Manual Chapter : How do I manage software licenses for my devices?

Applies To:

BIG-IQ Centralized Management

  • 8.4.0
back-action License Management

How do I manage software licenses for my devices?

A software license is specific to F5 product services (for example, BIG-IP LTM, BIG-IP APM, and so forth), and is organized in a license pool. From BIG-IQ Centralized Management, you can easily manage licenses in those pools for numerous devices. That means you don’t have to log in to each individual BIG-IP VE device to activate, revoke, or reassign a license.

After you activate your subscription or ELA registration key for a pool license from BIG-IQ, you can assign the license to a managed, or unmanaged, BIG-IP VE device. If you assign a license from a license pool to a BIG-IP device and later decide you don’t need that device licensed, you can revoke the license and assign it to another BIG-IP VE device. This process is similar to a library, where you loan (assign) a license to a BIG-IP device when it is required, and check the license back into the license pool on BIG-IQ (revoke it from the device) so it is available to assign to another BIG-IP VE. This flexible licensing model helps keep track of the licenses, and manage your operating costs.

There are 3 types of devices you can manage licenses for:

Managed BIG-IP devices
From BIG-IQ, you assign licenses to and revoke license from BIG-IP devices using each device’s SSL certificate for authentication over an SSL connection.
Unmanaged BIG-IP devices
From BIG-IQ, you assign licenses to and revoke licenses from BIG-IP devices using each BIG-IP device’s IP address, user name, and password for authentication over an SSL connection.

Note: For more information about using BIG-IQ to only manage licenses, refer to Deploy BIG-IQ to Manage Licenses for BIG-IP Devices on support.f5.com.

Unreachable devices
Unreachable devices (sometimes referred to as disconnected devices) are devices that BIG-IQ can generate licenses for without direct communication between BIG-IQ and BIG-IP. Because there is no direct communication between BIG-IQ and BIG-IP, clients must provide additional device information as input. The client is responsible for installing the license on BIG-IP. To do that, use an API call through a third-party computer or program that communicates with BIG-IQ to get a license from BIG-IQ and assign it to the BIG-IP device by a method of your choosing. The third party makes a similar API call to BIG-IQ for revoking a license. For more information about these API calls, see https://clouddocs.f5.com/products/big-iq/mgmt-api.

To manage licenses for BIG-IQ devices, you must be assigned to one of the following roles:

  • Admin
  • Device Manager
  • License Manager

There are four types of license pools. You can assign, revoke, and reassign licenses from these pools as needed.

License Pool Type Description
Purchased Pool Prepaid pool of a specific number of concurrent license grants for a single BIG-IP service, such as LTM. For example, a purchased pool of 25 licenses for BIG-IP LTM allows you to license up to 25 concurrent BIG-IP VE systems for LTM.
Utility Pool Designed for service providers, utility pools contain licenses for BIG-IP services you grant for a specific unit of measure (hourly, daily, monthly, or yearly). This means you can pay for licenses as needed with no limit to the number of licenses you can grant. From BIG-IQ, you can automatically submit a license usage report. F5 uses that report to calculate billing based on the licensed services, duration of the license grant, and the unit-of-measure pricing. To purchase a utility pool license, you must have a master service agreement.
Volume Pool Prepaid subscription (1 and 3 year terms) for a fixed number of concurrent license grants for multiple BIG-IP services. To purchase a volume pool, you must have a master service agreement.
Registration Key Pool A pool of single standalone BIG-IP VE registration keys for one or more BIG-IP services. Because you are managing these registration keys from BIG-IQ (instead of directly from the BIG-IP device), you can revoke and reassign a license to BIG-IP VE systems without having to contact F5 to allow the license to be moved.