Licensing

Cisco Cyber Vision Licenses

Manage your Cisco Cyber Vision smart licenses through the Cisco Smart Software Manager (CSSM), a centralized platform to track and manage all your Cisco licenses. You have real-time visibility into license usage and availability to help easily optimize and scale usage while ensuring compliance.

The set of Cisco Cyber Vision licenses include licenses for the center, sensor hardware appliances, and Talos subscriber licenses to run intrusion detection services on the sensors. For more information about the Cisco Cyber Vision license types and how to order them, see the Cisco Cyber Vision Data Sheet.

This document guides you through the registration and activation of the Cisco Cyber Vision Center licenses, Essentials, and Advantage.

You can also use CSSM satellite servers or Specific License Reservations for air-gapped networks that do not have a persistent internet connection.

Specific license reservations require special permissions. Contact your Cisco account manager if you require this license type.

Trial Licenses for Cisco Cyber Vision

When you install a Cisco Cyber Vision Center release for the first time, the evaluation mode is enabled by default. The evaluation mode is valid for 90 days and you have access to all the Cisco Cyber Vision features during this time. At the end of the 90 days, you must register a valid Cisco Cyber Vision license to continue using the center.

The evaluation mode is active automatically on a fresh install of Cisco Cyber Vision. To view the details of your evaluation mode, log in to your Cisco Cyber Vision center, and choose Admin > License. The page displays the number of days remaining in the evaluation mode, and you can start registering your smart licenses when you are prepared to do so.

When the evaluation licenses expire, you can only access the License page of the Cisco Cyber Vision center. You can't access any other page until you register valid licenses.

Essentials and Advantage Licenses

Cisco Cyber Vision Center licenses are available in two tiers, Essentials and Advantage. Each tier enables a set of features, with the Advantage license enabling a wider set of features that includes the features mapped to the Essentials license.

Features enabled by Cisco Cyber Vision Essentials license

Inventory​

  • Device inventory​

  • Identify communication patterns​

  • Generate inventory reports​

Vulnerability​

  • Identify device vulnerabilities​

  • Generate vulnerability reports​

Activities​

  • Track control system events​

  • Generate device activity reports​

RESTful API: REST API programming interface​

Features enabled by the Cisco Cyber Vision Advantage license

It includes Essentials features, plus:

Security posture: Device Risk Scoring​

Intrusion detection​

  • Snort IDS on supported sensors​

  • Talos community signatures (New rules may be added 30 days after release)

    ​

Behavior monitoring​

  • Create baselines for asset behaviors​

  • Alerts on deviations

    ​

Advanced integration​s

  • XDR Ribbon​

  • pxGrid integration with Cisco ISE​

  • Firepower Host Attribute integration

  • SIEM Integration – Splunk, IBM QRadar

  • ServiceNow OT Management integration​

Licenses for Intrusion Detection System Components

The Cyber Vision intrusion detection system (IDS) components use the following licenses to enable Talos subscriber rules. Each appliance or sensor in your network that has the IDS service enabled on it consumes a license.

License ID Purpose of License
CV-IDS-CNTR Talos subscriber rules license for Cyber Vision Center IDS (hardware and virtual appliance)
CV-IDS-IC3000 Talos subscriber rules license for Cyber Vision IDS on IC3000-2C2F-K9 sensors
CV-IDS-IR8300 Talos subscriber rules license for Cyber Vision IDS on Cisco Catalyst IR8300 sensors
CV-IDS-C9000 Talos subscriber rules license for Cyber Vision IDS on Cisco Catalyst 9300, 9300X, or 9400 sensors

Cisco Smart Software Manager Satellite for Air-Gapped Networks

Smart licensing typically requires an active communication channel between Cisco Cyber Vision and the Cisco Smart Software Manager (CSSM). If you cannot allow a direct Internet connection for your center, you can set up a Cisco Smart Software Manager satellite on your premises.

The satellite server contains a subset of Cisco Smart Software Manager functionality and must communicate with the latter periodically to operate.

Synchronize your satellite server with the Cisco portal periodically so that the most recent license purchase and utilization data are updated in both systems. For more information, see General CSSM On-Prem Help.

Register Your Essentials or Advantage Licenses

Before you begin

After your purchased licenses are available in your Cisco Software Central account, you must make note of the product registration token and the transport gateway URL (if applicable) to register your Cisco Cyber Vision center with the organizational smart licensing account.

Product registration tokens link new product instances to a virtual account. The Cisco Software Central account for your organization would typically contain all the Cisco licenses purchased. To link a new product instance to the organizational smart licensing account, use a product registration token:

  1. Log in to your Cisco Software Central account.

  2. From the main menu, choose Inventory > Licenses.

  3. The Product Instance Registration Tokens area lists all the tokens that are already generated for this smart licensing account.

    1. To use an existing token, from the Actions column for a token, click Copy.

    2. To create a new token, click New Token.

    3. Copy the product token.

  4. (Optional) If you want to use the Transport Gateway connection method, click Smart Transport Registration URL to copy the registration URL.

Procedure

Step 1

Log in to your Cisco Cyber Vision center.

Step 2

From the main menu, choose Admin > License.

Step 3

To choose the license tier (Essentials or Advantage), click View/Edit next to the Software Subscription Licensing under the Status field.

Step 4

Enable the toggle button in the displayed dialog box to choose a license tier.

Step 5

Click OK.

Step 6

To choose a connection method, click View/Edit next to the Transport Settings.

The Transport settings pop-up appears.

Step 7

Click the radio button to select Transport settings.

There are three types of transport settings, as given below:

  • Direct, to connect to Cisco licensing servers through a direct HTTP connection if you have a persistent internet connection.

  • Transport Gateway, to connect to Cisco licensing servers through Transport Gateway. In the URL field, enter the Smart Transport Registration URL you copied from Cisco Software Central.

  • HTTP/HTTPS Proxy, to connect to Cisco licensing servers through a proxy server. Enter the details of the proxy server to use for this purpose.

Step 8

Click OK.

Step 9

In the registration dialog box, enter the Product Instance Registration Tokens that you copied from Cisco Software Central account.

Step 10

Click Register.

Register Licenses With CSSM On-Prem

Before you begin

For information on configuring a CSSM on-premises satellite, see Cisco Smart Software Manager. After the CSSM satellite is set up, make note of the product registration token and the transport gateway URL (if applicable) to register your Cisco Cyber Vision center with the CSSM satellite.

Product registration tokens link new product instances to a smart licensing account. The CSSM on-premises satellite collects licensing data and shares the same with the Cisco Software Manager at the configured syncs.

  1. Log in to your CSSM On-Prem License Workspace.

  2. From the main menu, choose Inventory > Licenses.

  3. The Product Instance Registration Tokens area lists all the tokens that are already generated for this smart licensing account.

    1. To use an existing token, from the Actions column, click Copy.

    2. To create a new token,

      1. Click New Token.

      2. Enter a description, an expiry date and a maximum number of token uses.

      3. Click Create Token.

      4. The newly created token is added to the list. To copy the token, click Actions and choose Copy.

  4. (Optional) If you want to use the Transport Gateway connection method, click Smart Transport Registration URL and copy the registration URL.

Procedure

Step 1

Log in to your Cisco Cyber Vision center.

Step 2

Choose Admin > License.

Step 3

To choose a connection method, click View/Edit next to the Transport Settings.

The Transport settings pop-up appears.

Step 4

Click the radio button to select Transport settings.

There are three types of transport settings, as given below:

  • Direct, to connect to Cisco licensing servers through a direct HTTP connection if you have a persistent internet connection.

  • Transport Gateway, to connect to Cisco licensing servers through Transport Gateway. In the URL field, enter the Smart Transport Registration URL you copied from Cisco Software Central.

  • HTTP/HTTPS Proxy, to connect to Cisco licensing servers through a proxy server. Enter the details of the proxy server to use for this purpose.

Step 5

Click OK.

Step 6

In the registration dialog box, enter the Product Instance Registration Tokens that you copied from Cisco Software Central account.

Step 7

Click Register.

Reregister Your Licenses

You may need to reregister your licenses to troubleshoot license reporting or usage issues. You can do this through the Admin > License page of the Cisco Cyber Vision center. Click the Actions drop-down list at the top-right corner of the License page, and click Reregister. Generate a registration token and follow the steps detailed in Register Your Essentials or Advantage Licenses.

Deregister Your Licenses

When you deregister your licenses, you enter the evaluation mode again. If the evaluation mode has no remaining days, the center considers your evaluation license as expired, and you have limited access to the Cisco Cyber Vision center.

You can deregister your licenses through the Admin > License page of the Cisco Cyber Vision center. Click the Actions drop-down list at the top-right corner of the License page, and click Deregister.

Use Specific License Reservation

Specific license reservation is a smart licensing method that you can use when your organization's security requirements do not allow a persistent connection between Cisco Cyber Vision center and the Cisco Smart Software Manager (CSSM). Specific license reservation allows you to reserve license entitlements on a center.

The process to create and register a specific license reservation spans across Cisco Cyber Vision center and Cisco Software Manager.

If you don't want to proceed with the license reservation after you generate the reservation request code in Cisco Cyber Vision center, in the License page, click Cancel Reservation Code.

If you lose the reservation request code you created in Cisco Cyber Vision center, in the License page, click View Reservation Request Code.

Before you begin

Specific License Reservation is not available by default. If you want to use this licensing method, contact your Cisco account team to get the permission to use specific license reservation. After you licensing method is granted, you can carry out the following task to register specific license reservation on your Cisco Cyber Vision center.

Procedure

Step 1

In the Cisco Cyber Vision center, choose Admin > License

Step 2

Click Register.

Step 3

In the statement If your Smart Account is authorized for License Reservation and you wish to reserve licenses, start here., click start here.

Step 4

Click, Yes, My Smart Account is License Reservation Enabled.

Step 5

Click Generation Reservation Request Code.

Step 6

To copy the reservation code, click Save to File or Copy to clipboard.

Step 7

Log in to Cisco Software Manager, and from the main menu, choose Smart Software Manager > Manage Licenses.

Step 8

Choose Inventory > Licenses to view your purchased smart licenses.

Step 9

Click License Reservation.

A Smart License Reservation workflow dialog box is displayed.

Step 10

In the Step 1: Enter Request Code tab, in the field that is displayed, enter the reservation code you received from Cisco Cyber Vision center.

Step 11

Click Next.

Step 12

In the Step 2: Select Licenses tab, click the Reserve a specific license radio button. Then, in the Reserve column of the table displayed, for each license type, enter the number of license entitlements you want to reserve.

Step 13

Click Next.

Step 14

In the Step 3: Review and Confirm tab, review the details of your specific license reservation, and click Generate Authorization Code.

Step 15

The Step 4: Authorization Code tab contains a field that displays the authorization code in the XML format. This XML content includes information about the license reservation and the Cisco Cyber Vision center for which the SLR is generated. Click Download As File to download the .txt file to your local system.

Step 16

In the License page of your Cisco Cyber Vision center, click Enter Reservation Authorization Code.

Step 17

You can paste the contents of the .txt file in the text box, or click Upload and choose the .txt file that you downloaded from Cisco Software Manager.

Step 18

Click Install Authorization Code/File.

Update Specific License Reservation

If you need to update the details of your specific license reservation, create a new reservation code in Cisco Software Central. Then, register the license reservation through the Cisco Cyber Vision center.

Procedure

Step 1

Log in to Cisco Software Manager, and from the main menu, choose Smart Software Manager > Manage Licenses.

Step 2

Choose Inventory > Product Instances to view the product instances that report license usage to Cisco Software Central.

Step 3

Find the Cisco Cyber Vision center for which you want to update the license reservation, and click the Actions drop-down menu in the same row.

Step 4

Click Update Reserved Licenses.

Step 5

In the Step 1: Select Licenses tab, click the Reserve a specific license radio button. Then, in the Reserve column of the table displayed, for each license type, enter the number of license entitlements you want to reserve.

Step 6

Click Next.

Step 7

In the Step 2: Review and Confirm tab, review the details of your specific license reservation, and click Generate Authorization Code.

Step 8

The Step 3: Authorization Code tab contains a field that displays the authorization code in the XML format. This XML content includes information about the license reservation and the Cisco Cyber Vision center for which the SLR is generated. Click Download As File to download the .txt file to your local system.

Step 9

In the Cisco Cyber Vision center, choose Admin > License

Step 10

Click Update Reservation.

Step 11

Enter the authorization code for the updated license reservation.

Step 12

Click Register.

Return Specific License Reservation

When you return a specific license reservation, the reserved licenses are released and available in your smart licensing account for reuse. You can use them as smart licenses or as part of another license reservation.

Procedure

Step 1

In the Cisco Cyber Vision center, choose Admin > License.

Step 2

Click Return Reserved Licenses.

Step 3

Click Generate Reservation Return Code.

Step 4

Copy the code displayed in the text box.

Step 5

Click Return License.

Step 6

Log in to Cisco Software Manager, and from the main menu, choose Smart Software Manager > Manage Licenses.

Step 7

Choose Inventory > Product Instances to view the product instances that report license usage to Cisco Software Central.

Step 8

From the Actions drop-down list for your specifc license reservation, choose Remove.

Step 9

Enter the reservation return code that you copied in Step 4, from Cisco Cyber Vision center.

Step 10

Click Remove Product Instance.

Managed Services License Agreement

Managed Services License Agreement (MSLA) is a post-paid utility service model for network providers who are Cisco partners. Through the MSLA licensing method, you pay for what you use, at the end of a monthly billing cycle. The provider holds the license entitlements and can enable or register licenses for multiple customers' centers.

In a Cisco Cyber Vision center that uses a MSLA license, you must set the center to utility mode. In the Admin > License page of the center, from the Actions drop-down list, choose Change Utility Mode.

There is no difference in the license registration process through the Cisco Cyber Vision center. The process outlined in the task Register Your Essentials or Advantage Licenses applies to MSLA licenses as well.

License Usage Compliance

Cisco Cyber Vision Essentials and Advantage licenses are typically term subscriptions for 1, 3, 5, or 7 years. To continue using Cisco Cyber Vision's many features and to receive product support, you must renew your licenses. If your Essentials or Advantage license expires, an alert is displayed in your Cisco Cyber Vision center to notify you of license expiry until you register new licenses.

In some noncompliance license usage scenarios, you can only access the License page in the Cisco Cyber Vision center until you purchase new licenses and register them. Existing configurations continue to run in your network even while your access is restricted.

  • Your evaluation license has expired.

  • You return your specific license reservation, and no other valid licenses are registered in your center.

  • Your Essentials or Advantage licenses have expired, and you use the Cisco Smart Software satellite connection method.

If your IDS licenses expire or if overconsumption is reported because IDS is enabled on more sensors than you have licenses, a warning message is displayed in your Cisco Cyber Vision center until the issue is resolved.