License Introduction

Definition

License: A license is an agreement that the supplier and customer arrive at and authorizes the range and period of using the purchased product (it refers to the software product in this document). Through the license, the customer also obtains the services committed by the supplier. A license contains a license file and a license authorization certificate.

Purpose

After purchasing a product, you can only use basic functions of the product. To use value-added service features or expand device resources, purchase licenses of corresponding device functions or resources to meet service requirements.

The license reduces costs for you. You can select the licenses to obtain customized functions.

License Types

Depending on purpose, licenses are classified into commercial (COMM) licenses and non-commercial (DEMO) licenses.
- COMM license
  
  Typically, most licenses purchased according to contracts are permanently valid and some with a fixed validity period. All purchased licenses are COMM licenses.
- Temporary license
  
  The temporary license is also known as a DEMO license, which is used for special purposes such as test and trial, and are strictly controlled.
Depending on authority, licenses are classified into function licenses and resource licenses:
- Function license
  
  A function license controls the usage of a specific function. To use a restricted function, obtain authorization for this function first.
- Resource license
  
  A resource license controls the number of available resource items. To use a resource item, obtain authorization for this resource item first.
  
  You may not select a resource license as the default license is sufficient for your resources. You can also select one or more resource licenses based on actual service needs. You can select multiple types of resource licenses. The resource quantity is the sum of all resources in all selected resource licenses.
  
  The resource capacity allowed by the licenses you purchased cannot exceed the maximum capacity of the product. To learn the maximum capacity of the product, contact Huawei local office.

Characteristics

Licenses are convenient, secure, and fault tolerant.

Convenience

Installing a license file on a device does not require a device reboot and will not affect running services.
Security

Traditional license mechanism binds license files to Equipment Serial Numbers (ESNs). That is, a license file belongs to only one device. If a license file is modified manually, the file becomes invalid. This protects the license against theft.
DR mechanism

If an accident such as an earthquake happens and rescue is organized, you can set the status of the license activated by traditional license mechanism to Emergency. In this status, the resource license does not limit resource usage. The device provides maximum number of resources to meet service requirements. The Emergency state can only be used certain times within the specified period. For details, see Other: How Do I Enable Emergency State of a License?.

Concepts

License file: A license file controls the capacity, functions, and validity period of a software version. It is generated by a dedicated encryption tool based on the contract signed with Huawei and delivered as an electronic file.
Only one license file can be loaded on a device. If features or resources provided by a license file are insufficient, you can expand the license capacity to expand features or resources available on a device. The ESDP automatically sums up all the license items on a device to generate the total capacity license file, which simply needs to be re-loaded for use.
License authorization certificate: Also called license certificate, it records the product name, entitlement ID (originally called LAC, which is short for License Authorization Code), customer name, and validation period. The license authorization certificate is sent to the customer by email or delivered together with the product in the form of common A4 paper or CD. It specifies the software authorization range and protects the rights of buyers.
Only a commercial license requires a license certificate.
ESN: The equipment serial number is a string of characters, which uniquely identifies a device. It is used to ensure that the license is granted to the specified device. It is also called the fingerprint of a device.
LSN: The license serial number uniquely identifies a license file.
Revocation code: If you run command on a device to revoke a license, you can obtain a character string, which is the revocation code. You need the revocation code when changing the ESNs in the license management system. After you run command to revoke a license, the license file becomes invalid.
Grace period: A license file enters the grace period after the expiration date. Typically, the grace period is 60 days. In the grace period, features in the license file are still available. However, after the grace period, the features become unavailable.