Each Cisco UCS fabric interconnect comes with several port licenses that are factory installed and shipped with the hardware. You can purchase fabric interconnects fully licensed or partially licensed. You can also purchase additional licenses after delivery.

The following four new licenses are added for the 6300 Series FI and are only valid on the 6332 and 6332-16UP Fis.

• 40G_ETH_PORT_ACTIVATION_PKG – Licenses used for 40 GB Ethernet ports

• 40G_ETH_C_PORT_ACTIVATION_PKG – Licenses used for 40 GB Ethernet ports directly connected to rack servers (C-Direct)

• 10G_C_PORT_ACTIVATION_PKG – Licenses used for the first 16 10 GB unified ports on the 6332-16UP that are directly connected to rack servers (C-Direct)

• 10G_PORT_ACTIVATION_PKG – Licenses used for the first 16 10 GB unified ports on the 6332-16UP

  Note	The 10G_PORT_ACTIVATION_PKG and 10G_C_PORT_ACTIVATION_PKG licenses are only valid for the 6332-16UP FIs, and can only be installed on them.

The following licenses are used when S3260 system is connected to FI as appliance (appliance port) or Cisco UCS Manager managed node (server port):

At a minimum, each fabric interconnect ships with the following counted licenses pre-installed:

Port License Consumption

Port licenses are not bound to physical ports. When you disable a licensed port, that license is retained for use with the next enabled port. To use additional fixed ports, you must purchase and install licenses for those ports. All ports, regardless of their type (fibre, ethernet) consume licenses if they are enabled.

For breakout capable ports available in the 6332 and the 6332-16UP platforms, 40 GB licenses remain applied to the main port even if that port is a breakout port, and that port continues to consume only one 40 GB license.

Note	The initial configuration of a port will enable it, and consume a license.

Each Cisco UCS 6324 Fabric Interconnect comes with a factory installed port license that is shipped with the hardware. This license is for the eight 40 GB unified ports, and can be used for any supported purpose. The C-direct port license is factory installed with a grace period, and can be used for Cisco UCS rack servers.

Grace Period

If you attempt to use a port that does not have an installed license, Cisco UCS initiates a 120 day grace period. The grace period is measured from the first use of the port without a license and is paused when a valid license file is installed. The amount of time used in the grace period is retained by the system.

Note	Each physical port has its own grace period. Initiating the grace period on a single port does not initiate the grace period for all ports.

If a licensed port is unconfigured, that license is transferred to a port functioning within a grace period. If multiple ports are acting within grace periods, the license is moved to the port whose grace period is closest to expiring.

High Availability Configurations

To avoid inconsistencies during failover, we recommend that both fabric interconnects in the cluster have the same number of ports licensed. If symmetry is not maintained and failover occurs, Cisco UCS enables the missing licenses and initiates the grace period for each port being used on the failover node.

Configuration and Restrictions

• The C-Direct rack licensing feature accounts for the rack server ports that are directly connected to the FI, but not to a CIMC port. The default quantity for the 10G_C_PORT_ACTIVATION_PKG and 40G_ETH_C_PORT_ACTIVATION_PKG is always 0.

• When a 40 GB port, or a breakout port under a 40 GB breakout port is enabled without any connections, this port is allotted a license under the 40G_ETH_PORT_ACTIVATION_PKG, if available. If this port is connected to a Direct-Connect rack server after a time lag, it triggers a complete re-allocation of licenses, then this port passes through one of the following license allocation scenarios occurs:

  When you enable a breakout port under a 40 GB breakout port, if that port is connected to a Direct-Connect rack server, and the 40G_C_PORT_ACTIVATION_PKG license files are installed on the FI, the following license allocation occurs:

  • If no other ports under the breakout port are enabled, the parent 40 GB port is allotted a license under the 40G_C_PORT_ACTIVATION_PKG, and the used quantity is incremented for this instance.

  • If other ports are enabled, and if at least one port is not connected to a Direct Connect rack server, even if the port is not being used, the parent 40 GB port is allotted a license under the 40G_ETH_PORT_ACTIVATION_PKG, and the used quantity is incremented for this instance.

• When you enable a breakout port under a 40 GB breakout port and that port is connected to a Direct-Connect rack server, and the 40G_C_PORT_ACTIVATION_PKG license files are not installed on the FI, the following license allocation occurs:

  • If no ports under the breakout port are enabled, the parent 40 GB port is allotted a license under the 40G_ETH_PORT_ACTIVATION_PKG. The subordinate quantity is increased if the licenses are available in the 40G_ETH_PORT_ACTIVATION_PKG. If the licenses are not available, the used quantity under this feature is increased and the entire port goes in to the grace period.

  • If other ports are enabled and at least one port is not connected to a Direct Connect rack server, even if the port is not being used, the parent 40 GB port is allotted a license under the 40G_ETH_PORT_ACTIVATION_PKG, and the used quantity is incremented for this instance.

The host ID is also known as the serial number.