Use the clear active-license command to remove the active license from this system. This renders the current system unlicensed, so that you can no longer use its storage services or enter gbl mode in the CLI. Use the command only on the advice of F5 Support.

Use this command only on the advice of F5 Support. The CLI prompts for confirmation before it clears the license; enter yes to proceed.

If the ARX can connect to the Internet, you can use the license activate command to automatically re-activate the license. Otherwise, you can use a manual activation method, as described in the documentation for the license create license-dossier command.

You can use the show active-license command to view the license-expiration time and all the currently-licensed features on the system.

Use the license activate command to activate your software license and begin setting up storage services on the ARX.

Trial licenses, obtained from https://www.f5.com/trial/, and evaluation licenses have an expiration date built into them. The timer for the license expiration begins when you run the license activate command or manual activation (described below). If you are installing one of these temporary licenses on a redundant pair of ARX devices, the start dates should be no more than 24 hours apart. We recommend activating the license at both peers on the same day. This avoids a large gap in time where one peer is licensed and the other peer is unlicensed, and it also avoids an SNMP trap that warns you of the license mismatch.

This command contacts a license server at F5, http://activate.f5.com/, so the ARX must have a static route (ip route) to the Internet and access to a DNS server (ip name-server) before you use it. These network settings should be properly configured during installation, in the initial-boot script. You can use ping license-server to confirm that you have a usable connection to the server. If not, you can use the show ip route command for a list of static routes, and use show ip route monitor to check the status of each route. You can also use show ip domain to see your DNS setup, and/or ip name-server to add a new DNS server to the ARX configuration.

If circumstances or network policy prevents you from connecting the ARX to the Internet, you can use a manual activation method, as described in the documentation for the license create license-dossier command.

Use the show active-license command to see all of the licensed limits after you install the base license.

An add-on license changes the limits expressed in show active-license; the CLI informs you of all the changes after you run this command with the add-on-key option.

Use the license activate file command to activate a valid license file, one that was downloaded from http://activate.f5.com/. You can also use it to activate a copy of the active.license file (which is created by the license activate command).

file-name (1-1024 characters) is the name of the license file to activate. For a full list of available license files, you can use the show license command.

You can use a faster method for activating your license if the ARX has a valid route to the license server at http://activate.f5.com/. The ping license-server command tests the connection between the ARX and the license server. If this ping command succeeds, you can use the license activate command instead of this one.

Trial licenses, obtained from https://www.f5.com/trial/, and evaluation licenses have an expiration date built into them. The timer for the license expiration begins when you run the license activate command or this command. If you are installing one of these temporary licenses on a redundant pair of ARX devices, the start dates should be no more than 24 hours apart. We recommend activating the license at both peers on the same day. This avoids a large gap in time where one peer is licensed and the other peer is unlicensed, and it also avoids an SNMP trap that warns you of the license mismatch.

Some installations do not permit a network connection from the ARX to the Internet, but an Internet connection is required to access a valid F5 license server. For these installations, a manual process is necessary to activate a license on the ARX. The first step in manual-license activation is creating a dossier file that describes the current ARX. Use the license create license-dossier command to create the dossier file.

You can use a faster method for activating your license if the ARX has a valid route to the license server at http://activate.f5.com/. The ping license-server command tests the connection between the ARX and the license server. If this ping command succeeds, you can use the license activate command instead of this one.

This command creates a dossier file to identify the ARX and enumerate its capabilities. The file name is arx.dossier; you can use the show license-dossier command to confirm that it exists.

Then use your preferred form of the copy command (such as copy ftp, copy scp, or copy smtp) to upload the arx.dossier file to a host that can connect to the Internet.

At the ARX CLI, use copy source-url license arx.license to download the .license file from the remote host to the license directory on the ARX.

Use license activate file arx.license to activate this new license on the ARX.

Use the ping license-server command to send a simple request to your license server. This verifies that you can connect to the license server and use the automatic license activate command.

The output from a successful ping shows the current time at the F5 license server, http://activate.f5.com/.

If the output shows an error instead of a timestamp, the license server is unreachable. The ARX must have a static route (ip route) to the Internet for this command to succeed. Use the show ip route command for a list of static routes, and use show ip route monitor to check the status of each route.

The ARX must also have a DNS server available for translating server FQDNs into IP addresses; use show ip domain to see your DNS setup, and/or ip name-server to add a new DNS server to the ARX configuration.

If circumstances or network policy prevents you from connecting the ARX to the Internet, you can use a manual activation method, as described in the documentation for the license create license-dossier command.

Use the show active license command to display a complete list of all features and limits that are currently licensed on this ARX.

System License Information is information about the active license itself. Here are some key fields in the output:

Module List contains a sub table for each add-on license. Add-on licenses will be supported in a future release.

Feature List shows all of the features and limits that the active license supports.

Use the license activate command to automatically activate the license for the current ARX. Automatic activation is only possible if the ARX has a network connection to the F5 web site, http://activate.f5.com/; if not, you can use the license create license-dossier command to start the process of manual activation.

A license dossier is a file that describes the ARX and its capabilities. The dossier file is used for license activation; the license server requires the ARX dossier to provide you with a license. The dossier is encrypted. When you activate your license manually, you can copy and paste the encrypted dossier into the form on http://activate.f5.com/. Use the show license-dossier command to display the dossier file as an encrypted string.

This command is only useful for a manual license activation. You can use a faster method for activating your license if the ARX has a valid route to the Internet. If the ARX can connect to the Internet, you can use the license activate command to automatically activate your license.

This command shows the encrypted string that represents your dossier file, if the file exists. You can copy this string from the CLI and paste it into the proper field at http://activate.f5.com/. As an alternative, you can use some form of the copy command (such as copy ftp, copy scp, or copy smtp) to copy the arx.dossier file to another host, and upload the dossier from that host to http://activate.f5.com/.