Networker 9.x Unmanaged Licensing

Just to keep you updated - the terms managed/unmanaged do not exist any longer. For the current version (19.6.x) Dell/EMC talks about served/unserved licensing.

You must also keep in mind that in order to use the unmanaged/unserved licences, your NW server must at least run 9.2.x, not generally 9.x.

You will not find a license file by default - you must ask the licensing/support department to get one, no matter whether it is for

  -  served licensing (needs the License Manager software).

  -  unserved licensing (does not need the LM software)

For unserved licenses the procedure is correct:

  -  Copy the license file to a known location (I recommend /nsr/res, so it will be backed up with the bootstrap save set)

  -  Then tell the NW server where to find it with the procedure mentioned above.

However, I am also a bit scared that you want a new license for such an old version. That makes me thinking that you still might have old licenses (aka enablers). If this is the case, you could just re-use them and their respective auth-codes. Of course, you must not add them here but under Registrations.

As you use a different license file type, and not called it unserved license file, what is it that youbdid to get the lic file? This as it would require to use the ip address and hostname of the nw server. So that would be the name as stated via nsrwatch for example, the name as stated in nmc can be tricky at times.

You shouldne able to add the licensing file by putting the lic file on the system where you start the nw nmc client. It will then upload it to the nw server after it validated if the configuration is correct. So no specific need to add it manually on the nw server. Via nmc is the easiest way.

I think that this is the key statement: "... is a very old server that is still in use and it motherboard failed."

If this is the case, you will most likely get a new hostid assigned which does not match with the license file. If you have access to your old configuration you should be able to verify that.

In such case you have to contact support/licensing and apply for a new license file for your current hostid. Such is called a host transfer. This should finally do the job.

As far as I can recall in the past indeed a hostid was used, while nowadays it is the combination of the hostname and the IP address belonging to that hostname. So if both hostname and IP address stayed the same on the new system, then I'd assume the license could remain the same and no host transfer would be required.

However don't have too much experience as we were lucky to have been able to use an enterprise enabler AKA golden key (or rather disabler as it effectively disables licensing on a nw server) after we had way to many hassles in the past with dealing with licensing and NW servers becoming disabled as and when the same license was used on another NW server (sometimes by accident) when both NW servers were able to reach each other.

I though that on Solaris backup servers at the time, also the hostid was a HEX converted concatenation of the IP address and the hostname if I recall correctly (which still is used now therefor but no longer calling it hostID but rather the customer supplying the IP and hostname), as there was a way to see what the hostid would even be on said system. Too long ago, that was still in times when Networker was from Legato. With Windows the hostID might change when hardware changed too much, if memory serves me well?

So only very few NW servers have a unserved capacity license at the moment.

We also only started implementing those few after nw9.2 or so it even made it possible to use an unserved license, as we did not want to use a centralized license server, unserved is the way to go.

A bit difficult to know even what you did and what kind of validation took place? What did you do actually? ANd can you verify what NW states about the current applied license?

# nsrlic -Cv

in my case it reports for a nw19.6.1.1 test server:

# nsrlic -Cv
Checking CLP connection using '/nsr/lic/licspec.properties'.
172537:nsrlic: Unable to check out 'NETWORKER_UPDATE': status = -5 'No such feature exists. (-5,357)'
'NETWORKER_CAPACITY' is supported with a count of 1 TB
Checking license properties file '/nsr/lic/licspec.properties'
Found 'license.path=/nsr/lic/dpa.lic'
Checking license file '/nsr/lic/dpa.lic'
License file '/nsr/lic/dpa.lic' is unserved
172527:nsrlic: License file '/nsr/lic/dpa.lic' issues found: 0

So I have a 1TB capacity license.

So the actual license should have been added into the file /nsr/lic/dpa.lic.

BEWARE that you should not, under any circumstance, change anything at all in a lic file that has been provided as that invalidates the license.

The unserved license file we have mentions specifically the hosts IP address and the ELMNET softwareID generated for the host in question:

INCREMENT NETWORKER_CAPACITY EMCLM 1.0 permanent uncounted \
VENDOR_STRING="HOSTID=X.X.X.X;COUNT=1;REVISION=15;PRODUCT_LINE=EMC \
NetWorker;FEATURE_NAME=NETWORKER_CAPACITY_Unserved
Capacity in TB;SWID=ELMNETXXXXXXX;PLC=NETWV" \
HOSTID=INTERNET=X.X.X.X dist_info="ACTIVATED TO \

And then some customer information wrg to the siteID and at the bottom what I suspect is the actual license.