License Management

This chapter includes the following sections:

Managing Licenses

Domain licenses for each registered Cisco UCS Domains enable you to manage the domains from Cisco UCS Central. You can manage the Cisco UCS domain licenses using both Cisco UCS Central GUI and CLI.

Grace Period

When you start using Cisco UCS Central for the first time, you can register up to five Cisco UCS domains for free, for up to 120 days grace period. If you register any domain after the fifth, you get a 120 grace period for each new registered domain. After the grace period ends, you need an active domain license to manage the domain using Cisco UCS Central. The grace period is measured from the day you register the Cisco UCS domain until the day you obtain and install a license.

The use of grace period for a registered Cisco UCS domain is stored in the system. Unregistering a domain from the system does not reset the grace period. For example, if you register a domain for free and use 40 days of the grace period unregister after 40 days, the system records the 40 days in association with that domain. If you register this Cisco UCS domain again, the grace period for the domain resumes and indicates that 40 days have been used. You must obtain and install a license before the grace period expires. If you did not obtain a license before the grace period expires, the system generates multiple faults as a reminder to procure a license. See Obtaining a License

License Types

The following are the two available license types:

  • Initial License: Initial license includes the initial activation license for Cisco UCS Central and five domain licenses. After installing the initial license, you cannot delete it from the system. You can still delete the download task for the initial license, that does not have any impact on the initial license installation status.
  • Domain License: If you plan to register more than five domains in Cisco UCS Central, you must purchase domain licenses. After obtaining and downloading the domain licenses, when you register a Cisco UCS domain, you can select the domain and assign a license.

Obtaining a License

You can obtain a license for a Cisco UCS domain using the Cisco License Management Portal.


Note

  • This process may change after the release of this document. If one or more of these steps do not apply, contact your Cisco representative for information on how to obtain a license.

  • To obtain initial license use the license code L-UCS-CTR-INI=.

  • To obtain domain licenses use the license code L-UCS-CTR-LIC=.

Before You Begin

Obtain the Product Authorization Key (PAK) from the claim certification or other proof of purchase documentation.

    Step 1   On the Menu bar, click the Tools icon and select Licenses.
    Step 2   ClickUCS Central GUID to copy the GUID. The GUID is unique to each Cisco UCS Central instance for obtaining licenses.
    Step 3   Click Cisco SWIFT to open the License Administration Portal.
    Step 4   Login to the License Administration Portal, and click Continue to Product License Registration.
    Step 5   On the Quickstart page, enter the PAK in the Enter a Single PAK or Token to fulfill field and click Fulfill Single PAK/Token.
    Step 6   On the Assign SKUs to Devices page, check the Quantity Available checkbox next to the PAK that you entered.
    Step 7   Enter the GUID in the GUID field, and click Assign.
    Step 8   Click Next.
    Step 9   On the Review page, enter your email address, select the user ID, and check the License Agreement checkbox.
    Step 10   Click Get License.

    Cisco sends you the license zip file by email. The license file is digitally signed to authorize use on only the specified Cisco UCS domain.

    Caution   

    After you obtain the license file, you must not tamper with the license code. Any manual edits from your part breaks the tamper proof, and disables the license.

    What to Do Next

    Unzip the license file and install it.

    Installing a License

    You can install a license file from a local or remote file system.

    Before You Begin

    Make sure you have the following:

    • Obtained the license from Cisco and saved it to your local system or remote file system.

    • Administrative permission for Cisco UCS domain to perform this task.

    • If you saved the license file in a remote location, make sure that location exists. Make sure to have the following information ready:

      • Absolute remote path. For example if the transfer protocol is SCP: scp://user@<ip>/x/y/z

      • Host name or IP address of the remote server

      • Username and password for the remote server

      Step 1   On the menu bar, click Operation icon, and select Licenses.
      Step 2   In the Licenses menu bar, click Install icon.

      This launches the Install License dialog box.

      Step 3   In License File Location, click Local or Remote.

      Select the location depending on where you have saved your license file.

      1. If the license file is in the local system, browse to the File Name and select the file.
      2. If the license file is in remote location, fill in the required information for the remote location.
      Step 4   Click Install.

      If you have selected the right file, the license file is installed in the system. If not, you will see an error message at the end of the dialog box. Make sure to select the right license file.