Managing Riverbed Licenses

This chapter describes the Riverbed licensing methods and how to manage Riverbed licenses. It includes the following sections:

A license is a string issued by Riverbed that embeds information that ties the license to data to prevent tampering. After you install the license, the system saves it in the configuration database and enables the functionality associated with the license. Riverbed employs the following licensing methods:

• Automatic Licensing - Once you connect your SteelHead Interceptor to the network, the appliance automatically contacts the Riverbed Licensing Portal, which downloads and installs the licenses.

• Manual Licensing - You can manually fetch and activate licenses for Riverbed products using the Riverbed Licensing Portal. Go to https://licensing.riverbed.com/index.htm and follow the instructions to retrieve license keys. After you manually retrieve your license keys, you need to install them on the appropriate appliance.

• Factory Licensing - You can have all your Riverbed licenses installed at the factory for a small fee.

• Token Method - You use tokens to activate Riverbed software, such as the Virtual SteelCentral Controller for SteelHead Mobile, Virtual SteelStore, SteelHead (virtual edition) appliance, and Core-v. For detailed information, see the respective installation guides for these products.

Automatic licensing allows the appliance, once connected to the network, to automatically contact the Riverbed Licensing Portal to retrieve and install license keys onto the appliance. Automatic licensing simplifies inventory management and provides an automated mechanism of fetching licenses for Riverbed products without having to manually activate individual appliances and licenses.

If you are behind a firewall, you can retrieve licenses at the Riverbed Licensing Portal using the email option or by downloading and XML file to the SteelCentral Controller for SteelHead. For detailed information, see Retrieving Licenses Using the Riverbed Licensing Portal.

Automatic licensing also works over a web proxy. For details on setting up a web proxy, see the SteelHead Interceptor User’s Guide.

Note: If automatic licensing fails, an error message appears in the Management Console. Go to the Riverbed Licensing Portal and follow the instructions for retrieving your licenses.

The SteelHead Interceptor automatically contacts the Riverbed Licensing Portal and downloads and installs the licenses. The Management Console Licensing page displays a success message or the Alarm Status page reports an actionable error message.

At the time of the next scheduled automatic license fetch, the SteelHead Interceptor automatically contacts the Riverbed License Portal and downloads the new licenses. The Management Console Licensing page displays a success message or the Alarm Status page reports an actionable error message. You do not need to delete the expired license. The system uses the license with the latest expiration date.

1. In the Management Console, choose Administration: Maintenance > Licenses to display the Licenses page.

The Management Console Licensing page displays a success message or the Alarm Status page reports an actionable error message.

Note: Only administrator users can fetch and install licenses. For detailed information on administrator and monitor users, see the SteelHead Interceptor User’s Guide.

You can retrieve and manage Riverbed licenses using the Riverbed Licensing Portal. Once you retrieve a license from the Riverbed Licensing Portal, you need to install it.

The licensing portal requires a unique product identifier to retrieve a license. Depending on the product, the identifier can be a serial number, license request key (activation code), or a token. The steps to retrieve a license vary based on the product identifier. Online instructions guide you through the process.

1. Go to the Riverbed Licensing Portal at https://licensing.riverbed.com/index.htm.

2. Enter your appliance serial number as your unique product identifier, and click Next.

The serial number is on a label located on your appliance, and it also appears in the Support tab of the Management Console.

3. Provide the contact information for the license, including your name and email, and click Submit.

The Licensing Portal displays license information for all the products purchased with the serial number you specified.

5. Optionally, if you are behind a firewall, type the email address in the Email address text box and click Email Keys to have the license keys emailed to you.

6. Optionally, if you are behind a firewall, click Download XML to download an XML file. You can import the XML file by using the SteelHead Interceptor.

Because each license key is generated for a specific appliance, ensure that you install your license key on the appropriate appliance.

For details, see the Riverbed Command-Line Interface Reference Manual.

For details, see the SteelHead Interceptor User’s Guide.

2. In the Management Console, choose Administration: Maintenance > Licenses to display the Licenses Page.

4. Enter or paste the license key provided by Riverbed Licensing Portal into the text box. Separate multiple license keys with a space, Tab, or Enter.