Brocade Network OS Software Licensing Guide v4.1.0 - Manual (Page 11)

Software Licensing Overview
● Licensing overview............................................................................................................9
● How software licensing works........................................................................................... 9
● License types.................................................................................................................. 10
● Software licensing terminology....................................................................................... 10
● License requirements......................................................................................................11
● Licensing restrictions and considerations....................................................................... 13
● Obtaining a license..........................................................................................................14
● Viewing software license information from the Brocade software portal.........................16
Licensing overview
The Brocade Network Operating System (Network OS) includes platform support in standalone and
Brocade VCS Fabric modes as well as optional features that are enabled by license keys. You can
purchase Brocade licenses per product or per feature. Each switch in a fabric must have its own
licenses, but universal licenses for multiple switches are available for trial purposes along with individual
trial licenses. Licenses may be part of the licensed paperpack supplied with your switch software, or you
can purchase them separately from your switch vendor.
NOTE
The VCS Fabric license is enabled on all VDX platforms by default starting with Network OS 4.1.0; a
VCS Fabric license does not need to be installed to enable VCS Fabric functionality.
How software licensing works
A permanent license (for select features on specific units) can be ordered pre-installed in a Brocade
switch when first shipped from the factory, or later ordered and installed. In either case, additional
licenses can be ordered as needed.
When a license is ordered separately (not pre-installed), an entitlement certificate or e-mail message
along with a transaction key are issued to you by Brocade as proof of purchase. The transaction key
and license ID (LID) of the Brocade switch are used to generate a license key from the Brocade
software licensing portal. The license key is contained within the license file, which is downloaded to
your PC. You can add the license key to a switch using the license add command. Once a license is
installed on the Network OS switch, you may be prompted to reload the switch or to disable and re-
enable the chassis or specific ports to activate the license.
When a time-based license expires, the commands and CLI related to the feature are disabled, but the
feature itself cannot be disabled until the system reloads. You can display expired licenses with the
show license command. Expired licenses display a "License has expired" message. RASLog warning
messages are generated every hour for licenses that have expired or will expire in the next five days.
Network OS Software Licensing Guide 9
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