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  3. Warehouse Topic: Licensing
Manual Chapter : Warehouse Topic: Licensing

Applies To:

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BIG-IQ Centralized Management

  • 8.3.0, 8.2.0, 8.1.0, 8.0.0
Manual Chapter

Warehouse Topic: Licensing

To add and activate a license, you must have a base registration key. You get your key from F5 Networks, typically in the form of an email. If you do not have a base registration key, contact the F5 Networks sales group (
f5.com
).
You can use this procedure to automatically contact the F5 license server for activation if F5 BIG-IQ Centralized Management system is:
  • Connected to the public internet.
  • Able to access the
    activate.f5.com
     site.
  • Existing firewalls allow port 443 to pass through.
Activate a pool license and make it available for assignment to BIG-IP VEs in your network. If BIG-IQ Centralized Management system is not connected to the public internet, you can use this procedure for activation, rather than automatically contacting the F5 license server.
  1. On the left, click
    LICENSE MANAGEMENT
    .
  2. On the left, click
    LICENSE MANAGEMENT
    Licenses
    .
  3. On the left, click
    LICENSE MANAGEMENT
    Assignments
    .
  4. On the left, click
    LICENSE MANAGEMENT
    Reports
    .
  5. Click on the name of the registration key pool you want to activate a license for.
  6. Click the
    Add RegKey Pool
     button.
  7. In the
    Base Registration Key
     field, type or paste the registration key, and into the
    Add-on Keys
     field, type or paste an associated add-on keys.
  8. Click the
    Add License
     button.
  9. In the
    License Name
     field, type a name to identify this license.
  10. In the
    Base Registration Key
     field, type or paste the registration key, and into the
    Add-on Keys
     field, type or paste any associated add-on keys.
  11. For the
    Activation Method
     setting, select
    Automatic
    .
  12. For the
    Activation Method
     setting, select
    Manual
    .
  13. Click the
    Generate Dossier
     button.
    The screen refreshes to display the dossier.
  14. Select and copy the dossier.
  15. Click the
    Access F5 manual activation web portal
     link.
    The F5 Product Licensing site opens.
  16. Click the
    Activate License
     link.
  17. Paste the dossier into the
    Enter Your Dossier
     box and click the
    Next
     button.
  18. Click the
    Activate
     button at the bottom of the screen.
  19. Click the
    Next
     button.
  20. Select the license and copy and paste it into the
    License Text
     box.
  21. From the BIG-IQ Licenses screen, paste the license text into the
    License Text
     box.
  22. Review the EULA, and if you agree with the terms, click the
    Accept
     button at the bottom of the screen.
  23. In the
    Device Name
     and
    IP Address
     fields, type the name and IP address for the device.
  24. From the
    Billing Interval
     list, select the interval at which you want this license billed.
    The device you licensed displays with the license status and the last contact from the BIG-IQ system.
  25. Select the check box next to the device you want to remove a license from.
  26. Click the
    Revoke
     button at the bottom of the screen.
  27. Click the name of the license you want to assign to a device.
  28. Click the
    License Devices
     button.
  29. For utility or a volume license, click the name of the offering.
  30. For managed devices, from the
    Devices
     list, select the device you want to license and move it to the
    Member Devices
     list.
  31. For a managed device, select it from the Managed Devices list.
  32. For unmanaged devices (devices in your network, but you are not managing from BIG-IQ), type the device's address, user name, and password in the
    Unmanaged Devices
     section.
  33. Click the
    Assign
     button at the bottom of the screen.
  34. Click the
    OK
     button to confirm this change.
  35. Click the
    Deploy
     button.
  36. Click the
    Report
     button at the top of the screen.
  37. On the left, click
    LICENSE MANAGEMENT
    Reports
    .
  38. From the
    Available
     list, click the license you want to run a report for, and click the arrow to move it to the
    Selected
     list.
  39. For the
    Type
     option, select
    Active Report
    .
  40. For the
    Type
     option, select
    Historical Report
    .
  41. For the
    Type
     option, select
    Utility Billing Report
    .
  42. Select a license type from the list to narrow the results to the license type you want to create a report for.
  43. In the Usage Period area, in the
    Starting Date
     and
    Ending Date
     fields, type the date range for the report. Alternatively, click the calendars and navigate to the dates.
  44. Click the
    Download
     button at the of the screen to generate the report.
  45. Click the
    Download
     button and select an option to open the file, or save the file.
  46. Select
    Automatically submit report to F5
     for the
    Submission Method
    .
    If BIG-IQ cannot access
    api.f5.com
     or pass traffic through port 443, you must manually submit the report to F5 Networks offline, instead of submitting it from BIG-IQ. For information about how to manually submit the report offline, contact F5 Support.
  47. Specify the
    Day/Time
     you want the BIG-IQ to create the utility reports:
    1. Day of the Month
       from
      1
       to
      28
    2. Start time
      hour
       from
      0
       to
      23
       and
      minute
       from
      0
       to
      59
  48. Specify the
    Day of the Month
     (from
    1
     to
    28
    ), the
    Start time
    hour
     (from
    0
     to
    23
    ) and
    minute
     (from
    0
     to
    59
    ) that you want BIG-IQ to create the utility reports.
  49. If you want to obscure the device's host name and IP address in the report, select
    Yes
     for
    Obfuscate Data
    .
Activating licenses with offerings can take 5-10 minutes, depending on the number of offerings. A status bar displays on the licenses and license properties pages to show you the progress. When the activation status displays as
Active
, you can assign a license from the pool to a BIG-IP VE device.
If a license or offering fails to activate, the license displays with a yellow triangle next to it in the list. You'll need to reactivate that license and its offerings. For individual offerings, you can add an optional description for identification after activation.
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