Cisco ASA 5500 Series Getting Started Guide, Version 7.1
Obtaining a DES License or a 3DES-AES License

Table Of Contents

Obtaining a DES License or a 3DES-AES License


Obtaining a DES License or a 3DES-AES License


The adaptive security appliance offers the option to purchase a DES or 3DES-AES license to enable specific features that provide encryption technology, such as secure remote management (SSH, ASDM, and so on), site-to-site VPN, and remote access VPN. Enabling the license requires an encryption license key.

If you ordered your adaptive security appliance with a DES or 3DES-AES license, the encryption license key comes with the adaptive security appliance.

If you did not order your adaptive security appliance with a DES or 3DES-AES license and would like to purchase one now, the encryption licenses are available at no charge on Cisco.com.

If you are a registered user of Cisco.com and would like to obtain a DES or 3DES/AES encryption license, go to the following website:

http://www.cisco.com/pcgi-bin/Software/FormManager/formgenerator.pl

If you are not a registered user of Cisco.com, go to the following website:

http://www.cisco.com/pcgi-bin/Software/FormManager/formgenerator.pl

Provide your name, e-mail address, and the serial number for the adaptive security appliance as it appears in the show version command output.


Note You will receive the new activation key for your adaptive security appliance within two hours (or less) of requesting the license upgrade.


For more information on activation key examples or upgrading software, see the Cisco Security Appliance Command Line Configuration Guide.

To use the activation key, perform the following steps:

 
Command
Purpose

Step 1 

hostname# show version

Shows the software release, hardware configuration, license key, and related uptime data.

Step 2 

hostname# configure terminal

Enters global configuration mode.

Step 3 

hostname(config)# activation-key activation-5-tuple-key

Updates the encryption activation key by replacing the activation-4-tuple-key variable with the activation key obtained with your new license. The activation-5-tuple-key variable is a five-element hexadecimal string with one space between each element. An example is 0xe02888da 0x4ba7bed6 0xf1c123ae 0xffd8624e. The "0x" is optional; all values are assumed to be hexadecimal.

Step 4 

hostname(config)# exit

Exits global configuration mode.

Step 5 

hostname# copy running-config startup-config

Saves the configuration.

Step 6 

hostname# reload

Reboots the adaptive security appliance and reloads the configuration.