"Malformed license" Error When Trying to Install a License File on Virtual ESA (vESA)

Introduction 

This document describes an error given when trying to upload a license file on the Cisco Virtual Email Security Appliance (vESA) and Cisco Virtual Security Management Appliance (vSMA).

Contributed by Jean Orozco and Yvonne Neidert, Cisco TAC Engineers.

Prerequisites

Requirements

There are no specific requirements for this document.

Components Used

The information in this document is based on these software products:

• Cisco Virtual Email Security Appliance (vESA)
• Cisco Virtual Security Management Appliance (vSMA)

The information in this document was created from the devices in a specific lab environment. All of the devices used in this document started with a cleared (default) configuration. If your network is live, ensure that you understand the potential impact of any command.

Background Information

Unlike a physical ESA/SMA appliance, the installation of licenses onto a vESA/vSMA is done through an eXtensible Markup Language (XML) file which can only be loaded from the Command Line Interface (CLI) by executing the command loadlicense, and then select either Paste from CLI or Load from file.

See Load the Virtual License onto Your Appliance for detailed instructions.

Problem

When the content of an XML license file is pasted into the CLI after a Paste from CLI option selection of the loadlicense command, this error can occur:

"Malformed license: Invalid XML, could not parse"

This issue occurs when the content of the file has been modified and the format corrupted.

When the license file is opened within an XML conformant web browser (e.g. Internet Explorer) its content is displayed in an unformatted view that shows all markups in a nested hierarchy.

The nested hierarchy view allows to collapse and expand the child markups.

XML file displayed through Internet Explorer:

When you copy the content of the license file from the web browser, additional dashes and/or blank spaces are included into the clipboard and therefore the vESA considers the content as malformed.

Solution

In order to load the license file successfully you can:

1. Upload the XML License File through FTP into the Configuration folder and then use the option Load from file to install the license.
2. Use a text editor capable of XML rendering to open the license file. It is recommended to use Notepad++.

Note: Then the actual format should be kept in order to install the license successfully.

Related Information

• Cisco License Registration Portal (LRP)
• Cisco Content Security Virtual Appliance Installation Guide
• Best Practices for Virtual ESA, Virtual WSA, Virtual SMA Licenses
• Cisco Email Security Virtual Appliance - Support Page
• Cisco Content Security Management Virtual Appliance - Support Page