Select MM Control → License Manager to manage advanced management module features that require a license.
License Manager is used to manage license information for either a single BladeCenter unit or any number of BladeCenter units in a datacenter. Extra cost features, such as Open Fabric Manager, can be used with your BladeCenter unit once you install a valid license key for the feature. More information about how to obtain license keys for features that you purchased can be found at http://licensing.datacentertech.net.
License keys are stored in the advanced management module and are only valid if the advanced management module is installed in the BladeCenter unit that has the correct machine type, model, and serial number. If you install a new advanced management module in the BladeCenter unit or if you restore the advanced management module configuration to defaults, you must reinstall the license keys. For BladeCenter units with primary and redundant advanced management modules, license keys installed in the primary advanced management module are backed up to the redundant advanced management module. For these BladeCenter units the license keys are preserved if one advanced management module is replaced at a time.
The License Manager page initially displays the Chassis tab that shows the status of advanced management module licensed features installed for this BladeCenter unit. It displays the name of the each feature, the number of days left before the license expires, and one of the following status indications for each feature:
- No License
- The feature is not available. The license entitlement information has not been entered.
- Active
- The licensed feature is available. The license is installed with correct parameters.
- Chassis Serial Mismatch
- The feature is not available. The license key stored on the advanced management module does not match the machine serial number of the BladeCenter unit.
- Chassis Type Mismatch
- The feature is not available. The license key entered on the Enter License Information page is not compatible with the BladeCenter unit type.
- Expired
- The feature is not available. The trial license is expired and is no longer active.
The following license types are available for BladeCenter features:
- Permanent
- This is the standard license type for purchased features; it has no expiration
- 60 Day Trial
- This license type allows you to use a feature for 60 days from the date that you install its trial license key on the advanced management module.
- Transitional
- This license type is automatically created for Basic Open Fabric Manager users that upgrade to a level of advanced management module firmware that implements license entitlement checking. The transitional license allows these users to continue using the Basic Open Fabric Manager without disruption. If you have a transitional license, go to http://licensing.datacentertech.net to obtain a permanent license for your BladeCenter unit. Permanent licenses are backed up at this website to protect license keys in the event of loss or hardware failure. Go to http://licensing.datacentertech.net to track licenses for datacenters that have multiple BladeCenter units.
To modify the license information for a feature, select it and click Edit. Selecting a feature and clicking Remove disables a licensed feature. The following page displays when you edit a feature.
Feature licensing enablement requires entry of the following information:
- License Key
- A 7-character lowercase alphanumeric string that is unique for the combination of feature, chassis, and license type. License keys can be obtained from the licensing website at http://licensing.datacentertech.net.
On the Datacenter tab you can retrieve and download or upload a configuration file that contains the license information for your datacenter. Both of these operation are necessary to deploy and manage licenses in a datacenter environment that has multiple BladeCenter units.
The download operation locates all of the management modules in a datacenter, creating a license file that contains hardware and license information for each BladeCenter unit, as reported by each management module. This file can be uploaded to the licensing website at http://licensing.datacentertech.net to create or update the record of licensing information for the datacenter. Service Location Protocol (SLP) must be enabled in the Network Protocols page on each management module in the datacenter to allow data collection. The TCP Command Mode protocol must also be enabled in the Port Assignments page and the user name and password for the current login session must be valid on all discovered management modules to collect their license status.
The upload operation accepts the specified license file and deploys its license keys to the management modules listed in the file. Using the download and upload operations speeds data collection, license deployment, and eliminates issues associated with manual data entry.