Licensing 1G and 10G Ports on the Cisco 520 Series Routers

The Cisco Software License Activation feature is a set of processes and components to activate Cisco IOS-XE software feature sets by obtaining and validating fee-based Cisco software licenses.

For information on software license activation and concepts, see the Cisco IOS Software Activation Conceptual Overview.

Refer the following link for the License Registration Portal: https://slexui.cloudapps.cisco.com/SWIFT/LicensingUI/Quickstart

Restrictions for Port Upgrade Licensing


Note

Port Upgrade Licensing is applicable for 10G ports only.

  • If 10G license is installed and activated for a dual rate port and an SFP is inserted in that port, the interface will come up in 1G mode.

  • If 10G license is installed and activated for a dual rate port and an SFP+ is inserted in that port, the interface will come up in 10G mode.

  • If 10G license is not installed for particular port and SFP is inserted, the interface will come up in 1G mode.

  • If there is no license and a 1G SFP is inserted in the chassis, ports Te0/0/4-Te0/0/7 will be administratively down.

    If there is a license and a 1G SFP is inserted in the chassis, ports Te0/0/4-Te0/0/7 will come up in 1G mode only.

  • If sufficient 10G licenses are not available or not activated for a port and an SFP+ is inserted, the 10G mode is not enabled. The interface will be in 'link down state' and the following system warning message will be generated. Warning: SFP+ inserted at port X tengig license not in use

  • If an activated 10G license is uninstalled or deactivated for a particular port with SFP+, the interface is initialized to 1G mode and 10G interfaces will be in administratively down state.

Port Upgrade License

Port upgrade license is available in pay-as-you-grow model. Few ports in the router are enabled by default. However, you must purchase the licenses to enable other ports.

10 GigabitEthernet Upgrade License (N520-10G-2)—10G ports are bundled as a group of two ports. You must purchase one license bundle to enable two 10G ports.

The Cisco NCS 520 routers support dual rate 10G ports. Initially all the 10G ports operate in 1G mode. You must purchase 10G Upgrade license to operate in 10G mode.

Table 1. Cisco NCS 520 Models Licensed and Non-licensed Ports
Cisco NCS 520 Series Models

1G ports

10G ports

N520-4G4Z-A

N520-X-4G4Z-A

N520-X-4G4Z

There are 4*1G ports. These ports are grouped as:

  • Two copper ports

  • Two SFP ports

All the four ports (Gi0/0/0 - Gi0/0/3) are non-licensed ports and all are enabled by default

There are 4*10G ports and they are disabled by default. All the 10G ports work in 1G mode by default. Upon installing one 10G license, two ports which are enabled first by using the "no shut" command, are enabled to work in 10G mode. Upon installing the second 10G license, all the four ports work in 10G mode.

Table 2. Cisco NCS 520 Series Models Ports Behavior
Cisco NCS 520 Series Models

1G ports

10G ports

N520-4G4Z-A

N520-X-4G4Z-A

N520-X-4G4Z

Without License: The ports Gi0/0/0 - Gi0/0/3 operate in 1G mode.

Without License: The licensed ports Te0/0/4- Te0/0/7 operate in 1G mode.

With license, all the 10G ports work in 1G mode by default. Upon installing one 10G license, two ports which are enabled first by using the "no shut" command, are enabled to work in 10G mode. Upon installing the second 10G license, all the four ports work in 10G mode.

Configuring Ports Using Port Upgrade License

Procedure

  Command or Action Purpose

Step 1

enable

Example:

Router> enable

Enables privileged EXEC mode.

  • Enter your password if prompted.

Step 2

configure terminal

Example:

Router# configure terminal

Enters global configuration mode.

Step 3

license install licensefilelocation:licensefilename

Example:

Router(config)# license install bootflash:10G.lic
Installing licenses from "bootflash:10G.lic" 
Installing...Feature:10GEupgradelicense...Successful:Supported
1/1 licenses were successfully installed 
0/1 licenses were existing licenses
0/1 licenses were failed to install

Installs the 10G Port Upgrade license and enables the associated ports.

Note

 

Upon installing one 10G license, two ports which are enabled first by using the "no shut" command, are enabled to work in 10G mode. Upon installing the second 10G license, all the four ports work in 10G mode.

Step 4

interface range Te0/0/4-7

Example:

Router(config)#interface range Te0/0/4-7

Enter the interface mode.

Step 5

no shut

Example:

Router(config-if-range)#no shut

Activates the 10G Port Upgrade license.

Verifying Port Upgrade Licensing

Verifying the installed license

This example shows only license installed but not activated. 

Router# show license all
License Store: Primary License Storage
StoreIndex: 1   Feature: 10GEupgradelicense                Version: 1.0
        License Type: Permanent
        License State: Active, In Use
        License Count: 2/2/0  (Active/In-use/Violation)
        License Priority: Medium
License Store: Built-In License Storage
StoreIndex: 0   Feature: metroaccess                       Version: 1.0
        License Type: Evaluation
        License State: Active, Not in Use, EULA not accepted
            Evaluation total period: 8  weeks 4  days 
            Evaluation period left: 8  weeks 4  days 
            Period used: 0  minute  0  second  
        License Count: Non-Counted
        License Priority: None

Uninstalling the 10GigabitEthernet Port Upgrade License


Router# license clear 10GEupgradelicense

Feature: 10GEupgradelicense
    1   License Type: Permanent
        License State: Active, Not in Use
        License Addition: Exclusive
        License Count: 2
        Comment: 
        Store Index: 1
        Store Name: Primary License Storage


Are you sure you want to clear? (yes/[no]): yes

Additional References

Related Documents

Related Topic Document Title

Cisco IOS commands

https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/ios-xml/ios/mcl/allreleasemcl/all-book.html

Standards and RFCs

Standard/RFC Title

No specific Standards and RFCs are supported by the features in this document.

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MIBs

MIB MIBs Link
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To locate and download MIBs for selected platforms, Cisco IOS releases, and feature sets, use Cisco MIB Locator found at the following URL:

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

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