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Adding the License Key to CI/CD Services

Updated on Jun 16, 2026

Use this article to activate your license key in CI/CD services such as GitHub Actions and Azure Pipelines. The goal is to make the Telerik.Licensing package available during automated builds so your build agents can validate the license without manual intervention.

This article covers the recommended environment-variable approach, the Azure DevOps secure-file alternative, and the TelerikLicensing.Register() method for AWS Lambda scenarios.

Before You Start

Before you configure a CI/CD service, make sure that you have:

Downloaded a license key from your Telerik account.
Added the Telerik.Licensing package to the project that uses Telerik Document Processing.
Decided whether you will provide the license through TELERIK_LICENSE, through TELERIK_LICENSE_PATH, or through TelerikLicensing.Register().

The license activation process in a CI/CD environment involves the following steps:

Download a license key from your Telerik account.
Create an environment variable named TELERIK_LICENSE and add your license key as a value.
If you use Azure DevOps and the key is too large for your chosen variable storage, use the secure-files approach instead.
If you run in an AWS Lambda or similar hosted function scenario, use TelerikLicensing.Register() when that model is a better fit.

Choose a License Delivery Approach

Use one of these approaches:

TELERIK_LICENSE: Recommended for most CI/CD services.
TELERIK_LICENSE_PATH: Useful when the license is stored as a file on the build agent.
TelerikLicensing.Register(): Useful for AWS Lambda functions, plugins, class libraries, and other cases where environment-based activation is not the best fit.

Creating an Environment Variable

The recommended way to provide the license key to the Telerik.Licensing NuGet package is to use environment variables. Each CI/CD platform exposes secrets differently, so the sections below focus on the most common setups.

If your CI/CD service is not listed in this article, contact Telerik technical support and adapt the same TELERIK_LICENSE or TELERIK_LICENSE_PATH approach to the secret-management system that your service provides.

GitHub Actions

Use a GitHub secret to store the license key and map it to the TELERIK_LICENSE environment variable during the workflow run.

Create a new Repository Secret or an Organization Secret.
Set the secret name to TELERIK_LICENSE and paste the contents of the license key file as the value.
In the workflow YAML, expose that secret as an environment variable for the build step or job.

yaml

env:
    TELERIK_LICENSE: $

After the environment variable is available to the process that restores, builds, or publishes your project, the licensing package can validate the key automatically.

Azure Pipelines

Use a secret pipeline variable when the value fits inside the supported size limits.

Create a new secret variable named TELERIK_LICENSE.
Paste the contents of the license key file as the variable value.

Always consider the variable-size limit. If you use a Variable Group, the license key will usually exceed the character limit for variable values. To store a long value in a Variable Group, link the value from Azure Key Vault. If you cannot use Key Vault, use a normal secret pipeline variable or the secure-files approach.

Using Secure Files on Azure DevOps

Secure files are an alternative approach for sharing the license key file in Azure Pipelines that does not have the size limitations of environment variables.

You have two options for the file-based approach:

Set the TELERIK_LICENSE_PATH variable.
Add a file named telerik-license.txt to the project directory or a parent directory.

Make sure that you use Telerik.Licensing version 1.4.10 or later.

YAML Pipeline

With a YAML pipeline, use the DownloadSecureFile@1 task and then reference $(name.secureFilePath):

yaml

- task: DownloadSecureFile@1
    name: DownloadTelerikLicenseFile # defining the 'name' is important
    displayName: 'Download Telerik License Key File'
    inputs:
      secureFile: 'telerik-license.txt'
  - task: MSBuild@1
    displayName: 'Build Project'
    inputs:
      solution: 'myapp.csproj'
      platform: Any CPU
      configuration: Release
      msbuildArguments: '/p:RestorePackages=false'
    env:
      # use the name.secureFilePath value to set TELERIK_LICENSE_PATH
      TELERIK_LICENSE_PATH: $(DownloadTelerikLicenseFile.secureFilePath)

Classic Pipeline

With a classic pipeline, use the Download secure file task and a PowerShell script to set TELERIK_LICENSE_PATH to the secure file path.

Add a “Download secure file” task and set the output variable's name to telerikLicense.
Add a PowerShell task and set the TELERIK_LICENSE_PATH variable to the secureFilePath property of the output variable:

Use this script to set the environment variable:

powershell

Write-Host "Setting TELERIK_LICENSE_PATH to $(telerikLicense.secureFilePath)"
Write-Host "##vso[task.setvariable variable=TELERIK_LICENSE_PATH;]$(telerikLicense.secureFilePath)"

Alternatively, copy the file into the repository directory:

powershell

echo "Copying $(telerikLicense.secureFilePath) to $(Build.Repository.LocalPath)/telerik-license.txt"
Copy-Item -Path $(telerikLicense.secureFilePath) -Destination "$(Build.Repository.LocalPath)/telerik-license.txt" -Force

Using TelerikLicensing.Register Method on AWS Lambdas

Starting with version 1.6.7, Telerik.Licensing offers the parameterless TelerikLicensing.Register() method and the TelerikLicensing.Register(...script key...) overload. Use these methods when you run AWS Lambda functions, plugins, or class libraries that use Telerik Document Processing and need to validate the license at runtime.

To use this approach:

Upgrade Telerik.Licensing to version 1.6.7 or later.
Add the package to the function project.
Call TelerikLicensing.Register() in the function body before the Telerik Document Processing code runs.

csharp

namespace LicensingInLambda;
 
public class Function
{
    public string FunctionHandler(string input, ILambdaContext context)
    {
        // Lambda function entry point
 
        // This requires Telerik.Licensing to be added to the function project
        TelerikLicensing.Register();
 
        // TODO: DPL - generate PDF here
 
        var entryAssembly = Assembly.GetEntryAssembly();
        var name = entryAssembly?.GetName();
 
        return $"Entry assembly: {entryAssembly?.GetName()} ... {Class1.DoYourMagic()}";
    }
}

Verify the Setup

After you configure the license in your CI/CD service, run a build that restores and builds the project that references Telerik Document Processing.

Confirm these points:

The CI/CD job can access TELERIK_LICENSE or TELERIK_LICENSE_PATH.
The job completes without license activation errors.
Generated documents do not contain trial warnings for licensed builds.

Troubleshooting

Check these common issues when activation does not work as expected:

The secret is missing at runtime: Confirm that the pipeline step, job, or process actually receives TELERIK_LICENSE.
Azure variable storage rejects the value: Use a normal secret pipeline variable, Azure Key Vault, or secure files.
File-based activation does not work: Verify that TELERIK_LICENSE_PATH points to the actual downloaded file and that the agent can read it.
AWS Lambda still shows trial output: Confirm that TelerikLicensing.Register() runs before any Telerik Document Processing code.
Licensing still fails: Review License Activation Errors and Warnings and Setting Up Your License Key.