This article provides information about Smart Licensing (SL) solutions and their deployment on Cisco IOS XR Routers.

Smart Licensing

Smart Licensing (SL) is a cloud-based software licensing model that allows you to

  • activate and manage Cisco software licenses across your organization
  • easily track the status of your licenses and software usage trends, and
  • pool licenses or entitlements across the entire organization in a flexible and automated manner.

Benefits

These are the key benefits of Smart Licensing.

  • Easy activation: Establishes a pool of software licenses that can be used across your company—no more entering Product Activation Keys.
  • Unified management: Provides a complete view into all of your products and services in an user-friendly portal.
  • License flexibility: Allows you to easily use and move licenses as needed since the software is not node-locked to your hardware.

Key features

These are the key features of Smart licensing

  • Direct and Proxy Registration: Registers your device directly with the Cisco Smart Software Manager (CSSM) portal or through a proxy for restricted internet access environments.
  • Centralized Management: Manage your license inventory using CSSM, simplifying software asset tracking and management.
  • License Portability: Move or transfer your licenses easily between devices, offering flexibility in deploying software assets within the organization.
  • Simplified Activation: Simplifies this process by using a pool of licenses that aren’t tied to a specific device as against Traditional licensing.
  • Automatic License Renewal: Renews licenses automatically, reducing the administrative burden of tracking license expiration dates and manual renewals.
  • Usage Reporting: Generates detailed reports on license usage to understand device software consumption, optimizing your license investments.
  • Compliance Assurance: Provides visibility into license entitlements versus actual usage, helping that you stay compliant.
  • Support for Hybrid Environments: Supports both on-premises and cloud-based environments, allowing for consistent license management across different deployment models.
  • Real-time Updates: Receives real-time updates from Cisco, ensuring that you have access to the latest features and compliance information.

Comparison between traditional licensing and Smart Licensing

This table summarizes the main distinctions between Smart Licensing and traditional licensing.

Smart Licensing versus traditional licensing

Attributes

 Traditional licensing Smart Licensing

License activation

Activate licenses by manually installing them on the device.

Activate licenses by registering the device with the Cisco Smart Software Manager (CSSM).

License pooling

Associates each license with a specific device (node-locked) and does not support license pooling.

Pools licenses within a virtual network account, allowing activation or deactivation of license types on devices without installing license files.

License inventory

Does not provide a central location to view purchased licenses or software usage trends.

Maintains license inventory in CSSM and provides a centralized, statistical view of license usage and consumption.

License transfer

Does not support easy transfer of licenses between devices.

Enables easy movement of licenses between devices without manual transfer, simplifying reassignment during Return Material Authorization (RMA) processes.

License visibility

Offers limited visibility into software licenses, tracking licenses only on a per-node basis.

Provides consolidated usage reports and an overall snapshot of licenses in the network through a single portal.

Deployment models for Smart Licensing

Smart Licensing offers various deployment models to provide flexible options for managing software licenses. These are based on your specific network requirements and connectivity preferences.

  • On-Premises deployments: Organizations that prefer not to have their products communicate directly with Cisco Smart Software Manager (CSSM) over the internet, opt for this model.
  • Direct deployments: Organizations that have small networks and prefer not to manage an on-premises server, particularly in enterprise environments, opt for this model.
  • Offline deployments: Organizations that require highly secure environments opt for this model as it allows them to set up devices without internet access.

Deploying Smart Licensing

Summary

The key components involved in Smart Licensing are:

  • Network administrator: The network professional who oversees the license management process, ensuring compliance and optimal utilization.
  • Cisco Commerce Workspace (CCW): The platform where users order Cisco software licenses, including Smart License-enabled products.
  • Cisco Smart Software Manager (CSSM): The centralized portal where customers manage their Cisco software licenses. It allows creation and management of Smart Accounts and Virtual Accounts.
  • Smart Account (SA): A secure, centralized account on Cisco’s licensing portal that enables customers and partners to manage software licenses and entitlements.
  • Virtual Account (VA): A child container within a Smart Account that helps organize licenses into logical groups for easier management and delegation.
  • Network devices: Routers that require licenses.
  • Smart Software Manager (SSM) On-Prem: An on-premises server to report license usage in On-Premises deployment model or Offline deployment model.
  • Offline server: An offline server to report license usage in Offline deployment model.

You can deploy Smart Licensing with various deployment models, including on-premises, direct, and offline environments. Each model has specific methods for license activation and usage reporting. The CSSM plays a central role in managing licenses, providing visibility into license usage and ownership, which aids in optimizing resource allocation.

Workflow

Steps for deploying Smart Licensing
This image depicts the workflow to deploy Smart Licensing.

The process of deploying Smart Licensing involves these key stages:

  1. Order licenses: The network administrator
    • orders licenses from CCW, and
    • accesses CSSM to create the Smart Account and Virtual Accounts to organize licenses effectively.
  2. Activate licenses: The network administrator
    • selects the deployment model based on their requirement
    • configures the Smart Licensing transport mode, and
    • registers the device with CSSM.
  3. Manage licenses: The network administrator
    • generates reports from the devices
    • synchronizes reports with CSSM either automatically or manually, and
    • monitors license usage and compliance status through the CSSM portal.

Guidelines for deploying Smart Licensing

Guidelines to avoid SSL communication errors

Starting with Cisco IOS XR Release 7.10.1, for secure HTTPS communication to SSM on-prem server or CSSM, either directly or via an HTTP proxy, the device validates the Common Name (CN) on the server certificate as a Fully Qualified Domain Name (FQDN). To avoid communication errors, such as "Error during SSL communication", follow these guidelines.

  • You must configure the CN in the X.509 server certificate to enable FQDN validation.
  • To allow certificates with IP addresses instead of FQDNs, you must configure the crypto ca fqdn-check ip-address allow command on your device.
  • If HTTPS communication occurs within a Virtual Routing and Forwarding (VRF) instance, you must configure the appropriate VRF for the trustpoint using the crypto ca trustpoint Trustpool vrf vrf-name command and the HTTP client using the http client vrf vrf-name command.

On-premises deployments

An on-premises deployment is a Smart Licensing deployment model that

  • allows organizations to manage product licenses internally
  • avoids direct communication between managed products and CSSM over the internet, and
  • requires a local license server, such as Smart Software Manager (SSM), to administer and manage devices and licenses.

Smart Software Manager (SSM) is an on-premises version of Cisco Smart Software Manager (CSSM) that

  • enables organizations to manage licenses internally and choose between online or offline connectivity with Cisco
  • serves as the single point of interface with CSSM for connected devices
  • supports multiple local accounts, and
  • enables devices to register locally and report license consumption.

SSM on-prem modes

SSM On-Prem connects with CSSM in the cloud to synchronize license consumption and usage at the desired frequency such as daily, weekly, or monthly.

These are the ways that you can connect SSM On-Prem with CSSM:

  • Connected: Manage your devices on the premises. Devices register to SSM on-prem and report license consumption to CSSM.
  • Disconnected: Manage your devices on premises without connecting to CSSM. SSM on-prem synchronizes to CSSM via a manual file transfer process for reporting license consumption and usage.

Report license usage

To report license usage, synchronize local accounts on SSM On-Prem with CSSM by using the Synchronization widget in the SSM On-Prem UI.

You can synchronize license usage with CSSM using any of these methods:

  • Set up on-demand synchronization with CSSM using the option Synchronize now with Cisco.
  • Schedule synchronization with CSSM at a specified time.
  • Synchronize the license usage with CSSM, either by connecting to CSSM or by downloading and uploading files.

Steps to deploy on-premises deployment

After you order the license and set up your smart accounts in CSSM, follow these procedures for on-premises deployment:

  1. Activate licenses on SSM on-prem
  2. Manage licenses on SSM on-prem

Activate licenses on SSM on-prem

Smart Licensing on SSM on-prem server uses call home as the transport mode.

Follow these steps to activate licenses on SSM on-prem deployment.

Step 1

Download the Smart Software Manager On-Prem software to prepare for installation on the SSM on-prem server. Refer to the SSM On-Prem User Guide to configure the SSM on-prem server and create a local account.

Step 2

Navigate to the Licensing workspace > Inventory > General on SSM on-prem and select Smart Call Home Registration URL.

Step 3

Generate a Smart Licensing token from the smart account and virtual account in CSSM to register the devices

Step 4

Run the license smart register token id command on your device, to register the device with the Smart Licensing token.

Example:

Router# license smart register idtoken $Tl4UytrNXBzbEs1ck8veUtWaG5abnZJOFdDa1FwbVRa%0AblRMbz0%3D%0A

Step 5

Configure the profile profile-name command to create a Call Home destination profile.

Example:

Router(config-call-home)# profile test1

  1. Configure the reporting smart-licensing-data command to enable data sharing with the Call Home service for HTTP.

    Example:

    Router(config-call-home-profile)# reporting smart-licensing-data

  2. Configure the destination transport-method http command to set the HTTP message transport method.

    Example:

    Router(config-call-home-profile)# destination transport-method http

  3. Configure the destination address http url command to specify the destination address to connect to CSSM.

    The destination address http command allows you to configure the on-prem destination URL to send Call Home messages. Follow these best practices while configuring the destination URL :

    • If the default destination address exists, then remove using the no destination address http command.
    • Ensure that the IP address or the FQDN in the destination URL matches the IP address or the FQDN of the Host Name on the SSM on-prem server.
    • Refer the topic Guidelines for deploying Smart Licensing to avoid SSL communication errors.

    The destination preferred-msg-format command allows you to set your preferred message format. The default message format is XML.

    Example:

    Router(config-call-home-profile)# destination address http https://209.165.201.15/Transportgateway/services/DeviceRequestHandler
Router(config-call-home-profile)# destination preferred-msg-format xml

  4. Enter the active command to activate the profile.

    Example:

    
Router(config-call-home-profile)# active
Router(config-call-home-profile)# exit
Router(config-call-home)# exit

Step 6

Enter the http client source-interface command to configure source interface for the HTTP client.

Example:

Router(config)# http client source-interface ipv4 Vlan100

This command is mandatory for a VRF interface.

Step 7

(Optional) Enter the crypto ca trustpoint command to declare the trustpoint.

Example:

Router(config)# crypto ca trustpoint SLA-TrustPoint
Router(config-trustp)# commit
Router(config-trustp)# end

Step 8

Run the show call-home profile all command to view the on-prem Call Home profile.

Example:

Router# show call-home profile all 
Tue Aug 18 23:52:16.590 UTC

Profile Name: CiscoTAC-1
    Profile status: ACTIVE
    Profile mode: Full Reporting
    Reporting Data: Smart Call Home, Smart Licensing
    Preferred Message Format: xml
    Message Size Limit: 3145728 Bytes
    Transport Method: http
    HTTP  address(es): https://209.165.201.15/Transportgateway/services/DeviceRequestHandler

    Other address(es): default
 
    Periodic configuration info message is scheduled every 17 day of the month at 13:15
 
    Periodic inventory info message is scheduled every 17 day of the month at 13:0 
 
    Alert-group                 Severity
    ------------------------  ------------
    inventory                     normal      
 
    Syslog-Pattern             Severity
    ------------------------  ------------
    .*                                  critical

Step 9

Run the show license status command to verify the license status.

Example:

Router# show license status

Smart Licensing is ENABLED
 
Registration:
  Status: REGISTERED
  Smart Account: Forty-Two uLtd.
  Virtual Account: IOSXR
  Export-Controlled Functionality: ALLOWED
  Initial Registration: SUCCEEDED on Aug 18 2020 23:51:46 UTC
  Last Renewal Attempt: None
  Next Renewal Attempt: Feb 14 2021 23:51:46 UTC
  Registration Expires: Aug 18 2021 23:46:43 UTC
 
License Authorization: 
  Status: OUT OF COMPLIANCE on Aug 18 2020 23:51:57 UTC
  Last Communication Attempt: SUCCEEDED on Aug 18 2020 23:51:57 UTC
  Next Communication Attempt: Aug 19 2020 11:51:57 UTC
  Communication Deadline: Nov 16 2020 23:46:56 UTC
 
Export Authorization Key:
  Features Authorized:
    <none>
 
Utility:
  Status: DISABLED
 
Data Privacy:
  Sending Hostname: yes
    Callhome hostname privacy: DISABLED
    Smart Licensing hostname privacy: DISABLED
  Version privacy: DISABLED
 
Transport:
  Type: Callhome
 
License Usage
==============
 
Core and Aggregation Essentials SW Right-to-Use v1.0 per 100G (ESS-100G-RTU-1):
  Description: Core and Aggregation Essentials SW Right-to-Use v1.0 per 100G
  Count: 1
  Version: 1.0
  Status: OUT OF COMPLIANCE
  Export status: NOT RESTRICTED
 
5501 Base Hardware Tracking PID (NCS-5501-TRK):
  Description: 5501 Base Hardware Tracking PID
  Count: 1
  Version: 1.0
  Status: OUT OF COMPLIANCE
  Export status: NOT RESTRICTED
 
Product Information
===================
UDI: PID:NCS-5501,SN:FOC2137R1SL
 
Agent Version
=============
Smart Agent for Licensing: 4.9.6_rel/41
 
Reservation Info
================ 
License reservation: DISABLED

What to do next

Manage licenses on SSM on-prem

Manage licenses on SSM on-prem

To have visibility into license usage and stay compliant, you must manage the license.

Step 1

Log into SSM On-Prem > Smart Licensing workspace to synchronize the reports from SSM On-Prem with Cisco.

If your SSM on-prem deployment mode is Then

Connected
  1. Navigate to Reports and select the desired report.
  2. Enter a name and description at Run License Report to generate a report.

Disconnected
  1. Navigate to Reports and select the desired report.
  2. Enter a name and description at Run License Report to generate a Run report.
  3. Select Export to Excel or Export to CSV reports to open a File Save dialog box. Save the report on the device after downloading the report.

Step 2

Run the show license summary or show license usage commands on your device to view the license consumption details.

Example:

Router# show license summary

Smart Licensing is ENABLED
 
Registration:
  Status: REGISTERED
  Smart Account: Forty-Two uLtd.
  Virtual Account: IOSXR
  Export-Controlled Functionality: ALLOWED
  Last Renewal Attempt: None
  Next Renewal Attempt: Feb 14 2021 23:51:46 UTC
 
License Authorization: 
  Status: OUT OF COMPLIANCE
  Last Communication Attempt: SUCCEEDED
  Next Communication Attempt: Aug 19 2020 11:51:56 UTC
 
License Usage:
  License                                   Entitlement tag               Count Status
  --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  Core and Aggregation...         (ESS-100G-RTU-1)        1 OUT OF COMPLIANCE
  5501 Base Hardware T...        (NCS-5501-TRK)            1 OUT OF COMPLIANCE
Router# show license usage

License Authorization: 
  Status: OUT OF COMPLIANCE on Aug 18 2020 23:51:57 UTC
 
Core and Aggregation Essentials SW Right-to-Use v1.0 per 100G (ESS-100G-RTU-1):
  Description: Core and Aggregation Essentials SW Right-to-Use v1.0 per 100G
  Count: 1
  Version: 1.0
  Status: OUT OF COMPLIANCE
  Export status: NOT RESTRICTED
 
5501 Base Hardware Tracking PID (NCS-5501-TRK):
  Description: 5501 Base Hardware Tracking PID
  Count: 1
  Version: 1.0
  Status: OUT OF COMPLIANCE
  Export status: NOT RESTRICTED

Direct deployments

A direct deployment is a Smart Licensing deployment model that

  • connects devices to the URL tools.cisco.com, using the internet or an HTTP proxy
  • is best suited for small networks or for organizations that do not want to manage an on-premises server
  • reports usage information using Smart Transport or Smart Call Home transport modes, and
  • requires no on-premises server or additional configuration.

Transport modes for direct deployment

The two transport modes available for direct deployment are:

  • Smart Transport: Sends Smart Licensing (JSON) messages embedded within HTTP messages between the device and CSSM.
  • Smart Call Home: Sends critical system event notifications via email or web-based messages between the device and CSSM.You can also configure Call Home to collect syslog and diagnostic data, collect core dump data, or send email notifications for events. You can view your Call Home collected information with your Smart Licensing username and password at https://tools.cisco.com/sch/reports/deviceReport.do.For more information on the Smart Call Home feature, see the Smart Call Home Deployment Guide.

Direct deployment methods

Direct deployment offers the following methods:

  • Direct cloud access: In this method, devices send usage information directly over the internet using either Smart Transport or Smart Call Home to CSSM.
  • Direct cloud access through an HTTPS proxy: In this method, devices send usage information over the internet through a proxy server using either Smart Transport or Smart Call Home to CSSM.

Report license usage

In direct deployments, the device automatically generates reports once it’s registered with the CSSM.

Steps to deploy direct deployment

After you order the license and set up your smart accounts in CSSM, follow these procedures for direct deployment:

  1. You can activate licenses for direct deployment in two ways. Choose the method that meets your network requirements.
  2. Manage direct deployment licenses

Activate direct deployment licenses with Smart Transport

Before you begin

  • Obtain necessary Smart Account and Virtual Account credentials in CSSM.
  • Ensure internet connectivity or proxy access, if required.

Follow this procedure to set up direct communication between your device and CSSM using Smart Transport and activate direct deployment licenses.

Step 1

Execute the license smart transport smart command to enable Smart Transport mode on your device.

Example:


Router# configure
Router(config)# license smart transport smart

Step 2

Execute the license smart url smart transport-url command to configure the transport URL.

The router automatically configures the Smart URL - https://smartreceiver.cisco.com/licservice/license.

Refer to the topic Guidelines for deploying Smart Licensing to avoid SSL communication errors.

Example:

Router(config)# license smart url smart https://smartreceiver.cisco.com/licservice/license

Step 3

If you want to deploy direct cloud access through an HTTPS proxy server, then configure the license smart proxy hostname port port-number command to set up a proxy for Smart Transport mode. Skip this step for direct cloud access method.

When you configure a proxy server, your device sends licensing messages to the proxy server along with the destination URL of CSSM. The proxy server then sends the message to CSSM.

Example:


Router(config)# license smart proxy hostname proxy.esl.cisco.com port 80
Router(config)# commit
Router(config)# exit

Step 4

Generate a token from the smart account and virtual account in CSSM to register the device.

Step 5

Run the license smart register idtoken command to copy the token on the devices.

Example:

Router# license smart register idtoken $Tl4UytrNXBzbEs1ck8veUtWaG5abnZJOFdDa1FwbVRa%0AblRMbz0%3D%0A

Step 6

Run the show license status command to verify the license status.

Example:

Router# show license status
    
Smart Licensing is ENABLED
 
Utility:
  Status: DISABLED
 
Data Privacy:
  Sending Hostname: yes
    Callhome hostname privacy: DISABLED
    Smart Licensing hostname privacy: DISABLED
  Version privacy: DISABLED
 
Transport:
  Type: Smart
 URL: https://smartreceiver.cisco.com/licservice/license
 Proxy:
   Not Configure
Registration:
  Status: UNREGISTERED
  Export-Controlled Functionality: NOT ALLOWED
 
License Authorization: 
  Status: EVAL MODE
  Evaluation Period Remaining: 83 days, 23 hours, 32 minutes, 57 seconds
 
Export Authorization Key:
  Features Authorized

What to do next

Manage direct deployment licenses

Activate direct deployment licenses with Smart Call Home

Before you begin

  • Obtain necessary Smart Account and Virtual Account credentials in CSSM.
  • Ensure internet connectivity or proxy access, if required.

Follow this procedure to set up direct communication between your device and CSSM using Smart Call Home and activate direct deployment licenses.

Step 1

Enter the call-home command to configure the Call Home profile.

Example:


Router(config)# call-home
Router(config-call-home)# service active

Step 2

Enter the contact-email-address email-address command to set the default email address.

You can enter up to 200 characters in email address format. Avoid using spaces in the email address.

Example:


Router(config-call-home)# contact-email-addr sch-smart-licensing@cisco.com

Step 3

If you want to deploy direct cloud access through an HTTPS proxy server, then configure the http-proxy proxy-address port port-number command to set up a proxy for Smart Call Home. Skip this step for direct cloud access method.

Example:

Router(config-call-home)# http-proxy 198.51.100.10 port 3128

Step 4

Configure the no destination transport-method email command in the CiscoTAC-1 profile for the Call Home service to disable the email option in this profile.

Example:

Router(config-call-home)# profile CiscoTAC-1 
Router(config-call-home-profile)# no destination transport-method email
Router(config-call-home-profile)# exit

Step 5

Configure the profile profile-name command to create a Call Home destination profile.

Example:

Router(config-call-home)# profile test1

  1. Configure the reporting smart-licensing-data command to enable data sharing with the Call Home service for HTTP.

    Example:

    Router(config-call-home-profile)# reporting smart-licensing-data

  2. Configure the destination transport-method http command to set the HTTP message transport method.

    Example:

    Router(config-call-home-profile)# destination transport-method http

  3. Configure the destination address http url command to specify the destination address to connect to CSSM.

    Ensure that the IP address or the FQDN in the destination URL matches the IP address or the FQDN of the Host Name on CSSM.

    Refer to the topic Guidelines for deploying Smart Licensing to avoid SSL communication errors.

    Example:

    Router(config-call-home-profile)# destination address http https://pteodc.cloudapps.cisco.com/its/service/oddce/services/DDCEService

  4. Enter the active command to activate the profile.

    Example:

    
Router(config-call-home-profile)# active
Router(config-call-home-profile)# exit
Router(config-call-home)# exit

Step 6

Execute the show call-home profile all command to view and verify the Call Home profile configurations.

Example:

Router# show call-home profile all 
Tue Aug 18 23:52:16.590 UTC

Profile Name: CiscoTAC-1
    Profile status: ACTIVE
    Profile mode: Full Reporting
    Reporting Data: Smart Call Home, Smart Licensing
    Preferred Message Format: xml
    Message Size Limit: 3145728 Bytes
    Transport Method: http
    HTTP  address(es): https://pteodc.cloudapps.cisco.com/its/service/oddce/services/DDCEService
    Other address(es): default
 
    Periodic configuration info message is scheduled every 17 day of the month at 13:15
 
    Periodic inventory info message is scheduled every 17 day of the month at 13:0 
 
    Alert-group                 Severity
    ------------------------  ------------
    inventory                     normal      
 
    Syslog-Pattern             Severity
    ------------------------  ------------
    .*                                  critical

Step 7

Generate a token from the smart account and virtual account in CSSM and copy the token to the devices with the license smart register token id command in order to register the devices.

Example:

Router# license smart register idtoken $Tl4UytrNXBzbEs1ck8veUtWaG5abnZJOFdDa1FwbVRa%0AblRMbz0%3D%0A

Step 8

Run the show license status command to verify the license status.

Example:

Router# show license status
    
Smart Licensing is ENABLED
 
Utility:
  Status: DISABLED
 
Data Privacy:
  Sending Hostname: yes
    Callhome hostname privacy: DISABLED
    Smart Licensing hostname privacy: DISABLED
  Version privacy: DISABLED
 
Transport:
  Transport:
  Type: Callhome
Registration:
  Status: UNREGISTERED
  Export-Controlled Functionality: NOT ALLOWED
 
License Authorization: 
  Status: EVAL MODE
  Evaluation Period Remaining: 83 days, 23 hours, 32 minutes, 57 seconds
 
Export Authorization Key:
  Features Authorized

The device communicates with CSSM through Smart Call Home, and direct deployment licenses are activated and registered

What to do next

Manage direct deployment licenses

Manage direct deployment licenses

This task helps you periodically review license compliance and status for devices managed through direct CSSM deployment.

Follow this procedure to generate license usage reports and verify current license status for devices deployed via direct CSSM connection.

Before you begin

  • Ensure you have access to the CSSM UI.
  • Ensure you have administrative CLI access to your devices.

Step 1

In the CSSM UI, navigate to Smart Software Licensing > Reports.

Step 2

Generate the report at Run License Report.

You can save the report to the device using Export to Excel or Export to CSV.

Step 3

On your device, run the show license summary or show license usage commands to view the license status and summary and manage licenses.

Example:

Router# show license summary

 Router# show license summary
Smart Licensing is ENABLED
 
Registration:
  Status: REGISTERED
  Smart Account: Forty-Two uLtd.
  Virtual Account: IOSXR
  Export-Controlled Functionality: ALLOWED
  Last Renewal Attempt: None
  Next Renewal Attempt: Feb 14 2021 23:51:46 UTC
 
License Authorization: 
  Status: OUT OF COMPLIANCE
  Last Communication Attempt: SUCCEEDED
  Next Communication Attempt: Aug 19 2020 11:51:56 UTC
 
License Usage:
  License                                   Entitlement tag               Count Status
  --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  Core and Aggregation...         (ESS-100G-RTU-1)        1 OUT OF COMPLIANCE
  5501 Base Hardware T...        (NCS-5501-TRK)            1 OUT OF COMPLIANCE
Router# show license usage
Router# show license usage
License Authorization: 
  Status: OUT OF COMPLIANCE on Aug 18 2020 23:51:57 UTC
 
Core and Aggregation Essentials SW Right-to-Use v1.0 per 100G (ESS-100G-RTU-1):
  Description: Core and Aggregation Essentials SW Right-to-Use v1.0 per 100G
  Count: 1
  Version: 1.0
  Status: OUT OF COMPLIANCE
  Export status: NOT RESTRICTED
 
5501 Base Hardware Tracking PID (NCS-5501-TRK):
  Description: 5501 Base Hardware Tracking PID
  Count: 1
  Version: 1.0
  Status: OUT OF COMPLIANCE
  Export status: NOT RESTRICTED

Offline deployments

Offline deployment is a Smart Licensing deployment model that

  • allows devices to be set up without internet access
  • does not require communication with Cisco, and
  • is used in highly secure environments.

Offline deployments for different environments

Select the offline deployment method depending on your network environment.

  • Remote environments: SSM on-prem disconnected mode is suitable for remote environments. You can enable SSM on-prem disconnected mode by turning off communication with CSSM on the SSM on-prem server. You can enable disconnected mode on the SSM on-prem server by turning off communication with CSSM. To activate licenses for SSM on-prem disconnected mode, see Activate licenses on SSM on-prem.
  • Air-gapped environments: Specific License Reservation (SLR) is designed for fully air-gapped, classified environments where on-premises licensing is not an option. SLR reserves specific licenses from the smart account according to the router’s license usage and requires no ongoing communication or additional infrastructure. To use the Specific License Reservation, you must have approval and authorization from Cisco. For assistance, go to www.cisco.com/go/scm or contact your account representative. To activate SLR for your network, see Activate licenses for air-gapped environments

License reporting requirements

  • SSM on-prem disconnected mode: Network administrators manually upload RUM reports that contain the license usage, to maintain trust and license compliance. This is because device communication to CSSM on On-Premises servers is disabled. See Manage licenses on SSM on-prem.
  • Specific License Reservation: No license usage reporting to CSSM required due to the fully offline nature.

Activate licenses for air-gapped environments

Before you begin

  • Ensure you have approval and authorization from Cisco to enable SLR.
  • Contact your Cisco account representative for guidance, or visit www.cisco.com/go/scm as needed.

Follow these steps to activate SLR licenses in air-gapped deployments.

Step 1

Contact your Cisco account representative to obtain the license reservation code.

Step 2

Run the license smart reservation command on the device to enable SLR on the device.

Example:

Router# configure
Router(config)# license smart reservation

Step 3

Run the license smart reservation request local command on the device to generate a request code.

Copy the request code and enter it at CSSM.

Example:

Router# license smart reservation request local 

Enter this request code in the Cisco Smart Software Manager portal:
CD-ZNCS-5501-SE:FOC2118R24P-AVYd1FABK-AC /* This is a sample code */

Step 4

Navigate to Smart Software Licensing > Inventory in the CSSM UI, and select the virtual account. Then, navigate to Licenses > License Reservation.

  1. Enter or attach the reservation request code that you generated on the router at Enter Request Code, then click Next.

  2. Navigate to Select License > Reserve a Specific License and select the licenses you require. Enter the required quantity and click Next.

  3. Generate the authorization code and copy it to your device.

Step 5

Run the license smart reservation install file command on your device to enter the file path of the authorization code.

Example:

Router# license smart reservation install file /disk2:/AuthorizationCode_SN_FOX24XXXXX.txt 
/* This is a sample code */ 
The "/" before the directory (/disk2:/ or /harddisk:/) is needed because of the linux file path.

This activates SLR for your device.

Step 6

Run the show license reservation command to verify the license status of your device. 

Router# show license reservation 

License reservation: ENABLED
Overall status:
  Active: PID:NCS-55A2-MOD-S,SN:FOC2245R05H
      Reservation status: RESERVATION IN PROGRESS on Feb 05 2021 16:33:08 UTC
      Request code: CC-ZNCS-55A2-MOD-S:FOC2245R05H-AVYd1FABK-45

YANG data models for Smart Licensing

Cisco IOS XR supports a programmatic way of configuring and collecting operational data of a network device using YANG data models. Although configurations using CLIs are easier and human-readable, automating the configuration using model-driven programmability results in scalability.

The data models are available in the release image, and are also published in the Github repository. Navigate to the release folder of interest to view the list of supported data models and their definitions. Each data model defines a complete and cohesive model, or augments an existing data model with additional XPaths. To view a comprehensive list of the data models supported in a release, navigate to the Available-Content.md file in the repository.

You can also view the data model definitions using the YANG Data Models Navigator tool. This GUI-based and easy-to-use tool helps you explore the nuances of the data model and view the dependencies between various containers in the model. You can view the list of models supported across Cisco IOS XR releases and platforms, locate a specific model, view the containers and their respective lists, leaves, and leaf lists presented visually in a tree structure. This visual tree form helps you get insights into nodes that can help you automate your network.

To get started with using the data models, see the Programmability Configuration Guide.

The data model handles the types of requirements for smart licensing.

Data Model Types and Associated CLI Commands

Data

Data Model

CLI Commands
Configuration data:

a set of writable data that is required to configure smart licensing on the router.

 Native data model:

Cisco-IOS-XR-smart-license-cfg.yang
  • license smart reservation
  • [no] license smart reservation
  • license smart flexible-consumption enables
  • [no] license smart flexible-consumption enable
Operational state data:

a set of data that the system obtains at run time.

 Common data model:

cisco-smart-license.yang

Native data model:

Cisco-IOS-XR-smart-

license-platform-oper.yang

Cisco-IOS-XR-infra-

-smartlicense-oper.yang
  • show license platform summary
  • show license platform detail
  • show license [all | summary | usage | udi]
Actions:

a set of NETCONF actions that support robust networkwide configuration transactions.

 Native data model:

Cisco-IOS-XR-smart-license-act.yang
  • license smart register id token
  • license smart deregister
  • license smart renew id
  • license smart renew auth
  • license smart reservation request local
  • license smart reservation cancels local
  • license smart reservation install file <file path>
  • license smart reservation return local
  • license smart reservation return authorization file <file path>
  • license smart transport smart
  • license smart url <url>
  • license smart software-upgrade enable
  • license smart proxy hostname <hostname/ip>
  • license smart proxy port <port>

Revision History

This table provides a concise reference of Smart Licensing features, including their release information and descriptions, to help users quickly identify the evolution of capabilities and determine feature availability across releases.

Feature History Table

Feature Name

Release Information

Feature Description

YANG data models for Smart Licensing

Release 7.4.1

With this feature, you can use data models for all the smart licensing operations such as registering your device with a token, renewing token ID, deregistering device to remove the software entitlements and so on using NETCONF remote procedure calls (RPCs).

The following data models are introduced:

Cisco-IOS-XR-smart-license-cfg.yang

cisco-smart-license.yang

Cisco-IOS-XR-smartlicense-platform-oper.yang

Cisco-IOS-XR-infra-smartlicense-oper.yang

Cisco-IOS-XR-smart-license-act.yang

You can access these data models from the Github repository.

Smart transport

Release 7.4.1

You can now use Smart transport to communicate with CSSM. Smart transport is a transport method where a Smart Licensing (JSON) message is contained within an HTTPs message, and exchanged between a product instance and CSSM, to communicate.

Specific License Reservation

Release 7.3.1

Specific License Reservation (SLR) allows customers in highly secure networks to utilize smart licenses without communicating the license information to the Cisco Smart Software manager (CSSM).