License Overview and Delivery

License Overview

After you place a Cisco HCS order, you then obtain the software and licenses, install the software, and activate the licenses. The tools and processes used to obtain software and licenses are similar. This document focuses on license downloads and activation specifically. For information about ordering Cisco HCS licenses, see the Cisco Hosted Collaboration Solution Ordering Guide at https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/partners/tools/collaboration-ordering-guides.html.

Smart Licensing is a cloud-based, software license management solution that enables you to automate time-consuming, manual licensing tasks. The Smart Licensing solution allows you to easily track the status of your license and software usage trends.

It is a Cisco initiative to move all the licenses to the cloud. The purpose of this initiative is to simplify the license management for HCS partners and enable them to adopt Cisco’s cloud-based license management system. Smart Licensing helps in overcoming most of the limitations with the traditional PAK-based licenses. Most of the Cisco products including routing, switching, security, collaboration, and so on supports smart licensing.

Smart Licensing in HCS depends on Cisco Smart Software Manager (CSSM), CSSM On-Prem and HCM-F. In CSSM and CSSM On-Prem you can activate and manage all Cisco licenses. HCM-F simplifies the complexities of registration or activation of UC Applications with CSSM or CSSM ON-Prem, management of Smart Licenses, generate licensing reports for inventory, and billing purposes. HCM-F also provides licensing dashboards for consumption details and compliance status.

Smart Licensing helps simplify three core functions:

  • Purchasing: The software that you have installed in your network can automatically self-register themselves, without Product Activation Keys (PAKs).

  • Management: You can automatically track activations against your license entitlements. Also, you do not need to install the license file on every node. You can create License Pools (logical grouping of licenses) to reflect your organization structure. Smart Licensing offers you Cisco Smart Software Manager, a centralized portal that enables you to manage all your Cisco software licenses from one centralized website.

  • Reporting: Through the portal, Smart Licensing offers an integrated view of the licenses you purchased and the licenses that are deployed in your network. You can use this data to make better purchase decisions, based on your consumption.

Cisco Smart Software Licensing helps you to procure, deploy, and manage licenses easily, where devices register and report license consumption, removing the need for product activation keys (PAK). It Pools license entitlements in a single account and allow you to move licenses freely through the network, wherever you need them. It is enabled across Cisco products and managed by a direct cloud-based or mediated deployment model.

The Cisco Smart Software Licensing service registers the product instance, reports license usage, and obtains the necessary authorization from Cisco Smart Software Manager and/or CSSM On-Prem.

HCM-F enables the user to perform multiple tasks, such as, change the license deployment to Hosted Collaboration Solution (HCS), setting the transport mode to UC Applications, create token in CSSM, register the UC applications and validate the same, and so on. If there is a failure while performing the tasks, HCM-F collects the error messages from the UC application or CSSM, and updates the HCM-F Job entry with the issue details.

CSSM reports at smart account-level and product level. However, user information is not available at these levels. HCM-F provides the Service Inventory report and the HLM report of license usage at customer-level and virtual account level. It also provides Licensing dashboards to display the usage.

You can use Smart Licensing to:

  • See the status of each license type.

  • See the product licenses registered on Cisco Smart Software Manager and/or Cisco Smart Software Manager CSSM On-Prem .

  • Renew License Authorization with Cisco Smart Software Manager and/or Cisco Smart Software Manager CSSM On-Prem .

  • Renew the License Registration.

  • Deregister with Cisco Smart Software Manager and/or Cisco Smart Software Manager CSSM On-Prem .

The deployment option for Smart Licensing:

Cisco Smart Software Manager
The Cisco Smart Software Manager (CSSM) is a cloud-based service that handles system licensing. HCM-F can connect to CSSM either directly or through a proxy server. HCM-F and UC applications use the selected Transport Mode. We recommend using a proxy server to connect to CSSM instead of connecting directly. Cisco Smart Software Manager allows you to:

  • Manage and track licenses.

  • Move licenses across virtual account.

  • Remove registered product instance.

To track smart account-related alerts, change the preference settings, and configure email notification. Navigate to Smart Software Licensing in Cisco Smart Software Manager.

For additional information, go to https://software.cisco.com.

Cisco Smart Software Manager On-Prem
Cisco Smart Software Manager On-Prem is an on-premise deployment that can handle your licensing needs if HCM-F and UC applications cannot connect to CSSM directly, either for security or availability reasons. When this option is deployed, HCM-F registers and report license consumption to the CSSM On-Prem, which synchronizes its database regularly with the backend Cisco Smart Software Manager that is hosted on cisco.com.
The Cisco Smart Software Manager On-Prem is deployed in either Connected or Disconnected mode, depending on whether the CSSM On-Prem can connect directly to CSSM on cisco.com.

  • Connected—Used when there is connectivity to cisco.com directly from the Smart Software Manager On-Prem. Smart account synchronization occurs automatically.

  • Disconnected—Used when there is no connectivity to cisco.com from the On-Prem. Smart Account synchronization must be manually uploaded and downloaded. You can specify the sync schedule in CSSM. By default, the sync with CSSM should be within 30 days.

    For more information on CSSM to CSSM On-Prem sync, see Certificates Used in Cisco SSM On-Prem Data Exchanges
For more information on Cisco Smart Software Manager On-Prem information, see https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/buy/smart-accounts/software-manager-satellite.html.

Note

HCM-F does not support Smart Software Manager On-Prem Classic Edition (CE).

Smart Versus Traditional Licensing

Traditional (node locked) licensing

Smart (dynamic) licensing

You procure the license and manually install it on the PLM.

Your device requests the licenses that it needs from CSSM.

Node-locked licenses - license is associated with a specific device.

Pooled licenses - Smart accounts are the company account specific that can be used with any compatible device in your company.

No common install base location to view the licenses that are purchased or software usage trends.

Licenses are stored securely on Cisco servers that are accessible 24x7x365.

No easy means to transfer licenses from one device to another.

Licenses can be moved between product instances without a license transfer, which greatly simplifies the reassignment of a software license as part of the Return Material Authorization (RMA) process.

Limited visibility into all software licenses being used in the network. Licenses are tracked only on per node basis.

Complete view of all Smart Software Licenses used in the network using a consolidated usage report of software licenses and devices in one easy-to-use portal.

Electronic License Delivery

Electronic delivery (eDelivery) of Cisco HCS software is the default delivery method of the Cisco Commerce Workspace. eDelivery enables electronic fulfillment of software license entitlement documentation. With eDelivery, users can manage and download their software license entitlement documentation:

  • Right to Use

  • End User License Agreement

  • License Claim Form (with the associated Product Authorization Keys)

When a partner or customer orders any eDelivery product, an email is sent to the contact named in the Ship To field of the order. The email contains a link to the eDelivery application. The link in the email is not tied to a specific user, so the email can be shared with others as necessary.

Customers access the eDelivery application using their Cisco.com user profile (user ID and password). This access allows partners or customers to receive electronic licenses and software downloads.

For more eDelivery information and training, see eDelivery Program.

For more information and assistance, send an email to hcs-license@cisco.com.

Physical License Delivery

For the physical delivery of Cisco HCS software and licenses, a kit is delivered by postal mail. The kit contains a DVD, the PAK, and documentation. The kit is shipped to the person and address in the Ship To field of the order. Physical delivery takes longer than electronic delivery.

Electronic is the default delivery method, but you can select physical delivery when you place an order.

HCM-F Smart Licensing Workflow

The Smart Licensing architecture in HCM-F follows the general HCM-F architectural principles.

The workflow is as follows:

Action

Description

Set up Smart Account, Local Account and Virtual Account in CSSM and CSSM On-Prem

  • Create a Smart Account in CSSM or CSSM On-Prem. You can also get access to an existing smart account.

  • Create Virtual Account

  • Create client credentials Grant using Mulesoft.

For more information about the one time setup activities, see Initial One Time Setup in CSSM for Smart Licensing and Initial One Time Setup in CSSM on-prem for Smart Licensing.

For more information about operational licenses, see Configure Operational License.

Setup Transport Mode

Setup the transport mode in HCM-F to connect HCM-F and UC applications to CSSM.

Provision smart account in HCM-F

  • Provision the credentials and Smart Account with HCM-F.

  • HCM-F extracts smart account, local account, and virtual account-related information from CSSM and CSSM On-Prem.

  • Creates product registration token to register UC Applications in CSSM and CSSM On-Prem.

  • Provide the transport mode in HCM-F to connect HCM-F and UC applications to CSSM and CSSM On-Prem.

Note 

You can autoregister the clusters to ordered virtual account using HCM-F.

Activate Smart Licensing for Clusters (Cisco Unified Communications Manager, Cisco Unity Connection, Cisco Emergency Responder)

You can assign and unassign clusters to CSSM and CSSM On-Prem using HCM-F.

If autoregistration is enabled, the clusters are automatically assigned to the ordered virtual account. You do not have to manually assign the clusters.

Cluster Sumary

For any failed cluster registration, refer to the Cluster Summary page.

Service Inventory and HLM report generated

HCM-F generates the reports to view the licenses from CSSM and CSSM On-Prem at virtual account-level, or customer-level.

Licensing Dashboard

HCM-F provides a view of the licenses at virtual account-level and customer-level.

HCM-F sync with CSSM and CSSM On-Prem

HCM-F provides on-demand and automatic sync to CSSM and CSSM On-Prem. You can trigger the sync from HCM-F, then HCM-F pulls the virtual account and smart account details from CSSM and CSSM On-Prem and refresh the tokens, if needed.

You can sync smart accounts and virtual accounts either manually or automatically. HCM-F periodically syncs with CSSM and CSSM On-Prem every 24 hours.

For more information on manual sync, see Perform Manual Sync in Cisco Hosted Collaboration Mediation Fulfillment Install and Configure Guide.


Note

If you are not using HCM-F, you must follow the steps described in the UC Applications user documents to register with Smart Licensing.

  • For Unified Communications Manager, see the Configure Connection to Smart Software Licensing chapter of the System Configuration Guide for Cisco Unified Communications Manager guide .

  • For Unity Connection, see the Specific License Reservation chapter of the Install, Upgrade, and Maintenance Guide for Cisco Unity Connection guide .

  • For Emergency Responder, see the Cisco Smart Software Licensing chapter of the Cisco Emergency Responder Administration Guide.

Cisco HCS Management Licenses

This section provides information about the licenses used for Prime Collaboartion Assurance and Cisco Unified Communications Domain Manager.

Licenses for Cisco Prime Collaboration Assurance

Beginning with Cisco HCS 10.0(1), licensing is required for the Cisco Prime Collaboration Assurance software.

The process for fulfilling Cisco Prime Collaboration Assurance licenses is similar to the process for Cisco Unified Communications applications.

  • In your web browser, navigate to http://www.cisco.com/go/license.

  • Enter the PAK that you received for Cisco Prime Collaboration Assurance.

  • Follow the prompts to create a single instance license from your overall license pool.

  • Obtain the MAC address of the server and enter it when prompted.

You don't require separate license for Prime Collaboration Analytics when using Prime Collaboration Assurance - Advanced 11.5 in MSP mode. The Prime Collaboration Assurance license takes care of installing the Prime Collaboration Analytics feature. Add a new license file, if you have purchased Assurance Advanced and Analytics license.

For more information about licensing, including endpoints, see Cisco Prime Collaboration Assurance and Analytics Install and Upgrade Guide .


Important

The management license packages for the Cisco HCS 10.x/11.5(x)/12.5(x) releases include the license for Prime Collaboration Assurance 10.x. If you are using one of these HCS releases and upgrade to Prime Collaboration Assurance 12.1, then upgrade the license for Prime Collaboration Assurance. Also upgrade any add-on licenses for Prime Collaboration Assurance.

Cisco HCS Application Licenses

This section mentions about the various application licenses.

Basic, Foundation, and Standard Licenses

Basic, Foundation, and Standard licenses are delivered as a PAK. Use Cisco Prime License Manager to register and activate them. For more information, see Cisco Prime License Manager User Guide.

Essential Licenses

Essential licenses for analog device connections, Cisco Unified IP Phone 3905, or Cisco Unified IP Phone 6901, are registered with the same PAK used for Cisco Unified Communications Manager. Use Cisco Prime License Manager to activate these licenses.

Cisco TelePresence Room Licenses

Cisco TelePresence Room licenses are registered with the PAK for Cisco Unified Communications Manager. Use one room license for each deployed TelePresence room. Activate these licenses using Cisco Prime License Manager.

For information about how licenses are delivered, see Electronic License Delivery and Physical License Delivery.

Cisco HCS Add-On Licenses

This section describes about the various add-on licenses for the UC applications.

Cisco Emergency Responder

Cisco HCS License Manager supports Cisco Emergency Responder, except for CER HCS LE.

Cisco Unity Connection

For license registration, the PAK contains only Cisco Unity Connection components but the registration steps are the same.

For more information about ordering Cisco HCS licenses, see License Ordering.

Unified Attendant Console Advanced Edition

Cisco Unified Attendant Console Advanced uses Single-Server licensing. The publisher server is responsible for all the licensing and customers are not required to license the subscriber separately.

Hosted License Manager and Cisco Prime License Manager do not support Cisco Unified Attendant Console Standard. The administrator performs the following tasks:

  • Obtains licenses for the Cisco Unified Attendant Console.

  • Enters the registration codes on each Cisco Unified Attendant Console server.

  • Enters the license activation codes from the fulfilled order.

In the case of SMB, the consolidated license file feature may be useful to apply to each Cisco Unified Attendant Console.

Third-Party Software Licences

The following third-party software requires licensing: