Smart Software Licensing
This chapter describes the different capabilities of Cisco Smart Software Licensing, and the different components involved in licensing your device. Some of the topics described are:
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Cisco Smart Software Manager (CSSM)
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Specific License Reservation (SLR)
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Licensing Feature Support
Note |
If your system is running IOS XE release 17.4.1 or greater, Smart Software Licensing is replaced by Smart Licensing Using Policy (SLP), which is discussed in the next chapter. |
Licensing Feature Support
Smart Licensing is enabled by default on the ESR6300. Right-To-Use (RTU) licensing is not supported.
The ESR6300 uses the CDNA licensing model. This model uses the network-essentials (NE) and network-advantage (NA) license scheme. In this model, there are two stacks in the image license, the network-stack and the DNA-stack. The network stack packages features such as IOS features vpn, crypto features, mpls, bgp, etc. This stack is perpetual. The DNA stack has its own set of features get packaged DNAC, etc.
The Throughput-Based licensing on the Cisco ESR6300 has three levels:
Throughput |
Network Essentials |
Network Advantage |
---|---|---|
Default (50 Mbps) |
ESR-6300-NE/DEF-K9 |
ESR-6300-NA/DEF-K9 |
Performance (250 Mbps) |
ESR-6300-NE/PERF-K9 |
ESR-6300-NA/PERF-K9 |
Boost (2 Gbps) |
ESR-6300-NE/BOOS-K9 |
ESR-6300-NA/BOOS-K9 |
Note |
A device can only have a single license – either Network-Essentials or Network-Advantage for the universalk9 image. |
To find information about platform support and to know which license levels a feature is available with, use Cisco Feature Navigator. To access Cisco Feature Navigator, go to https://www.cisco.com/go/cfn. An account on cisco.com is not required.
Understanding Licensed Throughput Throttling
The Cisco ESR6300 limits egress throughput based on the license level installed on the platform. The egress throughput is determined by adding the current outbound throughput on all interfaces (either physical or TAP). If this calculated throughput exceeds the licensed throughput, packets will be randomly dropped.
For calculating throughput, the Cisco ESR6300 only uses the L2 header and payload. It does not take into account the 4 byte CRC that would be present on an Ethernet "wire," nor does it take into account the inter-frame gap and pre-amble that would typically be on the "wire." Most traffic generators do take these other items into account. As a result, with small packets especially, the throughput calculated by IOS may be much lower than the throughput reported by the traffic generator.
Features Supported in a License Package
The following table is an overview of the features supported in the License Packages:
Network Essentials |
Network Advantage |
---|---|
Essential Routing Protocols: BGP, OSPF, EIGRP, IGMP, IGRP, ISIS, RIP |
Routing Capabilities: Multicast, MPLS |
Router Management: EEM, TACACS+, NETCONF, AAA, DNS, DHCP, DPI Visibility (Full FNF), IPSLA, Basic QoS (classification, policing, remarking, scheduling), NAT |
App-based Policy: PFR, PBR, App-aware QoS Policy, App Performance Troubleshooting (co-related insights) |
VPNs: GETVPN, FlexVPN, GRE, DMVPN (Hub Spoke) |
VPNs: DMVPN (Full Mesh topology support), LISP |
Security: IKE, IPSEC, PKI, MacSec, Zone-Based Firewall, Encryption Algorithms (AES, DES, 3DES, SHA, MD5), IPS (community signature), ALG, SSLVPN |
Specific License Reservation (SLR)
Specific License Reservation (SLR) is a functionality that enables you to deploy a software license on a device without communicating usage information to Cisco. This functionality is especially used in highly secure networks, and it is supported on platforms that have Smart Licensing enabled.
SLR lets you reserve a license for your product instance from the CSSM. These reserved licenses need not be renewed or reauthorized unless there is a license usage change on the device.
To enable and use the SLR feature, you must generate a reservation request code from the router device. Use this code in CSSM and generate an authorization code. When you enter this authorization code on the router, the license reservation becomes effective. After you enable license reservation, the system displays the License Reservation section, which is used to reserve licenses for your product.
Note |
It is assumed that the customer has their Smart Account/Virtual Account already created in CSSM (Cisco Smart Software Manager - (https://software.cisco.com) as part of the purchase setup. Entitlement usage are recorded and tracked in CSSM. |
Cisco Smart Software Manager (CSSM)
CSSM is an intuitive portal where you can activate and manage all of your Cisco licenses. This section provides an overview.
Note |
Prior to licensing, it is assumed the customer has their Smart Account / Virtual Account already created in CSSM (https://software.cisco.com) as part of the purchase setup. Entitlement usage are recorded and tracked in CSSM. |
Some of the highlights of CSSM are:
CSSM Validity Check includes ensuring
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- The Smart Account is authorized for Specific License Reservation
- There are enough available perpetual licenses to authorize consumption
- The Smart Account is authorized for any Export Restricted Functionality
• Transfers between Virtual Accounts is allowed
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- License consumption and product must transfer together
• Increased license consumption is allowed
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- • Authorized quantity will be persistent
- • Product will strictly enforce reserved licenses/quantities – overage not allowed
• User may change registration, up or down by re-registering
• User may un-register product to release licenses to their pool
Prior to using CSSM, please view a short video about how to use the portal found here:https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/buy/smart-accounts/software-manager.html
Click on the View Video button.
Smart Account
Prior to Smart Account authorization, Specific License Reservation (SLR) functionality is not available on CSSM. Request SLR authorization by sending an email to: smart-ops-support@cisco.com.
Include in the email a Smart Account Name & Domain and a brief justification why SLR is needed.