Cisco License Manager is a secure client/server-based application to manage Cisco IOS Software activation and licenses. It automates the workflow associated with Cisco IOS Software activation through its wizard-based GUI and scales for large network deployments. It can support up to 10,000 devices. Cisco License Manager automatically discovers the network and builds an inventory of licensed features deployed in the network by securely communicating with the license agent embedded in Cisco IOS Software. Alternatively, Cisco License Manager can import the list of network devices in XML format or the user can manually add them.
Cisco License Manager enables customers to perform networkwide software activation in three simple steps:
1. Customers can add the Product Activation Keys (PAKs) for the licensed software features they have purchased from Cisco in Cisco License Manager. It automatically obtains the feature SKUs authorized by the PAKs by securely interacting with the license server on the Cisco Website.
2. Using the wizard-based GUI, Cisco License Manager guides the customer to securely obtain licenses for selected devices from the license server on the Cisco Website.
3. Customer can deploy the obtained licenses through "One Click" interface or Wizard-based GUI to activate the software features.
Cisco License Manager can obtain licenses even for predeployed or offline devices by simply adding those devices using their Unique Device Identifier (UDI) instead of their IP address.
Cisco License Manager provides advanced reporting capabilities to help customers know exactly which software features they have purchased, how many licenses they have obtained, and which licenses are not yet deployed. It also aids in Sarbanes-Oxley Act compliance through its licensing reports indicating proof of license. Cisco License Manager helps customers save costs by identifying a list of licenses that are deployed on network devices but are not needed there.
The Cisco License Manager offers a full-functionality Software Development Kit (SDK) for integration with customers' existing license and asset-management products and protects their investment in these assets. Cisco License Manager accelerates deployment of licenses and enables customers to rapidly roll out advanced services in their networks using the licensed features.
Cisco License Manager assists in failure recovery by deploying licenses stored in its database or by retrieving and then deploying all the licenses for a device from the license server on the Cisco Website. Cisco License Manager provides the capability to back up its database and configuration files and restore them later.
Cisco License Manager resides in the customer premises and has access to the customer network and needs Internet connectivity to the Cisco Website for many of its features. It also supports two-stage license deployment for isolated networks where the customers can move Cisco License Manager to a network domain with Internet connectivity and obtain and save licenses to its database by securely communicating with the license server on the Cisco Website. Cisco License Manager can then be moved back to the original isolated network domain to deploy previously obtained licenses to network devices. Figure 1 illustrates how Cisco License Manager should be deployed in a typical scenario.
Figure 2 shows the most common Cisco IOS Software activation workflow with Cisco License Manager.
Figure 2. Software activation Workflow with Cisco License Manager
Key features for Cisco License Manager include:
• Autodiscovery
• Build an inventory of deployed licensed features on the network
• Obtain licenses through secure connectivity with the license server on the Cisco Website
• "One Click" license deployment
• Two-stage license deployment
• Detailed license reporting
• Full-functionality Java SDK
• Faster failure recovery by deploying licenses from the database or retrieving all licenses for a given device from the license server on the Cisco Website
Key Features and Benefits
Increased Productivity
Some Cisco IOS Software-based devices, such as Cisco Catalyst® 3750-E and 3560-E switches, need license keys to activate software features on them. These license keys are locked to a device and can be obtained from the Cisco Product Registration portal on the Cisco Website by specifying the UDI of a device and the PAKs supplied by Cisco. The license keys can be deployed on the associated devices using the Cisco IOS Software Command-Line Interface (CLI).
This software activation workflow consists of multiple manual steps and does not scale well for networkwide deployments. Cisco License Manager automates this workflow and accelerates the license-deployment process using a "One Click" interface (Figure 3). It scales to large networks and can support up to 10,000 devices. Cisco License Manager can significantly reduce the time for large-scale license deployment with a deployment speed of 250 licenses per minute, and it enables customers to rapidly roll out new services based on these licensed features.
Cisco License Manager is a simple to install and easy to use application that automates the Cisco IOS Software activation process. It can automatically discover the complete network using customer-supplied parameters. Cisco License Manager securely communicates with the embedded license agent on Cisco IOS Software to build advanced inventory of all licensed features deployed in the network and provide detailed license reports. The customers simply need to add the PAKs received from Cisco for the software features they have purchased, and the Cisco License Manager wizard-based GUI guides the customer to associate the features to network devices and vice versa and automatically obtains the licenses by securely interacting with backend systems on the Cisco Website (Figure 4). Please note that Cisco License Manager communicates to backend systems on Cisco Website only when the customer initiates Download PAK Info, Obtain License and Re-send License operations. It does not send any customer network information to Cisco backend systems except the device UDI which is required for obtaining licenses.
Figure 4. Cisco License Manager Wizard to Obtain a License from the Cisco Website
The licenses obtained from the license server on the Cisco Website can be deployed using a simple wizard-based GUI or through "One Click" (Figure 5).
Figure 5. Cisco License Manager Wizard to Deploy Licenses
Using Cisco License Manager advanced reports, customers can quickly find out how many features they have purchased, how many licenses they have, and how many licenses have not been deployed. Cisco License Manager reports also aid in compliance with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, which requires that customers have proof of licensing for all products that they have purchased. Cisco License Manager compares the licensable features for a given device with the feature licenses already installed on that device and reports any feature licenses that are not needed and can be redeployed somewhere else resulting in cost savings.
Investment Protection
Cisco License Manager supports Cisco IOS Software activation for all hardware platforms, and customers do not need to train their operations staff for multiple applications. In addition to the wizard-based GUI, Cisco License Manager also has a Java SDK that provides exactly the same functionality as is available through the GUI. This protects customer investment in their existing license and asset-management products, as those software products can seamlessly hook up with Cisco License Manager through its Java SDK.
Faster Failure Recovery
In the case where the license keys on the device are accidentally lost or corrupted due to storage failure, the network downtime can be prolonged because the services based on these licensed features cannot be enabled. Cisco License Manager can significantly reduce this down time by deploying licenses stored in its database using "One Click." If the device was not managed through Cisco License Manager before failure and the license keys were not backed up, the customer can quickly add that device to Cisco License Manager, and retrieve all licenses for that device from the license server on the Cisco Website and then deploy them automatically. The Cisco License Manager administrator can also back up and restore the database and configuration files.
Product Architecture
Cisco License Manager is a Java-based client/server application. It uses open standards-based protocols (HTTP, HTTPS and XML) to securely communicate to the license server on the Cisco Website as well as the embedded license agent in Cisco IOS Software to manage Cisco IOS Software activation and licenses. It includes a high-performance embedded database to store information about users, PAKs, managed devices, and licenses; and it scales up to 10, 000 devices. Cisco License Manager provides an easy to use GUI as well as a well-documented Java SDK for integration with existing license and asset-management software (Figure 6).
Figure 6. Cisco License Manager Architecture
Product Specifications
Table 1 provides product specifications for Cisco License Manager 1.0. Tables 2 and 3 list the system requirements.
Table 1. Product Specifications
Product Parameter
Specification
Product Compatibility
Cisco Catalyst 3750-E and 3560-E series switches
Software Compatibility
Windows XP Professional (English and Japanese only) and JRE 1.5
Protocols
• HTTP
• HTTPS
• XML
Features and Functions
Autodiscovery, inventory of deployed licensed features, fulfill licenses from the license server on the Cisco Website, "One Click" license deployment, detailed license reporting, programmatic interface, quick failure recovery by providing an ability to deploy licenses from the database or retrieve and deploy all licenses for a given device from the license server on the Cisco Website, backup and restore of database and configuration files
Programming Interfaces
Full-functionality Java SDK
System Capacity
System Parameter
Capacity
Number of Supported Devices
10,000
Number of Concurrent Clients
5 (both GUI- and API-based clients)
System Requirements
Table 2. System Requirements (Server or Client and Server on the Same Machine)
Description
Specification
Number of Managed Devices
10,000
Disk Space
10 GB
Hardware
Pentium 4 3.2 GHz or equivalent CPU-based machine
Memory
1 GB minimum
Software
Windows XP Professional (English and Japanese only)
Java Requirements
1.5
Table 3. System Requirements (Client-only)
Description
Specification
Number of Managed Devices
10,000
Disk Space
1 GB
Hardware
Pentium 3 1.0 GHz or equivalent CPU-based machine
Memory
500 MB minimum
Software
Windows XP Professional (English and Japanese only)
Java Requirements
1.5
Cisco License Manager can be installed on less powerful machines such as laptops if the number of managed devices is small and there are no concurrent clients.
Cisco License Manager 1.0 Java Software Development Kit (SDK). One SDK is needed for each development workstation.
CLM1.0-JAVA-SDK
Service and Support
Cisco offers a wide range of services programs to accelerate customer success. These innovative services programs are delivered through a unique combination of people, processes, tools, and partners, resulting in high levels of customer satisfaction. Cisco services help you to protect your network investment, optimize network operations, and prepare the network for new applications to extend network intelligence and the power of your business. For more information about Cisco Services, see Cisco Technical Support Services or Cisco Advanced Services.
For More Information
For more information about Cisco License Manager, visit http://www.cisco.com/go/clm. Contact your local Cisco sales representative, or send an e-mail to the product marketing group at asuresk-clm-pm@cisco.com.
