License tasks

Overview

The Tasks tab in Optimization is where requested changes wait for a decision. A task is created when someone adds a recommendation to tasks in Optimization, or requests a change from a user, Microsoft Entra ID group, or license record in Explore. An approver then approves the task, which makes the change in Microsoft 365, or declines it, which makes no change.

You can also hand a task to your IT team by email or a notification channel, generate a PowerShell script to run yourself, and close a task once the change is made outside Tenant Manager.

Business value

Tasks keep every license change visible and accountable. Each task records who asked for it, who decided, when, and why. Nothing changes in Microsoft 365 until someone with the right permission approves it, and you have other ways to make the change when you prefer not to approve it here.

Prerequisites

Before you use the tab, raise at least one task from Optimization or Explore. See Optimization overview.

Required permissions

You need Read on Optimization to view tasks. You need the Approve license tasks permission to approve or decline a task. You need Manage on Optimization to send a notification, generate a PowerShell script, mark a task as done, and move a task back to not done. Tasks that are outside your access are skipped when you generate a script, and the script says why. The Owner and Contributor roles have all of these. The Reader role has Read only. For details, see Roles and permissions in Tenant Manager.

Dependencies

• Permission to change the tenant: to approve a task, Turbo360 must be allowed to make that change in your Microsoft 365 tenant. When it is not, Approve is disabled and the task says what is missing. Ask your Microsoft Entra administrator to grant one of the permissions listed below for that type of change, with admin consent. Turbo360 notices a granted or removed permission within about 5 minutes, and syncing the tenant does not speed this up.
• Notification channels and email templates: to send a task to your IT team, set up channels under Settings > Notification channels, and optional templates under Settings > Email templates.

For each type of change, any one of the Microsoft Graph application permissions in the row is enough.

GroupMember.ReadWrite.All does not cover owner changes. LicenseAssignment.ReadWrite.All does not cover enabling or disabling an account.

How it works

Select the tenant in the tree view, expand License management, select Optimization, and then select the Tasks tab.

Tiles and filters

Four tiles sit above the grid.

The filter pills are All, Awaiting, Done, Declined, and Failed. Awaiting includes tasks that were sent to your IT team, and leaves out purchase changes. Replaced and canceled tasks appear only under All.

Columns and statuses

The grid shows one row for each request. A request can hold several tasks, for example one removal for several people. These columns are shown by default.

The columns hidden by default are Requested by, Note, Status details, and Created at. You can download the grid as "Tenant Manager - Tasks.xlsx". Automations do not raise tasks. They remove licenses on their daily run and record each run in the automation's run history. They can close an open removal task they fulfilled. See License removal automation.

A task moves through these statuses.

Task dialog and ways to close a task

Selecting a row opens the task. It shows the status, the seats affected, the estimated saving, the people, licenses, and Microsoft Entra ID groups involved, who requested and decided it and when, and any note or reason. A Why it failed card explains a failure. A request with several tasks shows an In this request list, where you can approve or decline one entry on its own.

You have four options for each task.

• Approve makes the change in Microsoft 365 right away. You cannot undo it from Tenant Manager. To reverse it, raise the opposite change.
• Decline makes no change. The person who asked must raise it again if it is still needed.
• Trigger notification sends the task to your IT team to make the change by hand. Use it for purchase changes, or when you prefer not to approve here.
• Generate PowerShell script builds a script you review and run yourself.

Steps

The steps below cover the common tasks on the Tasks tab. You start in Optimization for the tenant, with the Tasks tab open.

Find and review a task

This procedure shows the details of a task before you decide.

1. Select a filter pill, for example Awaiting.
2. Select a row to open the task dialog.
3. Read the people, licenses, saving, and note. Use the arrows in the header to step to the next task.

Approve a task

This procedure makes the requested change in Microsoft 365. You need the Approve license tasks permission.

1. Select the Approve icon on the row, or select Approve in the task dialog.
2. Read the confirmation. It says what Turbo360 will do, for example remove a license from a person.
3. Enter a change or ticket reference if you want to record one.
4. Select Continue.

A toast tells you whether the change was made, and gives the reason when Microsoft 365 refuses it. If a task covers several people or licenses, Turbo360 makes the changes one at a time. If any one of them fails, the whole task shows Failed, and Status details lists each change that was made and each that was refused.

You cannot approve a Failed task again. To finish the change, make it yourself and select Mark as done, send it to your IT team with Trigger notification, generate a PowerShell script, or raise the request again.

To decide one entry of a request on its own, use Approve this one or Decline this one in In this request. If only some entries could be approved, the toast says how many were approved, for example "Only 2 of 3 tasks in request 'Remove Power BI Pro from Contoso users' approved", and gives the first reason.

Decline a task

This procedure closes a task without changing anything in Microsoft 365.

1. Select the Decline icon on the row, or select Decline in the task dialog.
2. Enter a reason so the requester knows why.
3. Select Continue.

Send tasks to your IT team

This procedure sends the checked tasks by email or a notification channel, so your IT team makes the changes in the Microsoft 365 admin center. You need Manage on Optimization.

1. Check the tasks, and select Actions > Trigger notification.
2. Enter one or more email addresses in Recipient email address. Separate addresses with commas to send each person their own email. Use semicolons to send one email to everyone.
3. Choose an Email template and enter an Email subject if you want to change them.
4. Tick the channels you want to use.
5. Select Send. Send stays disabled until you enter a valid email address or tick a channel.

On private hosting, there is no recipient field, email template, or email subject. Pick one or more channels.

A task that is Awaiting approval or already Notified moves to Notified, and Status details shows who it was sent to and when. A task in any other status keeps its status, and the send is recorded in user activities. A notified task can still be approved or declined. The message names the task and the tenant, lists the people and licenses, and links back to the task. Once the change is made, mark the task as done.

Generate a PowerShell script

This procedure builds a script for the checked tasks. You review it and run it yourself. You need Manage on Optimization.

1. Check the tasks, and select Actions > Generate PowerShell script.
2. Read the tiles for tasks, people, license changes, and group and account changes.
3. Select Copy or Download. The download is named "tenant-manager-tasks.ps1".
4. Review the commands, and run them in PowerShell with the Microsoft Graph PowerShell SDK version 2 (install it with Install-Module Microsoft.Graph -Scope CurrentUser). Sign in as someone who is allowed to make these changes in Microsoft Entra ID.
5. When the changes are made, mark the tasks as done.

The script does not change the status of any task. Purchase changes are listed as manual steps. A task that is already closed carries a note, so you run its commands only if the change is still wanted. A task that is outside your access is skipped, and the script gives the reason.

The script is grouped by tenant and signs in to each tenant separately. Each change runs as its own step, and a step that fails does not stop the rest. A summary at the end shows how many changes were made, how many failed, and how many were not run. People who are excluded from removals are flagged in a note, but their commands are still included, so review them before you run the script.

Mark a task as done

This procedure closes a task whose change was made outside Tenant Manager. You need Manage on Optimization.

1. Check the tasks, and select Actions > Mark as done.
2. Enter a note, such as a ticket reference.
3. Select Continue.

Turbo360 does not check that the change was made. The next sync shows it once it is made. Status details then reads "Marked as done: your note (by your email address)". If you leave the note empty, the note part reads "the change was made in Microsoft 365".

Move a task back to not done

This procedure reopens a task you closed with Mark as done, when the change was not made after all. You need Manage on Optimization.

1. Check the tasks, and select Actions > Move back to not done.
2. Enter a note if you want to record why.
3. Select Continue.

The task returns to Awaiting approval. You cannot move back a change that Turbo360 applied.

Permission behavior

What you can do on the tab depends on your role.

• Without Approve license tasks, Approve and Decline are disabled. Hover over one to see that you need the task decision permission.
• Without Manage on Optimization, Actions is disabled. That covers Trigger notification, Generate PowerShell script, Mark as done, and Move back to not done. Hover over Actions to see "You are not authorized to perform this operation".
• You can approve a task that you raised yourself.
• Approve and Decline work only on a task that is still waiting for a decision: Awaiting approval or Notified. On a task that is already closed, both are disabled and the tooltip says there is nothing left to decide.
• Decline works for a purchase change and for a tenant where Turbo360 cannot make changes, as long as the task is still waiting for a decision.
• Approve is disabled for a purchase change, because only your IT team can make it.

Example scenario

A teammate at Humongous Insurance has requested the removal of a license from a disabled account. Farah Rahimi, a module owner, opens the Tasks tab for Humongous Claims and selects Awaiting.

Farah opens the task, reads the note, and selects Approve. She types a ticket number and selects Continue. The task becomes Done. A second task is a purchase change for an unused seat. She checks it, selects Trigger notification, and sends it to the IT team. When they confirm, she selects Mark as done.

Limitations

• An approved change takes effect at once and cannot be undone from Tenant Manager.
• Purchase changes cannot be approved. They go to your IT team.
• A task cannot be edited after it is raised.
• Turbo360 does not check that a change you mark as done was made.
• Automations do not raise tasks. Their runs are recorded in the automation's run history.

Troubleshooting

1. Approve is disabled and says that the tenant is connected read-only.
   Cause: Turbo360 does not have permission to make this change in your tenant.
   Fix: ask your Microsoft Entra administrator to grant one of the permissions listed for that type of change with admin consent, or use Trigger notification to send the task to your IT team. Turbo360 notices a granted or removed permission within about 5 minutes, so Approve can stay disabled for a short time after the permission is granted, and enabled for a short time after it is removed. Syncing the tenant does not speed this up.

2. Approve is disabled and says that the tenant's permissions could not be checked.
   Cause: the tenant's client secret is missing or expired, or Microsoft could not be reached.
   Fix: update the tenant's client secret. See Managing Microsoft 365 tenants.

3. A task shows Failed.
   Cause: the change could not be made in Microsoft 365. Microsoft refused it, the tenant's client secret is no longer valid, or the person was excluded from removals after the task was raised.
   Fix: open the task and read Why it failed and Status details. Fix the cause, and then raise the request again, or make the change yourself and select Mark as done. A Failed task cannot be approved again.

4. The notification could not be sent.
   Cause: every delivery failed. The message reads "The notification could not be sent to ... Nothing was changed.", for example because outbound email is not configured for your Turbo360 deployment or a channel was removed.
   Fix: choose a working channel under Settings > Notification channels, or ask your administrator to configure outbound email. The task keeps its status and nothing changes in Microsoft 365.

5. Mark as done or Move back to not done is disabled.
   Cause: none of the checked tasks qualifies. You can mark a task as done while it is Awaiting approval, Ready to notify, Notified, Open, Blocked, or Failed. You can move a task back only if you closed it with Mark as done.
   Fix: check a task in one of those statuses, or one you closed by hand.

6. A task shows Failed with "The client secret has expired" or "The client secret is wrong".
   Cause: Turbo360 could not sign in to the tenant. The secret expired, or the secret ID was copied instead of the secret value.
   Fix: update the tenant's client secret in Tenant Manager, and then raise the change again.

7. A task shows Failed and says that a person is excluded in Tenant Manager.
   Cause: the person was excluded from removals after the task was raised, so nothing is removed from them.
   Fix: clear the exclusion in Explore and raise the request again, or decide that the removal is not wanted.

FAQs

1. Can I approve my own request?
   Yes. A person with the Approve license tasks permission can approve a task they raised.

2. What is the difference between Decline and Mark as done?
   Decline says the change should not be made. Mark as done says the change was made outside Tenant Manager.

3. Can I undo an approved task?
   Not from Tenant Manager. To reverse it, raise the opposite change as a new task.

Related articles

• Optimization overview
• User recommendations
• Group recommendations
• License recommendations
• Swap license recommendations
• License removal automation
• Recommendations and savings
• Explore users
• Notification emails
• Roles and permissions in Tenant Manager