Product License Management#

Introduction#

As part of the VOSS Automate 21.4 release, license enforcement will be enabled on all Automate deployments, including production and lab environments. This will result in the requirement for license keys to be obtained and installed on all platforms (within 7 days from the date of upgrade or installation) to ensure no service disruptions are experienced.

Each VOSS Automate deployment has a unique Deployment or Platform ID. This Platform ID is required to generate a license token. A token will only be valid for a deployment with the related Platform ID.

Important

Upon first installation or upgrade, the system is enabled with a 7-day “grace period” license to allow administrators to carry out the required licensing.

Licensing Workflow

  1. License tokens (JSON Web Tokens) are requested and obtained from VOSS. These are used to license the product.

  2. Choose a licensing method:

    1. From the Administration menu on the GUI as sysadmin user:

      • Follow the steps described under Manage Licenses on the GUI below.

      This method is not available for license renewal when the existing license token has expired already.

    2. From the system Command License Interface (CLI) as platform user:

      To update a token from the system CLI, the following commands are available:

      • license add token [<token string>]

      • license add file <token_file>

      Follow the steps Product Licensing topic in the Platform Guide. This method should be followed for expired license renewal.

  3. According to the type of license, a license would then require a periodic renewal upon expiry.

Manage Licenses on the GUI#

  1. Obtain the license token from VOSS.

  2. Log in as the system administrator user (sysadmin) and navigate to the menu: Administration Menu > Licensing > Manage License

  3. Inspect the form details. After installation or upgrade, the License Status is Grace Period for 7 days.

  4. Copy and paste the license token into the New License Token input box and click Save.

../../_images/license-sysadmin-view-manage.png

Manage License Form Fields#

Note

Date format of <date-time> is localized to the browser locale.

  • Platform ID: <platform ID> - this is the ID to submit when renewing a license.

  • Licensed Application Name: e.g.: Automate

  • License Status: e.g.: Grace Period

  • Sync Status Last Changed: <date-time>

  • License Last Checked: <date-time> - the time that the license was last checked.

    Refer to the Product Licensing topic in the Platform Guide for details on the use of the voss check-license command used to check the license with VOSS.

  • License Sync Message: Displays status messages of communication with the License service.

  • License Token Identifier: <token ID> - for VOSS Support use.

  • License Expiry: <date-time>

  • Current License Token: <token string>

  • New License Token: input to overwrite current with new <token string> provided.

License Notifications#

In the portal, Provider Administrators receive notifications via an Alert on the following days before expiry:

  • 120 days (Info)

  • 90 days (Info)

  • 60 days (Warning)

  • 30 days (Warning)

  • from 2 weeks every day (Warning)

The status of a product license can be seen on:

  • The VOSS Automate GUI:

    • Login screen: a message will display on the GUI login screen upon license (including the grace period license) expiry, to indicate GUI login is not allowed and to contact your administrator.

      To license the system in this case, log in on the system CLI and update the license. This will re-enable GUI login. Refer to the Product Licensing topic in the Platform Guide.

    • Alerts - for provider level administrators and above.

      After login, alerts are shown in the notification indicator if a license expiry is pending or if the VOSS Automate cannot communicate with the license service.

      A Warning alert notification is generated if a license is within 120 days of expiry.

      Example of license expiry warning:

      ../../_images/automate-license-expiry-alert-warning.png

      Example of license service error message:

      "alert_id": "AUTOMATE_LICENSE",
"alert_severity": "ERROR",
"alert_category": "Automate License Service Error",
"alert_message": "Automate License Service communication error since <date-time>"

      Note

      • Alerts can also be configured to send email messages - see to the notify command in the Platform Guide.

      • SNMP traps are also generated - see the License section under Notification Messages in the Platform Guide.

    • Menu for sysadmin user: Administration Menu > Licensing > Manage License

    • Landing page link for sysadmin user: Manage License

  • VOSS Automate Platform CLI:

    • Login display, health display - only on unified nodes in a Unified Node Topology and application nodes in a Modular Cluster Topology.

    • The CLI command output of the command: license token list

      For details, refer to the Product Licensing topic in the Platform Guide.

Renewing a License#

When a license has expired, contact VOSS to renew the license. Provide the platform ID which is shown on the Manage License form.