Manual Chapter : License Pools

Applies To:

Show Versions Show Versions

BIG-IQ Cloud

  • 4.4.0
Manual Chapter

About pool licenses

Pool licenses are purchased for a fixed number of devices, but are not permanently tied to a specific device. As resource demands change, you can revoke and grant those licenses to other resources as required.

Automatically activating a pool license

You must have a base registration key before you can activate the license pool.
If the resources you are licensing are connected to the public internet, you can automatically activate the license pool.
  1. Log in to BIG-IQ Cloud with your administrator user name and password.
  2. Hover over the Licenses panel, click the + sign when it appears, and then click Add New Pool License. The panel expands to display New License properties.
  3. In the License Name field, type a name for this license.
  4. In the Base Registration Key field, type or paste the BIG-IQ registration key.
  5. In the Add-on Keys field, paste any additional license key you have.
  6. For the Activation Method setting, select Automatic, and click the Activate button. The End User License Agreement (EULA) displays.
  7. To accept the EULA, click the Accept button.
You can now assign this license to a BIG-IP device.

Manually activating a pool license

You must have a base registration key before you can activate the pool license.
If the BIG-IQ Cloud you are licensing is not connected to the public internet, you can still activate the pool license manually.
  1. Log in to BIG-IQ Cloud with your administrator user name and password.
  2. Hover over the Pool Licenses panel and click the + sign when it appears.
  3. In the License Name field, type a name for this license.
  4. In the Base Registration Key field, type or paste the BIG-IQ registration key.
  5. In the Add-on Keys field, paste any additional license key you have.
  6. For the Activation method setting, select Manual and click the Generate Dossier button. The BIG-IQ system refreshes and displays the dossier in the Device Dossier field.
  7. Copy the text displayed in the Device Dossier field, and click the Access F5 manual activation web portal link. Alternatively, you can navigate to the F5 license activation portal at https://activate.f5.com/license/.
  8. Paste the dossier into the Enter your dossier field, and then click the Next button. The Accept User Legal Agreement displays.
  9. To accept the EULA, click the Accept button.
  10. Copy the license file from the F5 license activation portal to BIG-IQ Cloud.
You can now assign this license to a BIG-IP device.

Assigning a pool license to a BIG-IP device

Before you can assign a pool license to a device, you must activate a pool license on BIG-IQ Device and discover at least one device.
Assigning a pool license to a BIG-IP VE device provides you with the flexibility to initiate and remove licenses as needed.
  1. Log in to BIG-IQ Device with your administrator user name and password.
  2. At the top of the screen, click Provisioning.
  3. Hover over the Deployment panel, click the + sign when it appears, and click New Deployment Job.
  4. In the Name field, type a name for this license deployment.
  5. From the Type of Job list, select Modify a Virtual Device.
  6. From the Device list, select the device you want to license.
  7. From the Licensing list, select Use a Pool License.
  8. From the License Pool list, select the pool license you want to use for this device.
  9. Click the Deploy button.
  10. To confirm that the license was successfully deployed, click the license pool from which you deployed the license and click the Assignments tab. The device you licensed displays with the license status and time when the BIG-IQ system last contacted it.