permissions for the floating pool, and where I should generate the API Key so it matches the correct organization?

=> Please note that only the Account Admin can have visibility to access the License Management section.

Step 1: You can go to platform.katalon.com and choose your proper account.

Step 2: Then choose “License Management”

Step 3: Choose “KRE” tab

Step 4: Finally, you’ll see all information about your KRE licenses.

To verify this, your Katalon admin can navigate to TestOps, look for User Management tab, whoever in this list are supposed to consume the KRE licenses.

To create API key, please click to your profile icon > User Settings > KATALON API KEY > Create API key.

*Notes:

1. Please ensure you declare your -apikey”xxx-xxx-xxx-xxxx” and orgID if you have assigned the KRE licenses to your organization. For example: -apikey”xxx-xxx-xxx-xxxx” -orgID=”12345”
2. One license allows any enabled user one active session at a time.
3. To run n execution sessions on the same machine, you have to consume n licenses.

I hope it can be helpful for you. In case you still need any assistance, please do not hesitate to submit a case for us on our Support Portal - an inclusive support channel for all Enterprise customers.

Thank you,

Chris

[Elly_Tran]

Hi @ramiromarcos,

Does the answer from @quan.trinh help you? If yes, please mark it as solution. If no, feel free to provide us more information so that we can support better. Thank you

[nghi.phan]

Please kindly read KRE license “Failed to activate” even after admin assigned 4 floating seats (license pool) - #8 by quan.trinh our workaround here if you encounter similar issue

[ramiromarcos]

Hi, sorry for the delay. I’m going to try the solutions you shared today and I’ll let you know if it works. Thanks!