Activating the License

In this topic:

Activate the license automatically over the Internet

Activate the license manually for DataCore Servers without Internet access

Also see:

Server Group Details for a few notes about licensing features that are displayed on the License tab.

About Licensing and Product Keys

Product keys are a representation of a license that verify the authenticity and licensed use of this software. Some product keys are activated for all DataCore Servers in the server group and some product keys are activated individually for each DataCore Server. Multiple product keys can be activated at a time.

Product keys will be provided and should be activated:

o When the software license is purchased

o When new licensed options are added

o When licensed storage capacity is increased

Important Notes:

o If running the software in 30-day trial mode, after 30 days all configuration operations will be prohibited unless a license is purchased and those product keys are activated. As a reminder, the number of days until trial license expiration is displayed at the top of the DataCore Management Console. The reminder will be displayed when there is at least one server in the group that has a license which will expire.

o If running the software under an evaluation license with an expiration date, the evaluation start date begins on the day the license is shipped. After the number of days has expired, all configuration operations will be prohibited unless a license is purchased. If the evaluation license has expired before a permanent license has been activated, any keys with expiration dates must be removed before activating permanent product keys. Contact DataCore Technical Support for assistance in removing license keys.

o To purchase a license or additional features or products, contact DataCore Software or your DataCore Solution Provider.

o A product key must be activated in order for it to take effect in the software. Activating a product key does not require a system restart or server stop/start.

o License keys for regular storage capacity can be divided among different server groups. For instance, if a company has two server groups and purchases a capacity key for 1000 TB, the same capacity key can be entered for both groups with ServerGroup1 being assigned 500 TB and ServerGroup2 being assigned 500 TB.

o A base bulk capacity license allows a server to act as a bulk storage node, which can only manage bulk storage. Bulk capacity for the node is added or expanded by entering additional server group license keys and the full bulk capacity amount is applied to the node.

· An existing server with existing standard disk pools may not be enabled as a bulk server node. A server with standard disk pools running in trial mode can be enabled as a bulk server node, in which case all existing pools will be converted to bulk storage pools and must not exceed the amount of bulk capacity licensed for the server group.

· Bulk capacity licenses cannot be applied to a licensed Virtual SAN node.

o If changing a server license key from one DataCore Server to another, the product key will have to be re-entered for the new server and then activated.

o After restoring a saved configuration, the license will appear in Trial mode and license keys will need to be re-activated to return to a permanent state again.

o Before activating product keys:

· Ensure all servers are added to the server group before activating product keys.

· When a new server is added to a group that already has activated licenses, always invoke the Add DataCore Server operation from the server with the activated licenses. After the new server is added to the group, then activate the product keys for the new server.

· Servers with activated product keys that are added to a different group will have their product keys de-activated. In this case, re-activate the product keys for the server after the server is added to the new group.

· If running software with an expiration date (such as 30-day trial or evaluation license) and a permanent license is purchased, all features and storage capacity limits granted with the temporary software that are not purchased with the permanent license must be removed from the configuration. Failure to do so will prevent the activation of purchased product keys. For instance, depending on the license purchased, snapshot and rollbacks may have to be deleted, replications may have to be split, Continuous Data Protection may have to be disabled, physical disks in pools may need to be deleted so that storage capacity is not exceeded and so forth. Contact DataCore Technical Support for assistance in removing or modifying product keys. This should be done prior to the expiration date.

Automatic Activation

Automation activation is a simple process and requires the DataCore Server to have Internet access and firewall access to the automatic license activation service through port 3793. If port 3793 is unavailable, the automatic activation will attempt to use port 80. For more information, see Windows Settings Disclosure.

License information is encrypted for security.

To automatically activate the license:

1 In DataCore Servers Panel, click on the server group to open the Server Group Details page.

2 Click the License tab. The license status for each DataCore Server in the group is displayed.

3 At the bottom of the page, click the link Activate Product Keys.

4 In the Activate Product Keys page, in the Activation Method area, click Automatic Activation.

5 In the Contact Information area, enter the information to be used for future communications.

6 In the License Product Keys area, enter each product key one at a time. If the product key entered is server-specific, a box will appear with the server names. Select the DataCore Server that the key should be applied to. If a capacity key is entered, provide the capacity amount that should be applied to the server group in the box provided. A green check mark will appear when a valid key is entered. When all product keys have been entered, click Next.

7 Read the license agreement. To continue, select the check box to accept the terms of the license agreement and click Activate.

8 On the Activation Summary page, if a message appears that your license has been successfully activated, click OK.

Manual Activation

Use manual activation if the DataCore Server is not connected to the Internet or a firewall blocks traffic to the automatic license activation service. For more information, see Windows Settings Disclosure.

Manual activation overview:

1 Using the License Activation wizard on the DataCore Server to copy the encrypted product key information either to the clipboard or to a text file. If the server has access to a browser, then the clipboard method can be used. If the server has no access to a browser, then copy the information to a text file, it will have to be transported to a computer with Internet access.

2 The text file or clipboard information will be used to generate license information from the license activation Web page (https://www.datacore.com/products/software-defined-storage/activation/). The license information generated will then be copied back to the clipboard or text file. If using the text file method, the file will have to be transported back to the server.

3 Use the License Activation wizard on the DataCore Server to copy the generated license information from the clipboard or file in order to complete the process.

To manually activate the license:

1 In DataCore Servers Panel, click on the server group to open the Server Group Details page.

2 Click the License tab.

3 At the bottom of the page, click the link Activate Product Keys.

4 On the Enter Activation Information page, Activate Product Keys page, if there is no Internet connection to the server, click Manual Activation.

5 In the Contact Information area, enter the information.

6 In the License Product Keys area, enter each product key. If the product key entered is server-specific, a box will appear with the server names. Select the DataCore Server that the key should be applied to. If a capacity key is entered, provide the capacity amount that should be applied to the server group in the box provided. A green check mark will appear when a valid key is entered. When all product keys have been entered, click Next.

7 If the server has access to the browser on the Internet:

a In the Manual Activation page, save the encrypted license information by clicking Copy to clipboard. DO NOT CLOSE THE WIZARD.

b In the browser, open this page on the DataCore Website: https://www.datacore.com/products/software-defined-storage/activation/. The License Activation page will open.

c On the License Activation page, click Paste From Clipboard to copy the clipboard contents to the window.

d Click Generate License. The product key information is retrieved and used to generate the license. The generated license information is copied to the window.

e Click Copy To Clipboard to copy the generated license information to the clipboard.

8 If the server does not have Internet access:

a In the Manual Activation page, save the encrypted license information by clicking Save to file.... and choose the location of the file. The file should be transported to a computer with Internet access. DO NOT CLOSE THE WIZARD.

b On a computer with Internet access:

i Copy the file.

ii In the browser, open this page on the DataCore Website: https://www.datacore.com/products/software-defined-storage/activation/. The License Activation page will open.

iii On the License Activation page, click Browse For File and Upload... to find the file. The contents of the file will be displayed in the window.

iv Click Generate License. The product key information is retrieved and used to generate the license. The generated license information is copied to the window.

v Click Save To File to copy the generated license information to a file. Transport the file to the DataCore Server.

9 In the Manual Activation page of the License Activation wizard, depending on your earlier selection, click either Paste from clipboard or Load from file... to transfer the generated license information to the window. Click Next.

10 Read the license agreement. Select the check box to accept the terms of the license agreement and click Activate.

11 On the Activation Summary page, if a message appears that your license has been successfully activated, click OK.