This article answers a few licensing questions related to FlexVNF devices
Question: What is the default behavior of a new FlexVNF with regards to the factory license key?
Answer:
Each FlexVNF device has a default trial license key that is valid for 45 days. During this trial period, no session restrictions are applied to the FlexVNF device. When the license key expires, a FlexVNF device is restricted to only 30 concurrent sessions. To avoid this restriction, subjugate the FlexVNF device to a Director node through a Netconf session. The Director node must have a valid license to manage the FlexVNF device
Question: What happens when a FlexVNF device is disconnected from the Director node that is managing it?
Answer:
When a FlexVNF device is not connected to its Director node for up to 7 consecutive days (grace period), the FlexVNF begins to decrement from the license validity period (45 days) each day it remains disconnected from the Director. When it hits 0 days, the maximum concurrent sessions allowed will be restricted to 30 sessions. As soon as the FlexVNF device again connects to the Director node, the restriction of 30 sessions is lifted. If the connectivity is restored within the grace period, the countdown stops.
Questions: What happens when a FlexVNF device connects to the Director node intermittently?
Answer:
Consider a scenario in which a VOS appliance is disconnected from the Director node for six consecutive days, then remained up for few more days, then went down again for six consecutive days, and finally came back up and was reconnected to the Director node through a Netconf session.
In this scenario, the trial key time left is 45 days. The VOS has to be disconnected for more than 7 days for the trial 45 day period to clock down.
Questions: What happens to an unexpired key on a FlexVNF device that is not subjugated by a Director?
Answer:
- If a FlexVNF was not subjugated and had been running for 25 days, then there are 20 days remaining of the 45-day factory license key.
- The FlexVNF is connected to the Director and gets subjugated through a Netconf session and remains connected for a month, there is no decrementing of the days of the factory license key.
- Then after some time, the FlexVNF is disconnected for 9 days from the Director. This means 9 days of total NETCONF-inactivity -there is no session restriction applied yet, post the 7th day, however the countdown starts, with 18 days remaining. 20 days were left on the license up until the device was disconnected for 9 days, and now 2 days are decremented (9 days disconnected with 7 days of grace = -2 days)
- Director NETCONF re-connects to the FlexVNF; the clock countdown stops. The key is still valid for 18 days.
Questions: What happens when a key expires on a FlexVNF that was not subjugated by a Director?
Answer:
When a key expires on a FlexVNF device that is not subjugated by a Director, the maximum concurrent sessions allowed by FlexVNF is restricted to 30 sessions.
Questions: What is the difference between Netconf disconnected and southbound locked on the FlexVNF?
Answer:
There is no difference between southbound locked and Director Netconf session hard down from the FlexVNFs perspective. In both cases, there is no Netconf connection to the FlexVNF. When there is no Netconf connection from Director, the FlexVNF uses the license days (45 days); after 45 days FlexVNF switches to minimal mode (maximum 30 sessions).