Administration Guide vA2(3.0), Cisco ACE Application Control Engine Module - Managing ACE Software Licenses [Cisco Services Modules]

Table Of Contents

Managing ACE Software Licenses

Information about ACE Licenses

Guidelines and Limitations

Prerequisites

Default License Feature Capabilities

Managing ACE Module Software Licenses

Tasks for Ordering an Upgrade License and Generating a Key

Copying a License File to the ACE

Installing a New or Upgrade License File

Replacing a Demo License with a Permanent License

Removing a License

Removing a Bandwidth or SSL License

Removing a Virtual Context License

Backing Up an ACE License File

Retrieving an ACE License File

Displaying ACE License Configurations and Statistics

Managing ACE Software Licenses

This chapter describes how to manage the software licenses for your Cisco Application Control Engine (ACE) module. It contains the following sections:

•Information about ACE Licenses

•Guidelines and Limitations

•Prerequisites

•Default License Feature Capabilities

•Managing ACE Module Software Licenses

•Displaying ACE License Configurations and Statistics

Information about ACE Licenses

Table 3-1 lists the ACE licenses, product IDs (PIDs), and descriptions. You can increase the number of default user contexts, module bandwidth, and SSL TPS by purchasing upgrade licenses.

Table 3-1 ACE Licenses

Feature (Default)

License PID

Description

Virtualization (default, one Admin context and five user contexts)

ACE-VIRT-020

20 virtual contexts

ACE-VIRT-050

50 virtual contexts

ACE-VIRT-100

100 virtual contexts

ACE-VIRT-250

250 virtual contexts

ACE-VIRT-UP1

Upgrades 20 to 50 contexts

ACE-VIRT-UP2

Upgrades 50 to 100 contexts

ACE-VIRT-UP3

Upgrades 100 to 250 contexts

Module bandwidth (default, 4 Gbps)

ACE-04G-LIC

Default 4-Gbps bandwidth

ACE-08G-LIC

8-Gbps bandwidth

ACE-16G-LIC

16-Gbps bandwidth (ACE20-MOD-K9 module only)

ACE-UPG1-LIC

Upgrades 4-Gbps bandwidth to 8-Gbps bandwidth

ACE-UPG2-LIC

Upgrades 8-Gbps bandwidth to 16-Gbps bandwidth (ACE20-MOD-K9 module only)

SSL TPS (default, 1000 TPS)

ACE-SSL-05K-K9

SSL with 5000 TPS

ACE-SSL-10K-K9

SSL with 10,000 TPS

ACE-SSL-15K-K9

SSL with 15,000 TPS

Guidelines and Limitations

The ACE license guidelines and limitations are as follows:

•You can upgrade virtualization in increments if you do not exceed the limits of the ACE (a maximum of 250 contexts).

•A demo license is valid for only 60 days. At the end of this period, you must update the demo license with a permanent license to continue to use the ACE software. To view the expiration of a demo license, use the show license usage command in Exec mode (see the "Displaying ACE License Configurations and Statistics" section). ACE demo licenses are available through your Cisco account representative.

•If you need to replace the ACE, you can copy and install the license file for the license onto the replacement module.

Prerequisites

You must have the Admin role in the Admin context to install, remove, and update the license file.

Default License Feature Capabilities

Table 3-2 lists the default feature capabilities of the ACE.

Table 3-2 Default Capabilities Parameters

Parameter

Default

Virtualization

One Admin context, five user contexts

Module bandwidth

4 gigabits per second (Gbps)

Secure Sockets Layer (SSL)

1000 transactions per second (TPS)

Managing ACE Module Software Licenses

This section includes the following topics:

•Tasks for Ordering an Upgrade License and Generating a Key

•Copying a License File to the ACE

•Installing a New or Upgrade License File

•Replacing a Demo License with a Permanent License

•Removing a License

•Backing Up an ACE License File

•Retrieving an ACE License File

Tasks for Ordering an Upgrade License and Generating a Key

This section describes the process that you use to order an upgrade license and to generate a license key for your ACE.

Follow these steps to order an upgrade license:

Step 1 Order one of the licenses from the list in the "Information about ACE Licenses" section using any of the available Cisco ordering tools on cisco.com.

Step 2 When you receive the Software License Claim Certificate from Cisco, follow the instructions that direct you to the Cisco.com website. As a registered user of Cisco.com, go to this URL:

http://www.cisco.com/go/license

Step 3 Enter the Product Authorization Key (PAK) number found on the Software License Claim Certificate as your proof of purchase.

Step 4 Provide all the requested information to generate a license key.

After the system generates the license key, you will receive a license key e-mail with an attached license file and installation instructions.

Step 5 Save the attached license file to a remote server that you can access from the ACE. Save the license key e-mail in a safe place in case you need it in the future (for example, to transfer the license to another ACE).

What to Do Next

Copy the license file to the ACE (see the "Copying a License File to the ACE" section).

Copying a License File to the ACE

This section describes how to copy an ACE license file from a remote server to the ACE. For detailed information on copying files from a remote server, see Chapter 4, Managing the ACE Software.

Prerequisites

The license file must reside on a remote server that you can access from the ACE.

You must be in the Admin context to copy the file to disk0: on the ACE.

Detailed Steps
Command

Purpose
copy tftp:[//server[/path/][/filename]] disk0:[path/]filename
Example:
host1/Admin# copy 
tftp://track/license/ACE-VIRT-020.lic 
disk0:
Copies the file to disk0: on the ACE.

The arguments and keywords are as follows:

•[//server[/path/][/filename]]—The path to the network server. This path is optional because the ACE prompts you for this information if you omit it.

•disk0:[path/]filename—Specifies that the file destination is the disk0: directory of the current context and the filename. If you do not provide the optional path, the ACE copies the file to the root directory on the disk0: file system.
What to Do Next

If the license is a demo or permanent license for a new or upgrade installation, see the "Installing a New or Upgrade License File" section.

If the license is a permanent license replacing a demo license, see the "Replacing a Demo License with a Permanent License" section.

Installing a New or Upgrade License File

This section describes how to install a license after you copy a demo or permanent license file to the ACE for a new or upgrade installation (see the "Copying a License File to the ACE" section). All license installations except two have no adverse impact to an operating ACE as follows:

•A reboot is required when you upgrade the bandwidth license from 8 Gbps to 16 Gbps in an ACE10 module.

•In a redundant configuration, mismatched context licenses between the active and the standby ACEs cause the active ACE to generate a syslog message (if logging is enabled) and to disable configuration synchronization. After you install the correct matching license on the standby ACE, the software automatically detects the new license and restores normal operation.

For information about replacing a demo license with a permanent one, see the "Replacing a Demo License with a Permanent License" section.

Restrictions

This topic includes the following restrictions:

•You must have the Admin role in the Admin context to install or upgrade the license file.

•If you install a context demo license, make sure that you save the Admin running configuration and all user context running configurations to a remote server. If you allow a context license to expire, the ACE automatically removes all user contexts from the Admin running configuration and all configurations for the user contexts.

•There are multiple virtual context licenses including upgrade licenses. The number of contexts currently installed on the ACE determines which additional license you can install, as shown in Table 3-3.

Table 3-3 Allowable VIrtual User Context Installation

Current Number of Contexts

Allowable License Installation

5 (default)

ACE-VIRT-020

ACE-VIRT-050

ACE-VIRT-100

ACE-VIRT-250

20

ACE-VIRT-UP1 (to upgrade to 50 contexts)

50

ACE-VIRT-UP2 (to upgrade to 100 contexts)

100

ACE-VIRT-UP3 (to upgrade to 250 contexts)

250

No additional licenses

Detailed Steps
Command

Purpose
license install disk0:[path/]filename [target_filename]
Example: 
host1/Admin# license install 
disk0:ACE-UPG1-LIC.lic
Installs or upgrades a license on your ACE.

The arguments are as follows:

•[path/]filename—License stored on the disk0: file system. If you do not specify the optional path, the ACE looks for the file in the root directory.

•target_filename—(Optional) Target filename for the license file.
show license brief
Example: 
host1/Admin# show license brief
(Optional) Displays the installed licenses.
Examples

To install a license file for an SSL 5000 TPS license, enter:
host1/Admin# license install disk0:ACE-SSL-05K-K9.lic
To install a license file for a 20 context license, enter:
host1/Admin# license install disk0:ACE-VIRT-020.lic
Replacing a Demo License with a Permanent License

This section describes how replace an ACE demo license with a permanent license. If you installed a demo license, four weeks before the license expires, the ACE generates warning syslog messages once a day. During the final week, a warning syslog message occurs once an hour. Before this period ends, you must update the demo license with a permanent license. Otherwise, the ACE will revert to its previous bandwidth, SSL TPS, or number of contexts.

After you copy the permanent license file to the ACE (see the "Copying a License File to the ACE" section), you can install it.

Restrictions

This topic includes the following restrictions:

•You must have the Admin role in the Admin context to update the demo license file with a permanent file.

•If you replace the context demo license with a permanent license, you can continue to use the configured user contexts on the ACE. However, if you allow a context license to expire, the ACE automatically removes all user contexts from the Admin running configuration and all configurations for the user contexts. Before a context license expires, save the Admin running configuration and the user context running configurations to a remote server. To view the expiration of the demo license, use the show license usage command in Exec mode from the Admin context.

Detailed Steps
Command

Purpose
license update disk0:[path/]permanent_filename demo_filename
Example: 
host1/Admin# license update disk0:ACE-VIRT-250.lic 
ACE-VIRT-250-DEMO.lic
Replaces a demo license with a permanent license.

The arguments are as follows:

•[path/]permanent_filename—Filename for the permanent license file that you copied onto the ACE.

•demo_filename—Filename for the demo license file that the permanent license file is replacing.
Removing a License

This section describes how to remove an installed license from the ACE and includes the following topics:

•Removing a Bandwidth or SSL License

•Removing a Virtual Context License

Removing a Bandwidth or SSL License

This section describes how to remove a Bandwidth or SSL License.

Note When you use the clear startup-config or the write erase command, the ACE does not remove license files from the startup-configuration file.

Restrictions

This topics includes the following restrictions:

•You must have the Admin role in the Admin context to remove the license file.

•Bandwidth license removal—When you remove an ACE-08G-LIC or ACE-UPG1-LIC bandwidth license, it reduces the module bandwidth to the default of 4 Gbps on the ACE. When you remove an ACE-UPG2-LIC bandwidth license, it reduces the module bandwidth to 8 Gbps on the ACE.

•SSL license removal—When you uninstall an SSL license, it reduces SSL TPS performance to 1000 TPS on the ACE.

Detailed Steps
Command

Purpose
license uninstall license_filename
Example: 
host1/Admin# license uninstall 
disk0:ACE-UPG1-LIC.lic
Removes a module bandwidth, SSL TPS.

The license_filename argument specifies the filename of the license file that you want to remove. Enter the license filename as an unquoted text string with no spaces.
Removing a Virtual Context License

This section describes how to removes a virtual context license.

Prerequisite

Caution Before removing any virtual context license, save the Admin running configuration and the user context running configurations to a remote server. When you remove a demo or permanent virtual context license, the ACE removes all user contexts from the Admin running configuration. By removing the user contexts, their running and startup configurations are also removed from the ACE.

Restrictions

This topic includes the following restrictions:

•You must have the Admin role in the Admin context to remove the license file.

•The number of virtual contexts and type of licenses currently installed on the ACE determines which license you can remove. Table 3-4 lists the currently installed contexts, the type of license on the ACE, and the remaining number of contexts after the license is removed.

Table 3-4 VIrtual Context License Removal

Current Number of Contexts

Applicable Licenses

Results of License Removal

5 (default)

Not applicable

—

20

ACE-VIRT-020

5 contexts

50

ACE-VIRT-050

5 contexts

ACE-VIRT-UP1

20 contexts

100

ACE-VIRT-100

5 contexts

ACE-VIRT-UP2

50 contexts

250

ACE-VIRT-250

5 contexts

ACE-VIRT-UP3

100 contexts

Follow these steps to remove a context license:

Step 1 Save the Admin and user context running configurations to a remote server by entering the copy running-config command in Exec mode in each context. For more information on this command, see Chapter 4, Managing the ACE Software.

For example, to copy the Admin running configuration to an TFTP server as R-CONFIG-ADM, enter:
host1/Admin# copy running-config tftp://192.168.1.2/R-CONFIG-ADM
To copy the C1 user context running configuration to an TFTP server, access the C1 context and enter:
host1/C1# copy running-config tftp://192.168.1.2/R-CONFIG-C1
Step 2 Remove the license with the license uninstall command. For example, to remove the ACE-VIRT-250.LIC license, enter:
host1/Admin# license uninstall ACE-VIRT-250.lic
The ACE displays the following messages and prompt:
Clearing license ACE-VIRT-250.lic:
SERVER this_host ANY
VENDOR cisco
INCREMENT ACE-VIRT-250 cisco 1.0 permanent 1 \
        VENDOR_STRING=<count>1</count> HOSTID=ANY \
        NOTICE="<LicFileID>20051103151315824</LicFileID><LicLineID>1</LicLineID> \
        <PAK></PAK>" SIGN=86A13B1EA2F2
INCREMENT ACE-VIRT-250 cisco 1.0 permanent 1 \
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!!! WARNING: Uninstalling virtual context license will automatically!!
!!! cleanup all the user context configurations, please backup the  !!
!!! configurations before proceeding further with uninstallation    !!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Do you want to continue? (y/n) 
Step 3 If you have not saved the running configurations for the Admin and user contexts to a remote server, enter n. Go to Step 1

If you saved the running configurations for the Admin and user contexts to a remote server, enter y.

During the license removal, the ACE removes the user context configurations from the Admin running configuration, causing the deletion of all user contexts including their running and startup configurations.

Step 4 Display the current number of supported contexts on the ACE by entering the show license status command in Exec mode of the Admin context.

Step 5 Determine which contexts you want to keep in the Admin running configuration. Using a text editor, manually remove the extra context configurations from the Admin running configuration on the remote server.

If the Admin running configuration contains more contexts than what the ACE supports and you copy this configuration to the ACE, the ACE rejects contexts that exceed the supported limit. For example, if the running configuration contains 20 contexts, when you remove the license, the ACE supports five contexts. If you attempt to copy the configuration with all 20 contexts, the ACE allows the first five contexts, fails the remaining contexts, and displays error messages on the console.

Note You can also manually recreate the user contexts in the running configuration that is currently on the ACE. If you do, go to Step7.

Step 6 Retrieve the modified Admin running configuration from the remote server. For example, to copy the R-CONFIG-ADM Admin running configuration from the TFTP server, enter:
host1/Admin# copy tftp://192.168.1.2/R-CONFIG-ADM running-config 
Step 7 Copy the Admin running configuration to the startup-configuration file. For example, enter:
host1/Admin# copy running-config startup-config 
Note If you do not update the startup configuration with the latest running configuration, when the ACE restarts, it uses the startup configuration with the extra contexts. The ACE allows the number of contexts that the license supports, but fails the remaining contexts.

Step 8 Access the user context, and copy its running configurations from the remote server. For example, to copy the C1 user context running configuration from the TFTP server, access the C1 context and enter:
host1/C1# tftp://192.168.1.2/R-CONFIG-C1 copy running-config 
Step 9 Copy the user context running configuration to the startup-configuration file. For example, enter:
host1/Admin# copy running-config startup-config 
Step 10 Repeat Steps 8 and 9 until you retrieve the running configurations for all user contexts configured in the Admin configuration.

Backing Up an ACE License File

This section describes how to back up an ACE license file. To protect your license files, we recommend that you back up your license files (in .tar format) to the ACE Flash disk.

Restrictions

You must be in the Admin context to back up an ACE license file.

Detailed Steps
Command

Purpose
copy licenses disk0:[path/]filename.tar
Example:
host1/Admin# copy licenses 
disk0:mylicenses.tar
Backs up your license files to the ACE Flash disk as tar files.

The keyword and argument are as follows:

•disk0:—Specifies that the backup license file is copied to the disk0: file system.

•[path/]filename.tar—Destination filename for the backup licenses. The destination filename must have a .tar file extension.
Retrieving an ACE License File

This section describes how retrieve an ACE license file. If you accidently remove or lose the license on the ACE, you can untar your backup license file and then reinstall it.

Restrictions

You must be in the Admin context to retrieve an ACE license file.

Detailed Steps
Command

Purpose
untar disk0:[path/]filename.tar
Example:
host1/Admin# untar disk0:mylicenses.tar
Untars the backup file should you need to reinstall it because you accidently removed or lost the license.

The [path/]filename.tar argument is the filename of the .tar backup license file.

For information on installing the license, see the "Installing a New or Upgrade License File" section.
Displaying ACE License Configurations and Statistics

To display license information about your ACE, perform one of the following tasks in the Admin context only:

Command

Purpose

show license [brief | file filename | internal event-history | status | usage]

Displays all or some of the license information.

Entering this Exec mode command without any options and arguments displays all installed ACE license files and their contents.

The options and arguments for this command are as follows:

•brief—Displays a list of the currently installed licenses.

•file filename—Displays the file contents of the specified license.

•internal event-history—Displays a history of licensing-related events.

•status—Displays the status of licensed features (see Table 3-5).

•usage—Displays the usage table for all licenses (see Table 3-6).

show version

Displays license information.

show module services

Displays license information. Enter this command on the supervisor engine. See the license information under the Services field.

Table 3-5 describes the fields in the show license status command output.

Table 3-5 Field Descriptions for the show license status Command Output

Field

Description

Licensed Feature

List including the ACE virtualized contexts, the SSL transactions per second, and the module bandwidth feature.

Count

Number of ACE-supported contexts, SSL transactions per second (TPS), and bandwidth in gigabits per second (Gbps). This information also provides the default number of contexts, SSL TPS, and module bandwidth that the ACE supports when a license is not installed.

Table 3-6 describes the fields in the show license usage command output.

Table 3-6 Field Descriptions for the show license usage Command Output

Field

Description

License

Name of the license.

Ins

Whether the license is installed (Yes or No).

Lic Count

Number of licenses for this feature.

Status

Current state of the feature (In use or Unused).

Expiry Date

Date when the demo license expires, as defined in the license file. If the license is permanent, this field displays Never.

Comments

Licensing errors, if any.