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Frequently Asked Questions

What is the difference between a subscription and a license?​

A subscription is a comprehensive package including:

  • the right to use the licensed software with a determined feature-set, for a given period of time and up to specified metrics,
  • the access to minor and major software updates,
  • and software support within a standard SLA.

Anapaya materializes a subscription by assigning it an IC (Individual Contract). A license ensures the right of use by contractual and technical means. Anapaya implements signed license certificates to enforce the subscription validity period and the appropriate feature set.

When do I need to activate a license?​

  • After the initial setup, before the end of the trial-mode period.
  • Upon extension or renewal (automatic or explicit) of the subscription.
  • Upon change of the subscription tier (e.g., upgrading from Anapaya EDGE Lite to Anapaya EDGE Pro).
  • Upon the replacement of the computing resource running the software.

What is the effective date of the subscription / of the license?​

The software subscription can be ordered at any time, with billing starting from the effective date. The effective date of a subscription can be different from the date the license has been effectively activated (date of license installation).

Initial Activation​

The effective date of the license is the earlier of the following two cases:

  • The date selected while activating the license (e.g., when the installation date on customer premise is known in advance) - illustrated on the left graphic below.
  • The date SCION gets activated on the appliance (i.e., a SCION AS is defined in the configuration or a SCION-tunneling endpoint is enabled) is illustrated on the right graphic below.

Effective date initial activation

Standard Renewal​

The effective date of the license is the day after the end-date of the previous subscription.

On the left graphic below, the license is renewed before the end-date of the previous subscription. The effective date of the new license is the day after the end-date of the previous subscription. On the right graphic below, the license is renewed after the end-date of the previous subscription. The effective date of the new license is the day after the end-date of the previous subscription.

Effective date renewal

Subscription Upgrade or Subscription Prolongation​

The effective date of the license is the date of the license activation.

What is the impact of the absence of a valid license?​

When no valid license has ever been installed on an appliance, it runs in "trial" mode for 30 days. All the possible features are allowed for this period of time. After the trial period, the appliance operates in a restricted-functionality mode.

When a valid license is expired, the appliance enters in a grace-period mode for 90 days. The appliances continues to operate with the feature-set allowed with the last valid license. This prevents the appliance to be un-usable immediately after the validity of the previous license, e.g., the renewal of the subscription takes longer than expected or you cannot add the new license on the same day when the validity of the previous license ends.

You can add a new license during the grace period without operational impact on the appliance. The effective date of the new license will be set to the start date of the grace period.

When the grace-period is over and no valid license is installed, the appliance operates in a restricted-functionality mode.

What is the impact of an appliance running in "restricted functionality" mode?​

When an appliance operates in the restricted-functionality mode, configuration changes are not possible anymore, with the exception of the capacity to generate an LRF or import a valid license.

Which Anapaya software appliance version is compatible with the license management system?​

Licenses can be activated on any software version >= 0.38.0. The release when licensing is enforced has not been communicated yet.

Should I activate licenses even if it is not mandatory?​

We strongly encourage all users to activate all appliances running a software version that supports the license management system:

  • To get familiar with the license management process
  • To avoid any disruption that could appear while upgrading a software version to the newest release.

Which product requires the activation of a license?​

The licenses are activated at the appliance level, independently from your subscription model. This means that every appliance instance running the Anapaya software must have a valid license, including instances that are provided for free (e.g., GATE instances or NFCU (Not For Commercial Use) instances).

How to renew/upgrade/downgrade a subscription?​

Please contact your sales representative with the IC you wish to upgrade and the target tier. Then follow the license management procedure the same way as for a new license. Since multiple software licenses can be installed simultaneously, simply add the new license to the appliance. Please refer to the section about the effective date to learn when the new license is active.

How does renewal work?​

To renew a license, a new LRF file needs to be generated and the same license management procedure as for a new license needs to be followed.

I renewed or extended the term of a subscription, do I need to update the license?​

Yes. Each renewal or extension of the term of a software subscription requires the issuance of a new license, to set the new validity date of the license on the appliance.

This applies regardless of how the subscription is renewed:

  • Via an auto-renewal or through an explicit renewal order.
  • With or without change of the subscription metric
  • Before, at, or after the subscription end-date.

How to migrate license to another platform?​

If you migrate the appliance to another platform, due to for example an upgrade or a replacement, it is required to issue a new license, since the license is tied to a specific appliance platform.

note

Remember that if the reason is a hardware failure, the new appliance runs for 30 days in the trial period mode, giving you time to focus on restoring operations and deal with the license management process later.

To reallocate a license to a different platform, please contact ops@anapaya.net and provide the following information:

  • The individual contract (IC) identifier from the Anapaya portal.
  • The LRF file of the new appliance.

What happens if multiple licenses are installed?​

See the section about multiple software licenses.

What can I do in case of issues with the license management system?​

If you encounter issues with the license management system, refer to the troubleshooting guide before contacting support.