Smart Software Manager
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Product Information
Specifications:
- License Type: Smart Licensing
- License Model: Server-based
- Management Tool: Cisco Smart Software Manager
Product Usage Instructions
License Management
Cisco Smart licensing simplifies the procurement, deployment,
and management of licenses in your environment. Smart licenses are
server-based, allowing you to manage licenses for servers instead
of domains.
Smart Licensing Overview:
Smart Licensing uses Virtual Accounts, Product Instances, and
Registration Tokens to procure, deploy, and manage licenses.
Virtual Accounts:
All new licenses and product instances are placed in a virtual
account. You can transfer licenses between virtual accounts if
needed.
Product Instances:
A Cisco UCS Central product instance has a unique device
identifier (UDI) registered using a product instance registration
token. Each product instance can have one or more licenses in the
same virtual account.
Obtaining Licenses:
- Ensure Smart Call Home is enabled.
- Access the System Configuration icon and select Licenses.
- Click on “Enable Smart Software Licensing” to activate smart
licensing.
FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions)
Q: What is Smart Licensing?
A: Smart Licensing is a server-based licensing model that
simplifies license management by using Virtual Accounts and
Registration Tokens.
Q: How do I transfer licenses between virtual accounts?
A: You can transfer licenses by accessing the Cisco Smart
Software Manager and following the provided instructions for
creating virtual accounts.
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License Management
· Overview, on page 1
Overview
Cisco Smart licensing is simple, flexible and a smart way of procuring, deploying and managing licenses in your environment. For more information on smart licensing, see http://www.cisco.com/web/ordering/ smart-software-licensing/index.html Smart Licensing
· Dynamic licensing. Licenses are associated with products and transferable within the virtual account. · No license installation is necessary. The device initiates an HTTPS call home session and requests the
licenses that it is configured to use. · License pools are account-specific. Any device in your company can use them. · Licenses can be transferred between product instances without any software installation. You can transfer
unused licenses from one virtual account to another.
Smart Licensing
Smart licenses are server based licenses. You will purchase, deploy and track licenses for servers instead of domains. Instead of registering individual products with license files or PAKs, Smart Licensing provides the option to create a pool of licenses that can be used across your company’s portfolio. Smart licensing uses Virtual Accounts, Product Instances and Registration Tokens to procure, deploy and manage licenses in your environment.
Virtual Accounts Virtual accounts are collections of licenses and product instances. You can create virtual accounts in Cisco Smart Software Manager to organize the licenses for your company into logical entities. You can use virtual accounts to organize licenses by business unit, product type, IT group, or whatever makes sense for your organization. For example, if you segregate your company into different geographic regions, you can create a virtual account for each region to hold the licenses and product instances for that region.
License Management 1
Smart Licensing
License Management
All new licenses and product instances are placed in a virtual account. You choose the virtual account when you register a product instance. You can transfer existing licenses or product instances from one virtual account to another. For more information on creating virtual accounts in Cisco Smart Software Manager, see http://www.cisco.com/ web/ordering/smart-software-manager/docs/smart-software-manager-user-guide.pdf.
Product Instances A Cisco UCS Central product instance has a unique device identifier (UDI) that is registered using a product instance registration token. You can register several instances of a product with a single registration token. Each product instance can have one or more licenses that reside in the same virtual account.
Registration Tokens Registration tokens are stored in the Product Instance Registration Token Table that is associated with your smart account. After you enable Smart Licensing in Cisco UCS Central, you can generate a new token in a virtual account on the Smart Software Licensing portal to register in Cisco UCS Central. For more information on creating virtual accounts in Cisco Smart Software Manager, see http://www.cisco.com/ web/ordering/smart-software-manager/docs/smart-software-manager-user-guide.pdf.
Obtaining Licenses To obtain licenses using smart licensing, you will have to do the following:
· Generate tokens in Cisco Smart Software Manager virtual accounts.
· Register licenses for product instances in Cisco UCS Central.
The following illustrations explains the smart licensing process:
License Management 2
License Management
Enabling Smart Licensing
1
Registration request
The Smart Licensing 90-evaluation period starts when the product instance begins using the licensing feature. It not renewable. When the evaluation period expires, the agent sends a notification to the platform.
2
Authorization renewal
Authorization requests can result in an Authorized or Out of
Compliance (OOC) response, or in an error due to a
communication failure. Authorization periods are renewed every
30 days as long as authorization requests return Authorized or
Out of Compliance (OOC) responses. When the authorization
period expires, the agent continues to retry renewal with
authorization requests. If successful, a new authorization period
starts. If ID cert renewal (authorization renewal) fails, the product
instance moves to an Unidentified state and begins consuming
the evaluation period.
Enabling Smart Licensing
Before you begin
Make sure you have enabled Smart Call Home before enabling Smart Licensing. Enabling Smart Call Home includes the following:
· Specify a DNS server.
· Set up Smart Call Home.
· Make sure your Smart Call Home URL is correct. This is the URL the system uses to connect to the smart license server.
Note Although you must enable Smart Call Home, a Smart Call Home contract ID is not required to use Smart Licensing.
Procedure
Step 1 Step 2
Click the System Configuration icon and choose Licenses. Click Enable Smart Software Licensing.
System enables smart licensing and information related to traditional licensing is replaced with smart licensing related information.
License Management 3
Registering UCS Central Using a License Token
License Management
Registering UCS Central Using a License Token
Before you begin Make sure Smart Licensing is enabled.
Procedure
Step 1 Step 2 Step 3
Step 4 Step 5 Step 6
Click the System Configuration icon and choose Licenses. Click the Smart Software Manager link to go to the Smart Software Manager portal. In the Smart Software Manager portal: a) Select a Cisco UCS Central virtual account. b) Click New Token in the Product Instance Registration Tokens panel and select Copy.
In the Cisco UCS Central Smart Software Licensing panel, click Register Smart Software Licensing. In the Register Smart Licensing dialog box, paste the new token you generated in the Product Instance Registration Token text box. Click Register.
You will receive notifications on registration in progress, successful registration or failure to register. If there are problems with your Smart Call Home settings, a Failed message will appear with a link to the Call Home Configuration.
Renewing Authorization
License authorization is used to show if you have enough licenses for your system, or if you are out of compliance. Authorization is renewed automatically by the Smart Licensing agent every 30 days, provided the network is up and Cisco UCS Central can reach the Smart License server.
If authorization is not renewed for 90 days, the authorization will expire.
Procedure
Step 1 Step 2 Step 3
Click the System Configuration icon and choose Licenses. In the Cisco UCS Central Smart Software Licensing panel, click the Tools menu. Select Renew Authorization Now.
Renewing Registration
The agent automatically renews the Smart Software Licensing registration certificate or the ID certificate every six months. Certification lasts for one year. If Cisco UCS Central cannot communicate with the Smart License Server, it may fail to renew the certificate. If this occurs, the certification will revert to evaluation state after one year.
License Management 4
License Management
Deregistering Smart Software Licensing
Procedure
Step 1 Step 2 Step 3
Click the System Configuration icon and choose Licenses. In the Cisco UCS Central Smart Software Licensing panel, click the Tools menu. Select Renew Registration Now.
Deregistering Smart Software Licensing
When you deregister a product instance from Smart Software Licensing, the product will not be associated with the license. The product will be removed from the list of registered products for the associated virtual account. You can use the license to register another product, or reregister a product that has been deregistered.
Procedure
Step 1 Step 2 Step 3
Click the System Configuration icon and choose Licenses. In the Cisco UCS Central Smart Software Licensing panel, click the Tools menu. Select Deregister to remove Cisco UCS Central from Smart Software Manager.
Disabling Smart Software Licensing
If you disable Smart Software Licensing, Cisco UCS Central automatically returns to the Traditional Licensing mode.
Note Only one licensing mode is supported at a time.
Procedure
Step 1 Step 2 Step 3
Click the System Configuration icon and choose Licenses. In the Cisco UCS Central Smart Software Licensing panel, click the Action menu. Select Disable Smart Software Licensing.
License Management 5
Disabling Smart Software Licensing
License Management
License Management 6
Documents / Resources
 | CISCO Smart Software Manager [pdf] User Guide Smart Software Manager, Smart Software Manager, Software Manager, Manager |