License management for Flexed and Pooled licensing
Note:
When you purchase a Universal Hybrid Multi-Cloud (UHMC) or a Citrix Platform License (CPL), the NetScaler licenses delivered are referred to as Flexed licenses. For more information, see UHMC/CPL offerings.
License files
NetScaler Flexed license includes the following files that you must download from the MyCitrix portal. For more information about transitioning from your current type of NetScaler licensing to Flexed Licensing, see Transition to Flexed licensing.
The license files present on your NetScaler are listed in this section.
| File name contains | Description | Download information | Where to upload/apply the license |
|---|---|---|---|
| NetScaler Flexed VPX SW Instance | Entitles you to VPX/CPX/BLX software instances | Download this file using your NetScaler Console host ID | On NetScaler Console |
| NetScaler Flexed MPX SW Instance | Entitles you to MPX software instances | Download this file using your NetScaler Console host ID | On NetScaler Console |
| NetScaler Flexed SDX SW Instance | Entitles you to SDX software instances | Download this file using your NetScaler Console host ID | On NetScaler Console |
| NetScaler Flexed Platinum BW | Entitles you to Flexed Platinum throughput capacity | Download this file using your NetScaler Console host ID | On NetScaler Console |
| NetScaler Flexed VPX FIPS SW Instance | Entitles you to VPX FIPS software instances | Download this file using your NetScaler Console host ID | On NetScaler Console |
| Zero Capacity MPX-Z Platform License | Entitles you to make your NetScaler MPX HW/NetScaler MPX FIPS HW participate in Flexed licensing | Download this file | On NetScaler MPX |
| Zero Capacity SDX-Z Platform License | Entitles you to make your NetScaler SDX HW/NetScaler SDX FIPS HW participate in Flexed licensing | Download this file | On NetScaler SDX |
Important points to note
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If you are transitioning to flexed license from pooled license and your MPX and SDX instances already have Z-Cap perpetual licenses, then applying the Z-Cap licenses received with flexed license is not required. However, if the current Z-Cap licenses that are applied on NetScaler MPX or NetScaler SDX are valid for a specific duration, then you must apply the Z-Cap licenses received with the flexed license.
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MPX-Z or SDX-Z platform licenses delivered as part of flexed licenses are perpetual. After the MPX-Z or SDX-Z platform license file is applied on the specific instances, it can be used until the instance End of Life (EOL).
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You must apply the flexed licenses on NetScaler Console for the NetScaler form factor that you are using in your deployment. For example:
Apply the following licenses if you are using NetScaler SDX form factor:
License File Apply on NetScaler Flexed SDX SW Instance NetScaler Console NetScaler Flexed VPX SW Instance NetScaler Console NetScaler Flexed Platinum BW NetScaler Console ADC Zero Capacity SDX-Z Platform NetScaler SDX Apply the following licenses if you are using NetScaler MPX form factor:
License File Apply on NetScaler Flexed MPX SW Instance NetScaler Console NetScaler Flexed Platinum BW NetScaler Console ADC Zero Capacity MPX-Z Platform NetScaler MPX Apply the following licenses if you are using NetScaler VPX, NetScaler BLX or NetScaler CPX form factor:
License File Apply on NetScaler Flexed VPX SW Instance NetScaler Console NetScaler Flexed Platinum BW NetScaler Console Apply the following licenses if you are using NetScaler VPX FIPS form factor
License File Apply on NetScaler Flexed VPX FIPS SW Instance NetScaler Console NetScaler Flexed Platinum BW NetScaler Console
Apply a license file
You can add, delete, and download licenses. You must apply licenses before they can be used.
- Navigate to NetScaler Licensing > License Management.
- In the License Files section, click Add License File and select one of the following options:
- Upload license files from a local computer: If a license file is already present on your local computer, you can upload it to the NetScaler Console.
- Use license access code: Specify the license access code for the license that you have purchased from Citrix. Click Get Licenses and then click Finish.
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Click Finish. The license files are added to NetScaler Console. The License Expiry Information section lists the licenses present in NetScaler Console, count, and the remaining days to expiry.
Note:
The license end date is the date till your contract is valid and you must renew it before the end date.
The following screenshot shows the number of Flexed NetScaler VPX, NetScaler MPX, NetScaler SDX, and NetScaler VPX FIPS software instance licenses, Flexed premium bandwidth capacity present, and the days to expiry (contract end date).
The following screenshot shows the Pooled Standard, Advanced, and Premium bandwidth available and the days to expiry (contract end date).
- Select a license file and click Apply licenses.
Delete a license file
To delete a license file, select one or more files and click Delete. When you delete a license, you must first add the license and only then you can apply it.
Download a license file
To download a license file, select a file and click Download. You can save the license file offline as a backup.
License server port settings
Ports are used by NetScaler instances to communicate with the license server. Click the Edit icon and specify values for the following parameters:
- License Server Port: The proxy server port used by NetScaler instances to access the Citrix licensing portal for license allocation. Default value: 27000.
- Vendor Daemon Port: The license server port used by NetScaler instances to communicate with the license server. Default value: 7279.
License expiry information
You can configure the license expiry threshold for flexed/pooled capacity licenses. When the threshold is set, NetScaler Console sends notifications through email when a license is due to expire. An SNMP trap and a notification are also sent when the license has expired on NetScaler Console.
An event is generated when a license expiry notification is sent and this event can be viewed on NetScaler Console from Infrastructure > Events.
View license expiry
- Navigate to NetScaler Licensing > License Management.
- In the License Settings page, under the License Expiry Information section, you can find the details of the licenses that are going to expire:
- Feature: Type of license that is going to expire.
- Count: Number of virtual servers or instances that will be affected.
- Days to expiry: Number of days before license expiry (contract end date).
Note:
When you add new licenses to the pool, the NetScaler instances use the new licenses on the expiry of their existing licenses.
Notification email and a pop-up banner on license end date
In the NetScaler Console GUI, a pop-up message appears related to the license end date. As an administrator, you also receive a notification email for the license end date. By default, you get a pop-up message in the GUI (every time after login) 60 days before the license end date and a notification email in the frequency of 60, 30, 20, and 10 days before the license end date.
License expiry behavior
NetScaler instances with expired licenses managed through NetScaler Console have the following behavior:
VPX/BLX/CPX
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Capacity is reduced to 20 Mbps
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License edition remains the same
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Instance is not rebooted
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No configuration loss or change
MPX
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Warm reboot to become unlicensed
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Traffic processing stops immediately
SDX
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License server configuration from SDX is removed
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VPX license bandwidth is reduced to 1 Mbps
Notification settings
Specify the settings based on which notifications will be sent out about license allocation and days to expiry.
- In the Notification Settings section, click the Edit icon and select Notify me on license usage. Set the alert threshold as a percentage of flexed/pooled license capacity to be allocated to send a notification.
- Choose the type of notification that you want to send when licenses reach the threshold, or are about to expire by selecting the appropriate checkbox. The notification types are as follows.
- Email: Email profile or distribution list for sending notifications. For more information, see Create an email distribution list.
- Slack: Slack profile details for sending notifications.
- PagerDuty: PagerDuty profile for sending notifications.
- ServiceNow: The Citrix ServiceNow profile is specified by default and is currently the only available option. For more information about creating these profiles, see Configure notifications
Select a notification type and click Add to add details. You can also test each notification system before saving your settings.
- Specify the Days to Expiry, which is the number of days before which you would like to be notified about the license expiry.
- Click Save.
Create an email distribution list
Perform the following steps to create an email distribution list:
- Select Email and click Add.
- In Create Email Distribution List, specify the following details:
- Name - Specify the distribution list name.
- Email Server - Select the email server that sends the email notification. To add an email server, click Add. Specify the server name/IP address and port. Select Authentication to mandate authentication to access the email server. Select Secure if the email server supports SSL authentication. Click Create.
- From - Specify the email address from which the NetScaler Console sends the message.
- To - Specify the email addresses to which the NetScaler Console sends the message.
- Cc - Specify the email addresses to which the NetScaler Console copies the message.
- Bcc - Specify the email addresses to which the NetScaler Console blind carbon copies (does not display the email address) the message.
- Click Create.
Create a Slack profile
Perform the following steps to create a Slack profile:
- In Slack, click Add.
- In Create Slack Profile, specify the following details:
- Profile Name - Specify the profile name. This name appears in the Slack profile list.
- Channel Name - Specify the Slack channel name to which the NetScaler Console sends the notification.
- Webhook URL - Specify the Webhook URL of the channel. Incoming Webhooks are a simple way to post messages from external sources into Slack. The URL is internally linked to the channel name. All event notifications that are sent to this URL are posted on the designated Slack channel. An example of a webhook is as follows: https://hooks.slack.com/services/T0******E/B9X55DUMQ/c4tewWAiGVTT51Fl6oEOVirK.
Create a PagerDuty profile
PagerDuty enables you to configure notifications through email, push notifications, and phone calls on a registered number. Before you add a PagerDuty profile in NetScaler Console, ensure you have completed the required configurations in PagerDuty. To get started with PagerDuty, see the PagerDuty documentation.
Perform the following steps to create a PagerDuty profile:
- In PagerDuty, click Add.
- In Create PagerDuty Profile, specify the following details:
- Profile Name - Specify a profile name. This name is used by different modules, such as event rules and SSL notifications to send PagerDuty alerts.
- Integration Key - Specify the integration key. You can obtain this key from your PagerDuty portal.
- Click Create.
For more information, see Services and Integrations in the PagerDuty documentation.
View the ServiceNow profile
To enable ServiceNow notifications for the NetScaler events, you must integrate NetScaler Console with the ServiceNow using ITSM connector. For more information, see Integrate NetScaler Console with the ServiceNow instance.
Perform the following steps to view and verify the ServiceNow profile:
- In ServiceNow, Citrix_Workspace_SN profile is selected by default.
- Click Test to auto-generate a ServiceNow ticket and verify the configuration.
Note:
For information about the different types of NetScaler licenses, see Licensing overview.