Data Domain E-licensing - ELMS FAQ
Summary: Data Domain e-licensing (ELMS) Frequently Asked Questions
Instructions
What is ELMS?
ELMS is EMC's electronic license management system. It manages electronic software licenses enablement. With the release of DDOS 6.0, Data Domain now supports electronic licensing with its software options deployments.
Why would a customer want to use an ELMS license over legacy DD licensing?
E-licensing is required when deploying DD Cloud Tier or for newly announced systems starting with Data Domain 6.0 (for example, DD6300, DD6800, DD9300, and DD9800). It is not mandatory to use e-licensing for pre-6.0 platforms (DD2200, DD9500, and so forth).
Does DDOS 6.0 support ELMS or legacy licenses?
DDOS 6.0 supports either ELMS licensing or legacy licensing, but not both simultaneously. Once the user uses ELMS licensing for a particular DD system, that system cannot use legacy licenses.
How do I convert an existing DD system to use e-licenses?
There is a conversion tool that helps facilitate converting DD legacy licenses to e-licensing. You can download the required version by going to Support for Data Domain, logging in, typing License under keyword, and then searching to find available options. For more information, reference the Data Domain eLicense Conversion Tool Help Guide.
Can a user go back to DD licensing after converting to e-licensing?
Although it is not recommended for a user to go back to legacy licensing once e-licensing has been deployed, there is an e-licensing reset command that removes the e-licensing licenses (See the DDOS admin guide for the command and syntax). Once the e-license has been reset, the user can apply legacy licenses back onto the system.
Do I need to use e-licensing for deploying new software option licenses on my existing DD system?
If the user is not deploying features that require e-licensing (for example, cloud tier) on that existing DD system, users do not need to convert that system to e-licensing when adding new software options (for example, Boost, Replication, VTL, RL, and so on).
What is Software License Central?
Software License Central is a portal that a user can log in to for managing their software license entitlements. The portal helps facilitate activating any of the DD software licenses. For more information, reference Software Licensing Central and the Dell EMC Software Licensing Central FAQs.
How is deploying e-licenses different from legacy licenses?
Deploying e-licenses does away with the 16 hexadecimal characters used by the legacy licenses. E-licensing is facilitated using a license file generated by the Software License Central Portal. Software licenses that the user wants to activate for a particular DD system are described in a license file. The license file is loaded on to the DD system to activate the software capabilities. See the DDOS 6.0 admin guide for instruction on loading e-licensing.
How can I identify if I ordered legacy licenses or e-licenses from the sales order?
Legacy License model codes start with L- or U- (for example, L-BST-22000). E-license model codes all start with 456-xxx-xxx. Ordering the correct type of licenses for your model is important.
What should I do if I have a legacy license but I require e-licensing for a particular system?
If you have any questions about your order, contact your Dell EMC Sales Account Representative or your Authorized Reseller.
To obtain support for Dell EMC eLicensing and Usage Intelligence, contact the Dell EMC Worldwide Licensing Support team using one of the following methods:
- Go to Contact Support.
- Use the Live Chat between the hours of 3:00 AM and 7:00 PM Eastern Standard time.
- Open a Service Request.
- Contact the Dell EMC live support team by calling:
- US Toll Free 800-782-4362 and then select option 4 twice. This team is available 24/7 for your convenience.
- International Toll Free numbers
Why when converting my HA system to e-licensing, the converter tool errored out?
The conversion tool is not supported for HA systems. EMC asks the user to call EMC Worldwide Licensing Support team to convert it manually.
How does the Boost or Replication TB license works?
TB license for Boost and Replication deployment is new and used for activating Boost and Replication capacity for the new DD platforms (DD6300, DD6800, DD9300, and DD9800). In the past, Boost and Replication licensing were frame-based licensing where a user has a 16-digit license code to active Boost and Replication for the whole system. With the new platforms, Boost and Replication capabilities are activated by TB. The amount of TB being activated equals to the amount of TB of storage the system has.
When is the Boost or Replication TB license needed?
The Boost and Replication TB license is needed when deploying Boost and Replication onto the new DD platforms (DD6300, DD6800, DD9300, and DD9800).
How do I deploy bundle software licenses for VTL, Retention Lock, Encryption, and Expanded Capacity on new 6.0 systems?
Software licenses for VTL, Retention Lock, Encryption, and Expanded Capacity are included with DD Software and are made deployable as frame-based licenses. The user goes to Software License Central portal to deploy a quantity of 1 for VTL, Retention Lock, Encryption, or Expanded Capacity to a system. These are not a TB license type so it does not have to match the storage capacity of the system when deploying.
How do I get software licenses (VTL, Retention Lock, Encryption, and Expanded Capacity) at no charge for my DD 6.0 system.
Software licenses (VTL, RL, ENC, and XCap) are included with DD6300, DD6800, DD9300, and DD9800 only. For all other platforms, customers must purchase these licenses even though the systems are running DDOS 6.0+.
How do I apply TLA licenses to my DD systems?
Customer purchased DD on a TLA/ELA order prior to ELMS license availability are entitled to the same licenses on the ELA/TLA with ELMS licenses. Email the TLA/ELA Deal Desk (TLAPostContractSupport-Americas@emc.com, TLAPostContractSupport-EMEA@emc.com, or TLAPostContractSupport-APJ@emc.com) to update ELMS portal to include the DD VSL3 models for TLA ELMS licenses. If this becomes urgent contact license ops (licensing@emc.com) to generate temporary licenses while the TLA team work on providing the permanent ELMS TLA licenses in the ELMS portal.
When applying the TLA software licenses to DD, look for the following model codes in your ELMS portal account.
- VSL3-001-006 has software frame-based licenses (VTL, Retention Lock (Governance and Compliance), Encryption, Expanded Capacity, Boost, and Replication). These software licenses will not have a quantity limit for TLAs.
- VSL-001-001 has the shelf licenses. The customer must select the specific shelf type (ES30 or DS60) and quantity of shelves when activating the shelf licenses. If activating different shelf types on a single DD system is required, the customer must activate the same VSL to get the second set of shelves type.
How do I revert back to legacy licensing when ELMS licenses were accidentally ordered and applied to a DD system?
If customer wants to revert back to legacy licensing, sales must order the proper license type for the newly added licenses. Customer also must identify all licenses and their keys used by the system before it got wiped out. They can contact tech support for help with obtaining previously installed licenses. Once all licenses needed are available in the legacy form, customer must use the e-licensing reset command (see the DDOS 6.0 admin guide) to return to using legacy licensing. Once the licensing is reset back to legacy, customer must apply the legacy licenses to the DD system. If customer wants to upgrade to e-licensing, they must get a copy of the licenses that were wiped out from tech support. Also work with license ops (licensing@emc.com) to get the needed entitlements. License ops can manually convert exiting licenses to ELMS, licenses. Once conversion is done, ELMS licenses are available from the ELMS portal. Contact the live support team by calling 1-800-782-4362, and then select option 4, option 4. For your convenience, this team is available 24 X 7.
How to convert legacy licenses to ELMS without running the conversion tool?
Contact license ops (licensing@emc.com) to manually convert a legacy license to ELMS. Contact the live support team by calling 1-800-782-4362, and then select option 4, option 4. For your convenience, this team is available 24 X 7.
Need a temp license key?
Contact license ops (licensing@emc.com) for temp keys or have account team order an EVAL key. When ordering, order the ELMS license keys (model code starts with 456).
User has a DD shelf with legacy license but needs an ELMS shelf license
Contact the live support team by calling 1-800-782-4362, and then select option 4, option 4. For your convenience, this team is available 24 X 7. Provide the shelf type and capacity to license ops. License ops generates the entitlement in ELMS portal for the customer to activate.
What is the proper sequence of events when customer is moving to e-licensing?
There are a few scenarios to keep in mind when a customer is moving to e-licensing:
- If the customer has ordered no new components and wants to move to e-licensing, they should use the conversion tool process and DDOS 6.0 upgrade procedure.
- If the customer has purchased new components that were ordered with legacy licenses (L- or U- license models) these MUST be applied before converting to e-licensing.
- If the customer has purchased a feature that requires converting to e-licensing (for example, Cloud Tier) they should follow the conversion tool process then apply for the Cloud Tier license as part of their new ELMS license file.
- If the customer has purchased new components which were ordered with legacy licenses AND a feature which requires e-licenses (for example, Cloud Tier) then the legacy licenses should be applied PRIOR to the conversion process. Once the conversion is complete, the new e-licenses and the Cloud Tier license are then applied.
What Boost or Replication license types are needed for my DD systems?
Legacy systems running DDOS 6.0 do not require running ELMS licensing on the systems. The following table shows information about required licenses on DD systems.
| System Type | Legacy Licenses | ELMS Licenses: Boost /Repl Frame-Based | ELMS Licenses: Boost /Repl Capacity-Based |
|---|---|---|---|
| Legacy systems (DD2200, DD9500) | Systems using prior DDOS 6.0 versions | Not mandatory unless deploying Cloud Tier | Not available for legacy systems |
| New systems (DD6300, DD9800) | Not available | Only available for AIO capacity for the DD6300 | Required for new systems |
What licenses are available to deploy for DD6300?
Two different types of deployment for Boost and Replication capacity licensing exist for the DD6300.
- Deploying DD6300 with no external capacity
- Deploying DD6300 with external capacity
| Ordering Path | DD Software Enabler Licenses (VTL, RL, ENC, XCAP) | DD BST/REPL Enablers | BST / REPL Capacity Licenses |
|---|---|---|---|
| New AIO only (no shelves) | Yes | Yes | Not applicable |
| AIO but later upgrade with shelves | No | No | Yes, equal to external shelf capacity |
| New AIO + shelves (bundle) | Yes | Yes | Yes, equal to external shelf capacity |
| New AIO + shelves (bundle) but later upgrade with more shelves | No | No | Yes, equal to external shelf capacity |
How do I get licenses for a controller upgrade (also known as headswap)?
There is a process where the sales team must work with sales ops to get the right licenses order.
For controller upgrades, do I need to transfer my DD OE to DD software?
There is no need to transfer DD OE capacity licensing. The fulfillment of DD OE and DD Software is with the delivery of shelf license keys. Shelf license keys can get converted either using the ELMS conversion tool or by using manual conversion with license ops help.
How do I regenerate an e-license?
To generate an e-license, follow the steps within the Software Licensing Central Tool.
This KB also has info on converting to newer formats:
How to change the License File Format for Data Domain