Introduction
This document describes the most asked questions about licensing for Unified Computing System (UCS) Director. See this list for version information:
- Most of the information present here is applicable to UCSD Version 4.1.0.1 and later.
- For Enterprise Cloud Suite subscription licenses, UCSD Version 6.0.0.1 or later is required.
How do I acquire a license file for UCS Director?
UCS Director now comes with a built-in 90-day evaluation license. Perpetual or subscription licenses can be ordered through your normal sales channel, either separately or as part of a bundle with UCS hardware, or as part of an Enterprise Cloud Suite (ECS) software bundle. For each license ordered you receive a Product Authorization Key (PAK). This PAK can then be used at the Cisco License Registration Portal in order to generate a license file, which can be read by UCS Director.
Who do I turn to for help?
For assistance acquiring the PAK, consult your Partner/Reseller or Cisco account team. If you have a PAK, but require assistance to activate the PAK, contact licensing@cisco.com or open a case with the Cisco Global Licensing Operations team. If you have a license file (except EVAL or NFR licenses), but require assistance to install it in UCS Director, open a TAC case in Support Case Manager using keywords UCS Director and Configuration Assistance.
What are the licenses that exist for UCS Director and what are they for?
Many different license options exist for UCS Director, which include the limited-time evaluation license. Consult your Cisco Reseller, Partner, or Cisco Account Team in order to discuss which option suits your requirements best.
Note that the first license installed on a UCS Director system must be a BASE license such as CUIC-BASE-K9 or ELA-CUIC-BASE-K9. Any add-on licenses must be installed after the base license is installed.
Can I get UCS Director EVAL or NFR licenses for trial purposes?
No, evaluation and not-for-resale licenses are no longer available for purchase. Every new installation of UCS Director instance comes bundled with 90-days evaluation license.
Can I install the same license on more than one system?
The only scenario in which this is allowed is when you install the license of a production UCS Director system on a staging system, which is later used to test the configurations before they are deployed on that production system. When you deploy multiple production systems, even in a HA (high availability) scenario, each production UCS Director system requires its own license(s).
Can I purchase the perpetual licenses such as CUIC-PHYSVRBM, CUIC-PHY-SVR, CUIC-PHY-SVR with CUIC-PHY-SVR-VR licenses ?
No, perpetual licenses are no longer available for purchase. As of May 31, 2023, UCS Director no longer supports the perpetual licenses. The only way to purchase UCS Director license is as an ADD-ON to Intersight license PID DC-MGT-SAAS. The UCS Director ADD-ON (DC-MGT-IS-UCSD) requires a purchase of Intersight Essentials or Intersight Advantage. The quantity of UCS Director ADD-ON license must be equal to or less than the sum of all quantities of Intersight Essentials and Intersight Advantage licenses purchased.
Do I require to purchase Intersight Essentials license when I’m using UCS Director to manage 3rd party servers such as DELL or HPE servers?
Yes, you must purchase Intersight Essentials or Intersight Advantage license along with the required number of UCS Director ADD-ON(DC-MGT-IS-UCSD) licenses for managing your DELL or HPE servers. The quantity of UCS Director ADD-ON license must be equal to or less than the sum of all quantities of Intersight Essentials and Intersight Advantage licenses purchased. Intersight Essentials or Intersight Advantage and UCS Director ADD-ON licenses can be purchased via the product ID DC-MGT-SAAS.
Do I require a UCS Director ADD-ON license for each blade if UCS Director discovers all the servers in our UCS domain?
No, it is possible to select which blades are managed by UCS Director and which are not. Only the managed blades require a server license.
How can I avoid this error message: "Error updating license. The perpetual license is currently installed on the system. You cannot add a subscription-based license when a perpetual license is installed."?
Scenario 1: When you do not have a perpetual licence installed and yet your attempt to add a new subscription licence fails.
A permanent base license (CUIC-BASE-K9) is also considered a perpetual license and this causes the error in UCS Director 6.0.0.0 and earlier. In UCS Director Version 6.0.0.1 and later it is possible to install subscription licenses on top of it. Upgrade and then apply the license(s) again.
Note: It is still not possible to mix UCS Director ADD-ON licenses and perpetual (permanent) licenses with this version.
Scenario 2: When a perpetual licence is already installed and now you try to install a subscription license.
In UCS Director 6.0.0.1 and later it is possible to install subscription licenses on top of a perpetual base license (CUIC-BASE-K9). Note that only the base license can be perpetual; old and unsupported perpetual licenses and the new UCS Director ADD-ON licenses can not be mixed. If you currently have perpetual server licenses and facing a difficulty in migrating over to the new UCS Director ADD-ON license, consult your reseller or Cisco account team to discuss your options.
Feedback