diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index cbfb513..bcbf651 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -4,31 +4,39 @@ Production installer for the Triton Manage Server. Container-based (Docker or Po
 
 ## Install
 
-```bash
-curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/primatekuntech/triton-install/main/get.sh | sudo bash
+Your vendor provides a licence bundle — a folder containing two files:
+
+```
+triton-bundle/
+├── license.lic   # signed offline licence token
+└── pubkey        # vendor's Ed25519 public key
 ```
 
-That's it. The setup wizard walks you through the rest.
+Point the installer at the bundle:
+
+```bash
+curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/primatekuntech/triton-install/main/get.sh | sudo bash -s -- --license-file /path/to/triton-bundle/license.lic
+```
 
 ## Setup wizard
 
 After install, open `http://localhost:8082` and complete the wizard:
 
 1. Set your manage server name
-2. Enter your Triton licence server URL and licence ID — or upload an air-gap licence file
-3. Create the admin account
+2. Create the admin account
 
 ## Optional flags
 
 Pass flags after `--`:
 
 ```bash
-curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/primatekuntech/triton-install/main/get.sh | sudo bash -s -- [flags]
+curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/primatekuntech/triton-install/main/get.sh | sudo bash -s -- --license-file /path/to/license.lic [flags]
 ```
 
 | Flag | Description |
 |------|-------------|
-| `--license-server-url URL` | Vendor's License Server URL. Public key is fetched automatically. |
+| `--license-file PATH` | Path to `license.lic` from your vendor bundle. **Required.** |
+| `--license-server-url URL` | License Server URL for ongoing heartbeats (optional, omit for air-gap). |
 | `--gateway-hostname HOST` | Agent mTLS hostname (defaults to current FQDN). |
 | `--manage-host-ip IP` | Host LAN IP for "+ This machine" auto-registration. |
 | `--port PORT` | Host port for the web UI (default: `8082`). |
diff --git a/manage-server/env.template b/manage-server/env.template
index 534dc09..4b35b04 100644
--- a/manage-server/env.template
+++ b/manage-server/env.template
@@ -54,12 +54,17 @@ TLS_CERT_HOST_DIR=/etc/triton/tls
 # ─── Sessions ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 TRITON_MANAGE_SESSION_TTL=24h
 
-# ─── License server ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────
-# Vendor's Ed25519 public key (64 hex chars). Required — get this from
-# your Triton vendor. The manage server refuses to start without it.
+# ─── Licence ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+# Offline licence token from your vendor bundle (license.lic). Set by
+# install.sh automatically — do not edit manually.
+TRITON_LICENSE_KEY=
+
+# Vendor's Ed25519 public key (64 hex chars). Set by install.sh from the
+# pubkey file in your vendor bundle — do not edit manually.
 TRITON_MANAGE_LICENSE_SERVER_PUBKEY=
 
-# Vendor's License Server URL. Required for activation and heartbeat.
+# Vendor's License Server URL. Optional — enables ongoing heartbeats and
+# binary sync. Leave empty for fully air-gapped deployments.
 TRITON_LICENSE_SERVER_URL=
 
 # ─── Image ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
diff --git a/manage-server/install.sh b/manage-server/install.sh
index 1fbcc96..77660a0 100755
--- a/manage-server/install.sh
+++ b/manage-server/install.sh
@@ -5,11 +5,16 @@
 # Container-based via Podman or Docker (auto-detected).
 #
 # Usage:
-#   sudo bash install.sh
+#   sudo bash install.sh --license-file /path/to/bundle/license.lic
 #
-# Flags (all optional):
-#   --license-server-url URL        Vendor's License Server URL. The public key is
-#                                   fetched automatically from the license server.
+# The license bundle (provided by your vendor) contains two files:
+#   license.lic   — signed offline licence token
+#   pubkey        — vendor's Ed25519 public key (64 hex chars)
+# Both files must be in the same directory.
+#
+# Flags:
+#   --license-file PATH             Path to license.lic from your vendor bundle. Required.
+#   --license-server-url URL        License Server URL for ongoing heartbeats (optional).
 #   --gateway-hostname HOST         Agent mTLS hostname (defaults to current FQDN).
 #   --manage-host-ip IP             Host LAN IP — used for "+ This machine".
 #   --port PORT                     Host port for the web UI (default: 8082).
@@ -24,6 +29,7 @@ info() { printf '[manage-server] %s\n' "$*"; }
 die()  { printf '[manage-server] error: %s\n' "$*" >&2; exit 1; }
 
 # ── arg parsing ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+LICENSE_FILE=""
 LICENSE_SERVER_URL=""
 GATEWAY_HOST=""
 HOST_IP=""
@@ -32,6 +38,7 @@ IMAGE=""
 NO_TLS=0
 while [[ $# -gt 0 ]]; do
     case "$1" in
+        --license-file)          LICENSE_FILE="$2";       shift 2 ;;
         --license-server-url)    LICENSE_SERVER_URL="$2"; shift 2 ;;
         --gateway-hostname)      GATEWAY_HOST="$2";       shift 2 ;;
         --manage-host-ip)        HOST_IP="$2";            shift 2 ;;
@@ -45,6 +52,18 @@ done
 
 [[ $EUID -eq 0 ]] || die "must run as root"
 
+# ── validate license bundle ──────────────────────────────────────────────
+[[ -n "$LICENSE_FILE" ]] || die "--license-file is required (path to license.lic from your vendor bundle)"
+[[ -f "$LICENSE_FILE" ]] || die "license file not found: $LICENSE_FILE"
+
+BUNDLE_DIR="$(cd -- "$(dirname -- "$LICENSE_FILE")" && pwd)"
+PUBKEY_FILE="$BUNDLE_DIR/pubkey"
+[[ -f "$PUBKEY_FILE" ]] || die "pubkey file not found: $PUBKEY_FILE (must be in the same directory as license.lic)"
+
+LICENSE_TOKEN="$(cat "$LICENSE_FILE")"
+LICENSE_PUBKEY="$(cat "$PUBKEY_FILE" | tr -d '[:space:]')"
+[[ ${#LICENSE_PUBKEY} -eq 64 ]] || die "pubkey file must contain a 64 hex-char Ed25519 public key"
+
 # ── runtime detection ────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 if command -v podman-compose >/dev/null 2>&1; then
     COMPOSE=(podman-compose)
@@ -78,23 +97,19 @@ if [[ ! -f "$ENV_FILE" ]]; then
         -e "s|^TRITON_MANAGE_WORKER_KEY=.*|TRITON_MANAGE_WORKER_KEY=$WORKER_KEY|" \
         -e "s|^TRITON_VAULT_KEY=.*|TRITON_VAULT_KEY=$VAULT_KEY|" \
         "$ENV_FILE"
-    info "vault key generated (PostgreSQL AES-256-GCM)"
+    info "secrets generated"
 
-    if [[ -n "$LICENSE_SERVER_URL" ]]; then
-        sed -i "s|^TRITON_LICENSE_SERVER_URL=.*|TRITON_LICENSE_SERVER_URL=$LICENSE_SERVER_URL|" "$ENV_FILE"
-        info "fetching public key from license server..."
-        LICENSE_PUBKEY=$(curl -fsSL "${LICENSE_SERVER_URL}/api/v1/license/pubkey" \
-            | grep -o '"pubkey":"[^"]*"' | cut -d'"' -f4) \
-            || die "failed to fetch public key from ${LICENSE_SERVER_URL}"
-        [[ ${#LICENSE_PUBKEY} -eq 64 ]] \
-            || die "license server returned an invalid public key (expected 64 hex chars)"
-        sed -i "s|^TRITON_MANAGE_LICENSE_SERVER_PUBKEY=.*|TRITON_MANAGE_LICENSE_SERVER_PUBKEY=$LICENSE_PUBKEY|" "$ENV_FILE"
-        info "public key configured"
-    fi
-    [[ -n "$GATEWAY_HOST"       ]] && sed -i "s|^TRITON_MANAGE_GATEWAY_HOSTNAME=.*|TRITON_MANAGE_GATEWAY_HOSTNAME=$GATEWAY_HOST|"             "$ENV_FILE"
-    [[ -n "$HOST_IP"            ]] && sed -i "s|^TRITON_MANAGE_HOST_IP=.*|TRITON_MANAGE_HOST_IP=$HOST_IP|"                                   "$ENV_FILE"
-    [[ -n "$PORT"               ]] && sed -i "s|^TRITON_MANAGE_HOST_PORT=.*|TRITON_MANAGE_HOST_PORT=$PORT|"                                  "$ENV_FILE"
-    [[ -n "$IMAGE"              ]] && sed -i "s|^TRITON_MANAGE_IMAGE=.*|TRITON_MANAGE_IMAGE=$IMAGE|"                                         "$ENV_FILE"
+    sed -i \
+        -e "s|^TRITON_MANAGE_LICENSE_SERVER_PUBKEY=.*|TRITON_MANAGE_LICENSE_SERVER_PUBKEY=$LICENSE_PUBKEY|" \
+        -e "s|^TRITON_LICENSE_KEY=.*|TRITON_LICENSE_KEY=$LICENSE_TOKEN|" \
+        "$ENV_FILE"
+    info "licence configured"
+
+    [[ -n "$LICENSE_SERVER_URL" ]] && sed -i "s|^TRITON_LICENSE_SERVER_URL=.*|TRITON_LICENSE_SERVER_URL=$LICENSE_SERVER_URL|" "$ENV_FILE"
+    [[ -n "$GATEWAY_HOST"       ]] && sed -i "s|^TRITON_MANAGE_GATEWAY_HOSTNAME=.*|TRITON_MANAGE_GATEWAY_HOSTNAME=$GATEWAY_HOST|" "$ENV_FILE"
+    [[ -n "$HOST_IP"            ]] && sed -i "s|^TRITON_MANAGE_HOST_IP=.*|TRITON_MANAGE_HOST_IP=$HOST_IP|" "$ENV_FILE"
+    [[ -n "$PORT"               ]] && sed -i "s|^TRITON_MANAGE_HOST_PORT=.*|TRITON_MANAGE_HOST_PORT=$PORT|" "$ENV_FILE"
+    [[ -n "$IMAGE"              ]] && sed -i "s|^TRITON_MANAGE_IMAGE=.*|TRITON_MANAGE_IMAGE=$IMAGE|" "$ENV_FILE"
 
     info ".env created at $ENV_FILE"
     info "  back this up — it contains the JWT signing key, worker key, and vault key"
@@ -117,7 +132,6 @@ HOST_PORT=${HOST_PORT:-8082}
 info "waiting for manage server to become healthy on :${HOST_PORT}..."
 for i in $(seq 1 30); do
     CODE=$(curl -s -o /dev/null -w "%{http_code}" "http://localhost:${HOST_PORT}/" || echo "000")
-    # 302 (redirect to setup or login) means the server is up.
     if [[ "$CODE" == "302" || "$CODE" == "200" ]]; then
         info "manage server is up"
         break
@@ -128,9 +142,6 @@ done
 info ""
 info "Installation complete. Next steps:"
 info "  1. Open http://localhost:${HOST_PORT} (or your public URL)"
-info "  2. Complete the setup wizard:"
-info "       - Set your manage server name"
-info "       - Enter your Triton licence server URL and licence ID"
-info "       - Or upload an air-gap licence file"
+info "  2. Complete the setup wizard"
 info "  3. Configure TLS via reverse proxy (see docs)"
 info ""