License Management

What is License?

The License Management page displays the licensing information such as the licensing mechanism, Cloud version, and license status.

On the ZStack Cloud main menu, click the profile icon and choose License Management. Then, the License Management page is displayed.

Licensing Mechanism

Licensing in ZStack Cloud is supplied in different functionality packages as Base and Plus.

Base License
- Provides the basic and essential features of the Cloud, which can meet the mainstream business requirements.
- Covered functionalities: Standard, Enterprise Trial, and Enterprise Prepaid. For more detailed information about these editions, see contact official sales.
Plus License
- Provides add-on features or feature enhancements to meet the specific business requirements.
- Covered functionalities: VMware Management, Tenant Management, ARM64 Management, Backup Service, Continuous Data Protection (CDP) Service, Cryptography Security Compliance, Baremetal Management, Elastic Baremetal Management, Alibaba Cloud Hybrid Cloud Management, 5x8 (7x24) After-Sales Service, SR-IOV NIC Service, GPU Service, Billing Management, CloudFormation, Auto-Scaling Service, SDN Network, Container Service-CPU, and Container Service-vCPU.
- A Base license is required to install the Plus license.

The licensing mechanism is detailed as follows.

Licensing Mechanism	Functionality Covered	Description
/	Community	Provides a simple, ease-of-use, and productized private cloud platform with diversified features for community users. Free of use. Number of compute nodes: not limited. Validity: perpetual. Applicable features: part of the Cloud. No after-sales technical support. Not applicable to product environments. Recommended for the purpose of technical research by community users.
Base License	Standard	Provides a full set of computing, storage, and network virtualization features. This helps to meet the various and flexible business requirements. Features are available after you purchase the Base license. The number of compute nodes that can be managed is calculated based on either the number of physical CPU sockets or the total number of physical CPU cores purchased, depending on your license type. Provides a full set of computing virtualization, storage virtualization, and network virtualization features of the Cloud within the licensed period. Allows you to purchase and use add-on features within the licensed period as needed. Provides official after-sales technical support within the specified period. Applicable to product environments.
	Enterprise Trial	Provides a full set of computing, storage, and network virtualization features, and enhanced features such as GPU, CloudFormation, and auto-scaling. This helps to meet the various and flexible business requirements. 1-year free trial. Provides one host for free. Provides the basic and essential features of the Cloud within the licensed period. Provides all add-on features within the licensed period. No after-sales technical support. Applicable to test environments.
	Enterprise Prepaid	Provides a full set of computing, storage, and network virtualization features, and enhanced features such as GPU, CloudFormation, and auto-scaling. This helps to meet the various and flexible business requirements. Features are available after you purchase the Base license. The number of compute nodes that can be managed is calculated based on either the number of physical CPU sockets or the total number of physical CPU cores purchased, depending on your license type. Provides the basic and essential features of the Cloud within the licensed period. Allows you to purchase and use add-on features within the licensed period as needed. Provides official after-sales technical support within the specified period. Applicable to product environments. Provides perpetual licenses. Provides portable licenses to facilitate flexible re-deployment to different servers if required. Provides stackable licenses such that two copies of license can fulfill the license requirement for a server with two processors, four copies of license can fulfill the license requirement for a server with four processors, and so on. Provides at least three-year 7*24 support service including software update and upgrade service for the Server Virtualization and Cloud Management Software. Supports continuous optimization on virtual infrastructure, including: provides recommendation to optimize performance, capacity, and configuration. provides customizable dashboard and report to show predicted resource needs. provides built-in tools for forecasting resource utilization.
Plus License	VMware Management	Manages all the features of vCenter and provides an independent CPU license for VMware compute nodes. Features are available after you purchase the Plus license. The Base license is required to install the Plus license. If the independent license is not issued or the licensed quota exceeds, the KVM-licensed CPUs will be used. Provides official after-sales technical support within the specified period.
	Tenant Management	Provides the full functionalities of Tenant Management, such as project management, organizational structure, users, permissions, and Cloud operations, during the licensed period. Features are available after you purchase the Plus license. The Base license is required to install the Plus license. Provides official after-sales technical support within the specified period.
	ARM64 Management	Provides a specified number of ARM hosts within the licensed period, and provides stable support for ARM64 servers. Features are available after you purchase the Plus license. The Base license is required to install the Plus license. Provides official after-sales technical support within the specified period.
	Backup Service	Backs up VM data to backup servers online in various scenarios, such as local backup, remote backup, and hybrid cloud backup. This enhances the data reliability. Features are available after you purchase the Plus license. The Base license is required to install the Plus license. Provides official after-sales technical support within the specified period.
	Continuous Data Protection (CDP) Service	Provides second-level and fine-grained continuous data protection for VM instances, ensuring that VM instances can quickly recover when a failure occurs. Features are available after you purchase the Plus license. The Base license is required to install the Plus license. Provides official after-sales technical support within the specified period.
	Baremetal Management	Provides a specified number of dedicated physical servers within the licensed period to ensure the high performance and stability of core applications. Features are available after you purchase the Plus license. The Base license is required to install the Plus license. Provides official after-sales technical support within the specified period.
	Cryptography Security Compliance	Provides applications with cloud security capabilities based on commercial cryptographies, meeting the requirements of commercial cryptography application security assessments. Features are available after you purchase the Plus license. The Base license is required to install the Plus license. Provides official after-sales technical support within the specified period.
	Elastic Baremetal Management	Provides the license for managing specified number of flexible physical servers during the licensed period, improving the ease of use and flexibility in addition to ensuring the high performance and stability of physical servers. Features are available after you purchase the Plus license. The Base license is required to install the Plus license. Provides official after-sales technical support within the specified period.
	Alibaba Cloud Hybrid Cloud Management	Provides all features of Alibaba Cloud Hybrid Cloud Management, realizing the interconnection between the control plane and the data plane. Features are available after you purchase the Plus license. The Base license is required to install the Plus license. Provides official after-sales technical support within the specified period.
	Container Service-CPU	Provides independent CPU license for an enterprise-level container service, enabling you to conveniently use multiple-tenant management, multiple cluster management, resource allocation, CI/CD, microservice governance, and other container-related features. Features are available after you purchase the Plus license. The Base license is required to install the Plus license. Provides official after-sales technical support within the specified period.
	Container Service-vCPU	Provides independent vCPU license for an enterprise-level container service, enabling you to conveniently use multiple-tenant management, multiple-cluster management, resource allocation, CI/CD, microservice governance, and other container-related features. Features are available after you purchase the Plus license. The Base license is required to install the Plus license. Provides official after-sales technical support within the specified period.
	5x8 (7x24) After-Sales Service	Provides 5x8 or 7x24 official after-sales technical support within the specified period. Features are available after you purchase the Plus license. The Base license is required to install the Plus license.
	SR-IOV NIC Service	Allows you to generate VF NICs from physical NICs based on the SR-IOV specification and allocate these VF NICs to VM instances. This provides VM instances strong I/O performance comparable to that of physical NICs. Features are available after you purchase the Plus license. Provided in the Enterprise Base license by default. A Standard Base license is required to install the Plus license. Provides official after-sales technical support within the specified period.
	GPU Service	Allows you to passthrough a physical GPU (pGPU) to VM instances or divide a pGPU into multiple virtual GPUs (vGPUs) and distribute the vGPUs to VM instances. This empowers VM instances with strong computing capabilities of physical GPUs. Features are available after you purchase the Plus license. Provided in the Enterprise Base license by default. A Standard Base license is required to install the Plus license. Provides official after-sales technical support within the specified period.
	Billing Management	Provides billing methods like that of the public cloud, uses pricing lists to manage billing of resources of various unit prices, and offers billing services to the admin and tenants based on the pricing lists. Features are available after you purchase the Plus license. Provided in the Enterprise Base license by default. A Standard Base license is required to install the Plus license. Provides official after-sales technical support within the specified period.
	CloudFormation	Uses stack templates to batch deploy and configure resources and manage the lifecycle of the resources. In addition, offers designers that allow efficient orchestration of cloud resources. Features are available after you purchase the Plus license. Provided in the Enterprise Base license by default. A Standard Base license is required to install the Plus license. Provides official after-sales technical support within the specified period.
	Auto-Scaling Service	Allows automatic scale-in or scale-out of VM instances based on the load balancing result of application workloads, thereby improving resource utilization, lowering maintenance costs, and securing stable business operations. Features are available after you purchase the Plus license. Provided in the Enterprise Base license by default. A Standard Base license is required to install the Plus license. Provides official after-sales technical support within the specified period.
	SDN Network	Supports hardware SDN integration and provides advanced network service management capabilities based on OVS-DPDK software SDN networks. Features are available after you purchase the Plus license. Provided in the Enterprise Base license by default. A Standard Base license is required to install the Plus license. Provides official after-sales technical support within the specified period.
	SE Device	Supports SE device detection and management, including virtualization/ungeneration and attachment to VM instances, which provides security and encryption services. Features are available after you purchase the Plus license. Provided in the Enterprise Base license by default. A Standard Base license is required to install the Plus license. Provides official after-sales technical support within the specified period.

Note:

For more details, contact us by sending emails to sales@zstack.io.
To obtain a trial, or to purchase or upgrade your ZStack Cloud license, send your key ID or request key with your requirements to sales@zstack.io. We will contact you as soon as possible.

Licensing Method

ZStack Cloud supports two licensing methods: Local Licensing and Server Licensing.

Local Licensing: Install local licenses using either a request key or an USB key. The Cloud consumes the local license quota.
- USB Key: Plug the authorization USB Key into the management node to complete the local license installation.
- Request Key: Use the request key to apply for licenses and upload the obtained license file locally to complete the installation.
Server Licensing: Connect to a license server and consume the license quota shared from the license server.
- License Server: A license server is essentially a cloud platform with the License Sharing feature enabled. Therefore, it can share its license quota with other cloud platforms and acts as a License server.
- Client Site: A client site refers to a cloud platform that connects to a license server and consumes license quota shared from it.

Install a License

ZStack Cloud supports two licensing methods: Local Licensing and Server Licensing. The admin can use either of the two methods to install licenses for the Cloud.

Local Licensing: Install local licenses using either a request key or an USB key. The Cloud consumes the local license quota.
- USB Key: Plug the authorization USB Key into the management node to complete the local license installation.
- Request Key: Use the request key to apply for licenses and upload the obtained license file locally to complete the installation.
Server Licensing: Connect to a license server and consume the license quota on the license server.

Local Licensing (USB Key)

This topic details the method for local authorization using a USB key, covering the license installation, license renewal, and USB key status verification.

Install License

To install a license by using a USB key, the admin can follow these steps:

Insert the USB key into the management node.
On the main menu of ZStack Cloud, choose Personal Center > License Management. Then, the License Management page is displayed.
On the License Management page, click the Refresh button to the left of Upload License.

Figure 1. Refresh License
Then, you can see the whole licensing information.

Figure 2. Whole Licensing Information

Note:

If you have got a license by using a request key, you can view Plus License of both the request key and USB key after inserting the USB key. If the Plus License is the same, the latest uploaded one will be taken as a reference.
If you get a license by using the USB key, every time you enter the License Management interface of the Cloud, there will be about two seconds of information reading, and the relevant information of the USB key will appear after two seconds.
If you are using a dual-MN environment, note that:
- You can obtain the authorization by inserting only one USB key into the management node.
- If the node with the USB key inserted is faulty, we recommend that you remove the USB key and insert it into another healthy node to ensure the business continuity.
- If you update from a single management node environment to a dual-MN environment, you do not need to get the additional license.

Renew License

To resize or add licenses after uploading the license, the admin can follow these steps to renew the license by using a USB key:

Insert the USB key into the management node.
On the main menu of ZStack Cloud, choose Personal Center > License Management. Then, the License Management page is displayed.
On the License Management page, click the Copy button to the right of the Key ID.

Figure 3. Copy Key ID
Apply for a license by using the USB Key ID to get the licensing file.
Go back to the License Management page, Click Upload License to upload the licensing file.

Figure 4. Upload License
Check whether the licensing information is correct.

Note:

If you do not insert a USB key into the management node, you can not upload a license by using the USB key.
If the USB key ID dose not match the applied license, you can not upload the license by using the USB key.
If you apply a new license by using a USB key, you need to fill in previous all applied information and then add new Plus License information when the USB key does not match the request key.

View USB Key Status

On the main menu of ZStack Cloud, choose Personal Center > License Management. Then, the License Management page is displayed. You can view the current status of the USB key of the Cloud.

USB Key Status

USB key has the following statuses.

Status	Description
Ready	The USB key is Ready when there is only one USB key inserted into the management node and it works properly.
Missing	After unplugging the USB key, the USB key is Missing. Note: When unplugging the USB key, the Cloud will check whether the current license is expired. If it is expired, there will be no buffer license after unplugging the USB Key. It keeps the status of Expired. If it is not expired, a 30-day buffer license is generated based on the current license of the USB key when you unplug the USB key at the first time. the last time it was unplugged will be detected when you do not unplug the USB key for the first time: If the period between two times is 60 days or more, the buffer license is renewed. If the period is less than 60 days, the expiration time of the previous buffer license is retained. After unplugging the USB key and inserting a new USB key, the licensing information of the new USB key will be displayed and the buffer license of the old USB key will be invalidated.
Abnormal	For a dual-MN environment, you might face a possibility of USB key failure if you: Insert one USB key into each of the two management nodes. Insert one USB key into one management node, and insert multiple USB keys into the other management node. Note: The USB key in an abnormal state does not affect the license.
Fault	For a dual-MN environment, you may face a possibility of USB key failure if you: Insert multiple USB keys into one management node, and insert no USB key into the other management node. Insert multiple USB keys into every management node. For a single management node environment, if you insert multiple USB keys into this management node, the USB key status will be Faulty. Note: When the USB key status is Faulty, you can not use the license after the buffer license is expired.

Local Licensing (Request Key)

This topic details the method for local authorization using a request key covering the license installation and license renewal.

Install License | UI

To install a license by using a request key, the admin can follow these steps:

On the main menu of ZStack Cloud, choose Personal Center > License Management. Then, the License Management page is displayed.
On the License Management page, click Upload License in the upper right corner. On the displayed Upload License window, set the following parameters:
- Licensing Method: Select Local Licensing.
- License: Upload the license file.

Note:

You can upload both the Base license and Plus license at the same time by using a tar.gz package or a .txt file.
If you are using a dual-MN environment, we recommend that you download the request key and upload the license file on the management node where the virtual IP address is located. Then, the licensing information on both nodes can be updated.
Only the admin has the permission to load or delete licenses. Note that the Base license cannot be deleted.

Install License | Command Line

Import the license by using a command line tool after getting the new license.
```
[root@localhost ~]# zstack-ctl install_license -f zstack-license.tar.gz
```

Refresh the license.

Reload the license by using the following commands:

[root@localhost ~]# zstack-cli 

  ZStack command line tool
  Type "help" for more information
  Type Tab key for auto-completion
  Type "quit" or "exit" or Ctrl-d to exit

>>>LogInByAccount accountName=admin password=password
{
    "inventory": {
        "accountUuid": "36c27e8ff05c4780bf6d2fa65700f22e",
        "createDate": "May 25, 2016 8:12:54 PM",
        "expiredDate": "May 25, 2016 10:12:54 PM",
        "userUuid": "36c27e8ff05c4780bf6d2fa65700f22e",
        "uuid": "d505bde1bcce46cb9c79774440654f42"
    },
    "success": true
}

>>>ReloadLicense

Renew License

To resize or add licenses after uploading the license, the admin can follow these steps to renew a license by using a request key:

On the main menu of ZStack Cloud, choose Personal Center > License Management. Then, the License Management page is displayed.
On the License Management page, click the Download button next to Request Key.

Figure 2. Download Request Key
Apply for a license by using a request key to get the licensing file.
Go back to the License Management page, upload the licensing file.
Check whether the licensing information is correct.

Server Licensing

About this task

This topic describes how to use server licensing. The main process includes the following steps:

Prepare a license server.
Connect to the license server.

Procedure

Prepare a license server.
Prepare the license server, and obtain the license server address and port.
Connect to the license server.
1. On the ZStack Cloud main menu, choose Personal Center > License Management to go to the License Management page.
2. On the License Management page, click Upload License in the upper right corner. The Upload License page is displayed.
  Configure the following parameters as needed:
  - Licensing Method: Select Server Licensing.
  - License Server Address: Enter the license server address.
  Note: After server licensing is used, the current environment consumes the license quota on the license server and cannot switch back to local licensing.

Manage a License

On the main menu of ZStack Cloud, choose Personal Center > License Management. Then, the License Management page is displayed.

The following table lists the actions that you can perform on a license.

Action	Description
Upload License	Upload a license.
Copy Key ID	Copy the key ID required to generate a license. You can update the license by using a key ID.
Download Request Key	Download the request key required to generate a license. You can update the license by using a request key.
Delete Plus License	Delete a Plus license you added to the Cloud. Note: The Plus licenses obtained by using a USB key cannot be deleted.

License Status

A license has the following statuses.

Status	Description
Valid	The Base license is in the valid status.
Expired	The Base license or a Plus license expired. If a Plus license expires, the corresponding features are unavailable.

License Exception Reminder

If an exception occurs to your license, the Cloud will remind you accordingly. The details are listed as follows.

Exception	Details
License to Expire	When the remaining license period is less than 15 days, a banner prompt will appear after you log in to the Cloud. Note: You will receive a reminder when the remaining period of the 5x8 (7x24) after-sales service is less than 30 days. Please contact us for authorization update as soon as possible to obtain a complete official after-sales technical support service. You can click Check in the banner prompt to go to the License Management page. In order not to affect your use of the Cloud, we recommend that you contact us as soon as possible for authorization update.
License Expired	When the Base license expired, you will be redirected to the License Management page after login. In order not to affect your use of the Cloud, we recommend that you contact us as soon as possible for authorization update. Note: If your Base license expired, the business on the Cloud can be still running properly. However, do not perform any operations, such as reconnecting your host, image storage, or primary storage, so as not to affect the business continuity. If your Plus license expired, all the features provided by the Plus license will be unavailable. For example, if your Tenant Management Plus license expired, the project login page will be locked. If your Base license expired, but the Plus license is still within the authorization period, you can view the relevant resources related to the Plus license, but do not operate on these resources. For example, if your Tenant Prepaid Base license expired, but the Tenant Management Plus license is still within the authorization period, you can log in to the Cloud from the project login portal, but you cannot operate on related resources.
Licensed Quota Exceeds	When you update your license, you may find that the used resources exceed the authorized quota. In this case, most features of the Cloud become unavailable. To ensure your business continuity, we recommend that you update your license to expand the capacity. The limitations and operations that you can perform are as follows: You can log in to the Cloud and obtain, refresh, and view the status of resource. You can reduce resource usage by for example, deleting a host, a vCenter, a cluster, or a VM instance, changing the state of a host, and expunging a VM instance. You can manage your license, such as downloading the request key, uploading a license, and deleting a license. You can perform no operations other than the preceding operations. Note: Resource authorization by license can be delivered by using the following three methods: CPU sockets, hosts, and VM instances. If the resources usage exceeds the quota authorized by using either of the three methods, some features of the Cloud become unavailable. If you power off the management node, the management node cannot be started. You can only login to the management node console and update the license by using CLI. For more information, see Install the Licensing by Using Command Line Tool.
License Server Disconnected	The Cloud uses server licensing but the license server is disconnected. Note: If the license on the license server is valid at the time of disconnection, the system generates a 30-day buffer license based on the shared license information obtained before. We recommend that you reconnect the license server as soon as possible to ensure the Cloud works properly. If the license on the license server is expired before disconnection, no buffer license is generated.

Licensing Record

On the main menu of ZStack Cloud, choose Personal Center > License Management > Licensing Record. Then, the Licensing Record page is displayed.

The admin can view the licensing records of the Cloud on the UI, including the upload time, license type, authorized items, authorization method, authorized quota, state, time when the license was issued, and time when the license expires.

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