📊 Azure Marketplace Metering via Orb — Setup Guide

Applies to: Cases of metering Azure Marketplace usage through an Orb integration on Clazar.

📘 What this guide covers

If your Azure Marketplace usage is being tracked in Orb but is not appearing in the Clazar portal, the most common cause is a missing or inconsistent dimension-pricing setup. This guide explains why that happens and the setup that resolves it.

⚙ How Orb-based metering works on Clazar

The Orb integration meters on a single dimension. Clazar takes the amount due from the Orb invoice and derives the quantity to report to the marketplace using:

quantity = invoice amount due / dimension price

For this calculation to work, Clazar needs a known, stable price for the meterable dimension at the time metering runs.

⚠ Requirement — exactly one meterable dimension. The listing must have only one metering dimension. Having more than one meterable dimension is not supported, and adding dimension later will also break metering. Keep the listing to a single measurable dimension at all times.

🔍 Why metering may not populate

There are two common reasons usage doesn't show up:

1⃣ No Orb dimension configured on the contract's pricing plan. A contract on a plan that has no Orb dimension configured cannot be metered. Configuring the Orb dimension on the listing/plan is a prerequisite. (For example, a plain PAYGO plan with no Orb dimension set up will not meter.)

2⃣ Private Offer contracts have a pricing-link delay. When a contract originates from a Private Offer, the link between the contract and the Private Offer is only surfaced 2–3 days later through Azure's reports. Until that link resolves, the real-time price isn't known at contract creation, so hourly metering can't begin immediately. ⏳

✅ Required setup: static dimension pricing

Dynamic dimension pricing is not yet supported. Metering therefore, requires a consistent static price on the meterable dimension. This also allows metering to start immediately for both public-offer and private-offer contracts.

Steps:

1. 💲 Configure pricing in Orb for the dimension you want to meter.

2. 🏷 Set a static dimension price on your Azure Marketplace listing — consistent across all pricing plans (e.g., PAYG and Annual Commit). A small value such as $0.01 works well as the standard.

3. 🔗 Confirm the Orb dimension is configured on the listing/plan that needs metering, and that the listing has only one meterable dimension.

4. 🤝 Align the static pricing with Clazar. Once we confirm the consistent dimension pricing, we enable it on our side, and metering can begin.

Once enabled, Clazar uses the amount due from the Orb invoice together with the static dimension price to calculate and submit usage quantity to Azure. 🚀

💡 Why static pricing is required

Deriving the dimension price dynamically — for example, waiting for the Private Offer link to resolve before reading the price — is not currently supported. Even setting support aside, that approach carries trade-offs:

• ⏳ Metering for private-offer contracts would be delayed 2–3 days until the link resolves.

• ➗ The derived calculation is more susceptible to rounding differences.

• ❌ Contracts cancelled within the linking window risk missed metering.

A consistent static dimension price avoids all three and lets metering start right away.

🔎 Verifying it works

After the setup is enabled, you can verify that usage is being sent for the overage (meterable) dimension in the Clazar portal under the buyer's Azure contract events.

💬 Questions on your specific listing or dimension setup? Reach out to us on Slack or support@clazar.io. We would be happy to help.