Applies To:
Show VersionsBIG-IQ Centralized Management
- 5.3.0
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. Each license pool contains a specific type of license. 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 a pool license's registration key 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.
Types of license pools
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®Centralized Management, 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 Centralized Management (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. |
Options for activating a pool license registration key
Activating a registration key is the first step to getting a BIG-IP® VE pool license onto F5® BIG-IQ® Centralized Management so you can start managing it. 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.
- CCN - Use this procedure if BIG-IQ is in a closed-circuit network (CCN) that does not permit you to export any encrypted information. For this procedure, you must open a case with F5 Support.
Activate a purchased, volume, utility, or standalone registration key pool on a BIG-IQ connected to the internet (automatic method)
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.
You activate a registration key for a purchased, volume, or utility pool license to get a BIG-IP license and make it available for assignment to BIG-IP® VEs in your network. When you activate a volume or pool license using this method, the BIG-IQ® Centralized Management system activates the associated offerings automatically.
- At the top of the screen, click Devices.
- On the left, click .
- Click the Add License button.
- In the License Name field, type a name to identify this license.
- 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.
- For the Activation Method setting, select Automatic.
- Click the Activate button at the bottom of the screen.
- Review the EULA, and if you agree with the terms, click the Accept button at the bottom of the screen.
Activate a purchased registration key pool license on a BIG-IQ not connected to the internet (manual method)
Activate a volume or utility pool license on a BIG-IQ not connected to the internet (manual method)
You activate a registration key to get a pool license to make it available for assignment to BIG-IP® VEs in your network. If the BIG-IQ® Centralized Management you're activating a license on is not connected to the public internet, you can activate the registration key using this manual procedure, rather than automatically contacting the F5 license server.
Volume and utility pool licenses contain offerings. Offerings are specific to the services based on F5 Networks' Good, Better, Best licensing structure. If you are manually contacting the F5 Networks license server to activate those registration keys, you must activate each associated offering individually.
Create a registration key pool for standalone BIG-IP VE licenses
- Log in to BIG-IQ Centralized Management with your admin user name and password.
- At the top of the screen, click Devices.
- On the left, click .
- Click the New RegKey Pool button.
- In the Name field, type a name to identify this pool.
- In the Description field, type an optional description for this pool.
Activate a standalone registration key on a BIG-IQ connected to the internet (automatic method)
You can automatically contact the F5 license server for activation if the F5® BIG-IQ® Centralized Management system meets these criteria:
- Is connected to the public internet.
- Is able to access the activate.f5.com site.
- Its existing firewalls allow port 443 to pass through.
You add and activate standalone registration keys to a registration key pool to make them available for assignment to BIG-IP® VE devices from BIG-IQ Centralized Management. This gives you the flexibility to assign and revoke licenses as needed for your managed devices, without requiring you to contact F5.
- Log in to BIG-IQ Centralized Management with your admin user name and password.
- At the top of the screen, click Devices.
- On the left, click .
- Click on the name of the registration key pool you want to activate a license for.
- Click the Add RegKey Pool button.
- In the 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.
- Click the Activate button at the bottom of the screen.
- Review the EULA, and if you agree with the terms, click the Accept button at the bottom of the screen.
Activate a standalone registration key on a BIG-IQ not connected to the internet (manual method)
You add and activate standalone registration keys to a registration key pool to make them available for assignment to BIG-IP® VE devices from F5® BIG-IQ® Centralized Management. This gives you the flexibility to assign and revoke licenses as needed for your managed devices, without requiring you to contact F5. If your BIG-IQ system is not connected to the public internet, you can activate the registration key using this manual procedure, rather than automatically contacting the F5 license server.
Assign, revoke, and change a license or license pool
Once you have activated a license on F5® BIG-IQ®Centralized Management, you can assign and revoke those licenses for your managed and unmanaged BIG-IP® VE devices in your network.
Assign a utility or volume pool license to a BIG-IP VE device
After you have activated a utility or volume pool license's registration key, you can assign it to a BIG-IP® VE device.
To assign a license to an unmanaged device in your network, you must have the device's admin user name and password.
- At the top of the screen, click Devices.
- On the left, click .
- Click the name of the license you want to assign to a device.
- For utility or a volume license, click the Offering name.
- Click the License Devices button.
- For a 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 utility or volume pool license from a BIG-IP VE device
- At the top of the screen, click Devices.
- On the left, click .
- Select the check box next to the device you want to remove a license from.
- For an unmanaged device, you must type the admin user name and password in the popup screen.
- Click the Revoke button at the bottom of the screen.
Change a pool license for a BIG-IP VE device
Pool license usage reports
Pool license usage reports give you insight into how you're using your pool licenses. You can run this report for both currently-assigned and previously-assigned pool licenses. These reports can help you budget for future license purchases. If you're using a utility license, a utility usage report provides F5 Networks the information it needs to accurately bill for your license usage.
Create an active usage report to see how the BIG-IP VE devices are currently licensed
- At the top of the screen, click Devices.
- On the left, click .
- Click the Report button at the top of the screen.
- For the Type setting, select Active Report.
- Select a license type from the list to narrow the results to that license type.
- 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.
- Click the Download button at the bottom of the screen to generate the report.
Create a historical usage report to see how the BIG-IP VE devices were licensed during a specific time period
- At the top of the screen, click Devices.
- On the left, click .
- Click the Report button at the top of the screen.
- For the Type setting, select Historical Report.
- Select a license type from the list to narrow the results to that license type.
- 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.
- 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.
- Click the Download button and select an option to open the file, or save the file.
Create a utility pool license usage report and submit it to F5 Networks for billing
You create and submit a utility pool license usage report to F5 for billing purposes, at the frequency specified in your license agreement.
Your first report includes all license activity (grants and revocations) from the time you activate the utility pool license to the day before the first report is generated. Reports that follow include all license activity that happened since the last report, up to the day before the current report is generated.For example:
- If you activated your utility pool on 1-Jan-2016 and generate a report on 1-Feb-2016, the report includes all usage between 1-Jan-2016 and 31-Jan-2016, inclusive.
- If you generate another report on 1-Apr-2016, the report includes all usage between 1-Feb-2016 and 31-Mar-2016, inclusive.