Managing licenses· 1

License types· 1

Restrictions and guidelines· 1

Registering and activating a license· 2

Transferring a license· 2

Compressing the license storage· 3

Displaying and maintaining licenses· 4

License-based features, such as EVB, TRILL, and VXLAN, require a license to run on your device. To use a license-based feature, you must purchase a license or obtain a free trial license.

This chapter describes how to license a feature, transfer a license between devices, remove a license, and manage the license storage space.

License types

The following types of licenses are available depending on validity period:

·           Permanent—A permanent license is always valid and never expires.

·           Days restricted—A license valid for a limited period in days, for example, 30 days. Trial licenses are typically days restricted.

The following types of licenses are available depending on locking method:

·           Device locked—A license can be installed only on the DID-specific device. The license takes effect on any MPU in the device even after an MPU replacement. Licenses for the switch are device locked.

·           MPU locked—A license can be installed only on the DID-specific MPU. The license takes effect on the MPU even after the MPU is moved to a different device.

Restrictions and guidelines

When you manage licenses, follow these restrictions and guidelines:

·           Use the display license feature command to identify license-based features and their licensing information.

·           License registration requires a license key, hardware SN, and DID. This information is device specific. If the registration is successful, the licensing system returns an activation file.

·           The activation file is locked to the device with the specific DID, and it cannot be used on any other devices.

·           Do not delete or move files in the flash:/license directory on an MPU. The license management feature uses this directory for license management. An incorrect file operation can cause problems. For example, if you delete an activation file that is usable or in use, the related feature will not function correctly. If a file is missing or corrupted, copy the activation file to the directory to recover the license. To verify the license state, use the display license command.

·           When installing a license, the system also searches the storage media for a matching feature package. When it finds a matching package, it stops searching and installs the package.

·           When uninstalling a license, the system checks whether the feature package for the license is running. If it is running, the system uninstalls the package automatically.

·           For a license-based feature to run correctly on an IRF fabric:

¡  Install one license for the feature on each member in the fabric.

¡  Make sure the licenses installed on the members are the same.

Registering and activating a license

To register and activate a license:

Transferring a license

You can transfer a license from one device to another if its activation file has not expired. If the activation file has expired, the license is not transferrable.

To transfer a license:

Compressing the license storage

If the license storage area is not sufficient for installing new licenses, compress the license storage. This action deletes expired licenses and uninstalled licenses.

To compress the license storage:

Displaying and maintaining licenses

Execute display commands in any view.