Applies To:
Show Versions
BIG-IQ Centralized Management
- 6.1.0
Manage Software Licenses for Devices
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.
- Unreachable devices
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For devices that BIG-IQ does not have network access to, a third-party computer or program communicates with BIG-IQ through API calls 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/v6.1.0/.
- Admin
- Device Manager
- License Manager
Options for adding and activating a license pool
Adding and activating a license pool is the first step to start managing it for your BIG-IP devices. You can activate a registration key in these ways:
- Automatic
- Use this procedure if BIG-IQ is connected to the public internet.
- Manual
- Use this procedure if BIG-IQ is not connected to the public internet. If you are manually activating a volume or utility license, you must activate each offering individually.
Add and automatically activate subscription or ELA registration keys
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.
- At the top of the screen, click Devices.
- On the left, click .
- Click the Add License button.
- 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.
- For the Activation Method setting, select Automatic.
- Review the user legal agreement and if you agree, select the I have read and agree to the terms of this license check box.
Add and manually activate subscription or ELA registration keys
Assign a license to a BIG-IP device
- At the top of the screen, click Devices.
- On the left, click .
- Click the name of the offering you want to assign to a BIG-IP VE.
- For managed devices, from the Devices list, select the device you want to license and move it to the Member Devices list.
- 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.
- Click the Assign button at the bottom of the screen.
Revoke a license from a BIG-IP VE device
Change a pool license for a BIG-IP VE device
License usage billing reports
A utility billing report provides F5 Networks the information it needs to accurately bill for your license usage. You can manually create and submit a utility billing license usage report to F5, at the frequency specified in your license agreement. You can also create a schedule for generating utility license reports on a regular basis.
When you create a report or a report schedule, keep in mind:
- If you activated your utility pool on 1-Jan-2019 and generate a report on 1-Feb-2019, the report includes all usage between 1-Jan-2019 and 31-Jan-2019.
- If you generate another report on 1-Apr-2019, the report includes all usage between 1-Feb-2019 and 31-Mar-2019.
Providing permissions to run license usage reports
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Create a role type and provide that role type permissions to the licensing service. Steps 1-5
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Create a custom resource group, associate it with the licensing service, and add the utility billing report object. Steps 6-10
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Create a custom role and associate it with the resource group you added. Steps 11-16
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Add a user and associate it with the role with permissions to the utility billing reports. Steps 17-20
Create a license usage report and submit it to F5 Networks for billing
- At the top of the screen, click Devices.
- On the left, click .
- Click the Generate button.
- For Type, select Utility Billing Report.
- 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.
- Select aSubmission Method.
- If you want to obscure the device's host name and IP address in the report, select Yes for Obfuscate Data.
- Click Submit at the bottom of the screen.
Create a license usage report schedule
Before you can create a license usage billing report schedule, you must be in a role with permissions to view and modify utility billing reports.
Resend a license usage report to F5 Networks
- On the left, click .
- Select the check box next to the utility billing report that you want to send, and click the Send To F5 button.