Managing subscriptions
NetScaler ADM requires a verified license to manage and monitor NetScaler instances, NetScaler Gateway instances, and third party load balancers.
You can manage and monitor any number of instances when you are using an Express account or when you have subscribed to a valid license. However, you can manage the discovered applications on the App Dashboard, view analytics data, and monitor network functions and network reports only for the number of virtual servers for which you have purchased licenses. For more information about the NetScaler ADM resources that you can manage with the Express account, see Manage resources using Express account.
With each installed license, you receive a limited amount of data and capacity to manage certain virtual servers. However, you can also purchase and apply data-only licenses to top up your data storage.
For information and instructions about buying and upgrading your NetScaler ADM licenses, see Differences between Express and Advance entitlements and NetScaler ADM.
The following table lists the NetScaler licenses that are required to use some of the NetScaler ADM features.
| NetScaler ADM Feature Group | NetScaler ADM Features | NetScaler and Gateway License Requirement |
|---|---|---|
| Analytics | HDX Insight | Advanced (reporting < 1 hour) Premium (reporting = Unlimited) |
| Analytics | Security Insight | Premium (or) Advanced with App Firewall license |
| Analytics | Gateway Insight | Advanced (reporting < 1 hour) Premium (reporting = Unlimited) |
| Applications | Application Statistics (App Dashboard, App Security Dashboard) | NetScaler Web App Firewall related information on App dashboard, and app security dashboard needs Premium (or) Advanced with App Firewall license |
| Applications | API gateway | Premium (or) Advanced license |
| Applications | StyleBooks | N/A |
| Applications | Inventory Management – Infrastructure Dashboard, Instance groups, Instance dashboards & Sites | N/A |
| Applications | Event Management & Syslog | N/A |
| Applications | Configuration Jobs, Configuration Audit, and Configuration Advice | N/A |
| Applications | Network reporting (Instance level) | N/A |
| Applications | Network reporting (virtual server level) | N/A |
| Applications | Network Functions (Plain visibility & Management of virtual servers, services, service groups, server) | N/A |
| Applications | SSL certificate management (Instance level) | N/A |
| Applications | SSL certificate management (virtual server level) | N/A |
| System | RBAC & External Authentication (instance level) | N/A |
| System | RBAC & External Authentication (virtual server level) | N/A |
View the subscription details
You can view the licenses installed on your NetScaler ADM by navigating to Account > Subscriptions. You can also view the license summary such as the type of license subscribed to, the entitled data subscription and consumed data subscription, and the allowed and managed virtual servers and third party virtual servers in the Subscription Summary section.
Manage virtual servers
You can select the virtual servers or third party virtual servers you want to manage and monitor through NetScaler ADM.
Points to note:
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By default, NetScaler ADM automatically licenses the virtual servers randomly after each virtual server poll cycle.
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If the total number of virtual servers discovered in your NetScaler ADM is lower than the number of installed virtual server licenses, NetScaler ADM, by default, licenses all the virtual servers.
To select the virtual servers manually, or to restrict licensing to limited virtual servers, you have to first disable auto licensing the virtual servers, and then select the virtual servers you want to manage.
To disable auto-licensing virtual servers:
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Navigate to Settings > NetScaler ADM Licensing & Analytics Config.
The dashboard displays the virtual server licenses available, the managed virtual servers along with the virtual server type, and license expiry information.
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In Virtual Server License Allocation, disable Auto Licensed Virtual Servers and Auto-select non addressable Virtual Servers.
To select third party virtual servers for licensing:
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Navigate to Account > Subscriptions.
The dashboard displays the virtual server licenses available, the managed virtual servers along with the virtual server type, and license expiry information.
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In Third Party Virtual Server Summary, disable Auto-select Third Party Virtual Servers.
View the licensed virtual servers
After the licenses are applied to the virtual servers, you can view the licensed virtual servers or third-party virtual servers from the Subscriptions page. To view the licensed virtual servers, navigate to Settings > NetScaler ADM Licensing & Analytics Config and click the virtual server type in the Total Licensed section in the Virtual Servers License Summary.
Apply virtual server licenses manually
You can manually apply licenses to an individual virtual server.
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In Virtual Server License Allocation, select Configure Licenses.
The All Virtual Servers page is displayed.
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Filter unlicensed virtual servers using the property:
Licensed: No.
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Select the virtual server that you want to license.
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Click License.
Configure policy based virtual server licensing
You can configure a policy to apply license to virtual servers. This policy controls the number of virtual servers you want to auto-license. It also applies licenses to selected instances’ virtual servers only.
Click Edit Policies and you can specify the following:
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Set virtual servers limit on CPX instances separately to apply licenses. The NetScaler ADM applies license to virtual servers on CPX instances up to a specified limit.
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Set virtual servers limit on selected ADC instances (MPX/VPX/BLX) to apply licenses. The NetScaler ADM applies licenses to virtual servers on ADC instances up to a specified limit.
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Select the priority ADC instances to apply virtual server licenses. Therefore, the NetScaler ADM can apply license to selected instances’ virtual servers only.
Configure auto license support for non-addressable virtual servers
Citrix NetScaler ADM, by default, does not automatically apply licenses to non-addressable virtual servers. For licensing non-addressable virtual servers, you must disable the auto-license option and manually select the non-addressable virtual servers. This increases your effort to manually select the non-addressable servers initially when you apply the licenses. You also need to manually select the new non-addressable virtual servers whenever they are added to your network.
NetScaler ADM provides an option in NetScaler ADM under Virtual Server License Allocation. If you enable Auto-select non addressable Virtual Servers option, automatically apply licenses non-addressable virtual servers.
Note
NetScaler ADM, by default, still does not select non-addressable virtual servers automatically for licensing.
Application analytics (App Dashboard) is the only analytics supported currently on licensed non-addressable virtual servers.
View expiry checks for virtual server subscriptions
You can view the status of installed licenses with the expiry and the allowed storage limit to the licenses in NetScaler ADM.
To view the status of the licenses:
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Navigate to Account > Subscriptions.
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In the Entitlements section, you can view the details of licensed virtual servers and the days to expiry:
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Entitled Virtual Servers: Number of virtual servers available to license.
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Entitled Third Party Virtual Servers: Number of third party virtual servers you can manage with the license.
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Entitled Storage: Storage limit of the license.
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Days to Expiry: Number of days remaining before the license expiry.
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View the type of analytics enabled on the virtual servers
After you enable AppFlow on the selected virtual servers, you can view the type of analytics enabled on the licensed virtual servers or third-party virtual servers from the Subscriptions page.
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Navigate to Account > Subscriptions.
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In the Virtual Server Analytics Summary section, select the type of licensed virtual servers.
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The licensed virtual servers page displays the list of licensed virtual servers. On this page, the Analytics Status column displays the type of analytics enabled on the virtual servers.
In this article
- View the subscription details
- Manage virtual servers
- View the licensed virtual servers
- Apply virtual server licenses manually
- Configure policy based virtual server licensing
- Configure auto license support for non-addressable virtual servers
- View expiry checks for virtual server subscriptions
- View the type of analytics enabled on the virtual servers