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Versa Networks

Subscription Lifecycle

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Versa-logo-release-icon.png For supported software information, click here.

Each Versa license is associated with a single Versa Operating SystemTM (VOSTM) CPE instance. Licenses are nontransferable. A license is associated with a solution tier and bandwidth tier, and these tiers cannot be changed during the lifetime of the subscription. You can modify the subscription to change the solution tier or the bandwidth tier, or both. This results in the termination of the existing license and activation of a new annual subscription license.

For Releases 21.1.1 and later, a Versa license can be allocated for 1, 3, and 5 years, and there is no trial subscription.

For Releases 21.1.0 and earlier, a Versa license subscription is valid for 1 year, by default, and you can select a license period up to 5 years. A trial subscription for 30 days is available.

Versa Director manages and maintains the licenses and the license subscriptions. Versa uses a trust model for managing subscription licenses. If you use zero-touch provisioning (ZTP) to provision your VOS CPE devices, the ZTP process places the CPE under the control of Versa Director, and Versa Director manages the license for the CPE. This license remains active as long as the connection between the CPE and Versa Director is active.

In some situations, such as when the VOS CPE is a cloud-managed device, a temporary license is associated with the CPE device, allowing it to operate without being managed by Versa Director for the entire lifetime of the subscription. This standalone license operation is not recommended, and you should configure the license so that is it managed by Versa Director. To determine the status of the license, including the expiration date and whether the license is a standalone license or is being managed by Versa Director, issue the vsh-status command on the VOS device.

A Versa license subscription has a lifecycle, starting with creation and ending with termination.

This article discusses the states in the subscription lifecycle and the RMA process.

Created

For Releases 21.1.1 and later, the Created state is not supported. The license is activated after the ZTP process on the device completes.

For Releases 21.1.0 and earlier, a subscription is created after the device performs ZTP and is onboarded. The device enters the Created state. In the Created state, the subscription is not active for the CPE. It is used only for validating the device. After validation, the device enters the Activated state.

Activated

For Releases 21.1.1 and later, devices are automatically activated by the ZTP process.

For Releases 21.1.0 and earlier, a subscription starts after the service and the features are validated and when a service instance is activated by Versa Director. You must activate a first-time subscription manually. By default, a subscription is valid for one year, and it renews automatically.

Automatic Activation

For Releases 21.1.0 and earlier.

If you do not manually activate the subscription, the Versa entitlement system automatically activates the subscription after you activate the VOS devices using ZTP.

Manual Activation

For Releases 21.1.1 and later, manual activation is not required.

For Releases 21.1.0 and earlier, you must manually activate a first-time subscription:

  1. Log in to Versa Director.
  2. Select the Administration tab in the top menu bar.
  3. Select Appliance Context > Organizations in the left menu bar.
  4. Select the organization name in the main pane.
  5. Select Entitlement in the left menu bar.
  6. Select the organization branch, and click the Subscription Action icon:

    t26.png
  1. Select Activate in the Subscription Action field:

    Perform_Subscription_Action1.png
     
  2. Click OK.

Renew

Versa Director triggers a subscription renewal notification 45 days before the end of the subscription and the subscription state changes to renew. You can manually renew each subscription, or if you take no action, it automatically renews on the last day of the subscription, for a period of one year.

After the subscription is renewed, the subscription state changes to activated.

Terminated

You can terminate a subscription at any time. When you do this, the subscription state changes to terminated.

Once a device is terminated, the subscription cannot be activated again. If the device runs ZTP, a new subscription license is created.

Suspend

In Release 21.1.1 and later, the Suspend state is not supported. When you upgrade to Release 21.1.1 from Release 21.1.0 or from an earlier release, devices that are in the Suspend state are moved to the Activated state.

For Releases 21.1.0 and earlier, the Suspend state places the device into an unused state. The end date of the subscription is extended by the number of days that the device remains in the suspended state. After a subscription is reactivated, the unused portion of the subscription is made available. You can extend a subscription multiple times, for up to a total of 30 days, during a single license period. A subscription is automatically reactivated after being in the suspend state for 30 days.

Modify

You can change the functionality associated with a subscription at any time. When you make such a change, the subscription is placed in modify state. Changes can include upgrading or downgrading the solution tier and bandwidth requirements, changing the high availability configuration, and changing Versa Analytics. After you modify functionality, the old subscription is terminated and the new subscription is activated immediately.

Change the Subscription State

For an organization, you can change the state of its subscription if you need to activate or reactivate a subscription, or upgrade, downgrade, renew, or terminate a subscription.

To change an organization's subscription state:

  1. In Director view:
    1. Select the Administration tab in the top menu bar.
    2. Select Appliances in the left menu bar.
    3. Select an appliance in the main pane. The view changes to Appliance view.
  2. Select a provider organization in the main pane, and then select Subscription Action.

    subscription-action-home.png
  3. In the Perform Subscription Action popup window, select Modify in the Subscription Action field, and enter information for the following fields.

    perform-subscription-action.png
     
    Field Description
    Subscription Action

    Select the subscription action:

    • Activate (for Releases 21.1.0 and earlier)
    • Downgrade—Downgrade the solution tier or service bandwidth, or both.
    • Modify
    • Reactivate
    • Renew
    • Suspend (for Releases 21.1.0 and earlier)
    • Terminate
    • Reactivate
    • RMA
    • Upgrade—Upgrade the solution tier or service bandwidth, or both.
    Solution Tier

    Select the licensing tier:

    • Pro Net
    • Prime SD-WAN
    • Prime Secure SD-WAN
    • Premier Secure SD-WAN
    • Premier Elite SD-WAN
    • Secure Application Optimization (for Releases 21.2.1 and later)
    • Titan Advanced Security (for Releases 21.2.1 and later)
    • Titan Enterprise (for Releases 21.2.1 and later)
    • Work From Home (for Releases 21.2.1 and later)
    Service Bandwidth (For Releases 21.1.1 and later) Select the bandwidth, in Mbps, to use for solution tier.
    License Period (For Releases 21.1.1 and later)

    Select the period, in years, for which the license is valid.

    Values: 1, 3, 5 years
    Solution Add-on Tier (For Releases 21.1.1 and later) Select the add-on licensing tier, to add additional services to a licensing tier. For example, you can use an add-on to add NGFW or UTM to the standard SD-WAN tier.
    Custom Parameters (Group of Fields)  
    • Name
    		 Enter a name for the custom parameter.
    • Value
    		 Enter the value of the parameter.
    State Displays the current state of the subscription.
  4. Click OK.

Return Merchandise Authorization (RMA)

When hardware needs to be repaired or replaced, Versa Networks issues a return merchandise authorization (RMA).

When an RMA is issued, the license subscription is handled in one of the following ways:

  • When a faulty device is returned to the factory for the repair, the subscription resumes the day that the device is returned to the customer. The serial number of the device remains unchanged.
     
    Example
    Subscription start date 1 November 2018
    Original subscription end date 1 November 2019
    RMA request date 30 November 2018
    Date repaired product is returned 15 December 2018
    Downtime period 15 days
    Subscription resumption date 15 December 2018
    New subscription end date 15 November 2019
  • When a faulty device is replaced with a new device, the new device has a new serial number. The subscription license associated with the old device continues and is associated with the new device. All the data associated with the original device is associated with the new device. ZTP is performed on the new device to retrieve the configuration from Versa Director. This process results in internally changing the subscription state to Created, as discussed in the Created section, above. Because the new device replaces a device with an ongoing subscription, an administrator must trigger an RMA-Replace event for the subscription. This event takes the serial number of old device as input and associates the subscription parameters of the old device with the new device.
     
    Example
    Subscription start date 1 November 2018
    Original subscription end date 1 November 2019
    RMA request date 30 November 2018
    Date repaired product is returned 15 December 2018
    Downtime period 15 days
    Subscription resumption date 15 December 2018
    New subscription end date 15 November 2019

The following figure illustrates the RMA lifecycle:

image2018-11-22_14-51-19.png

To update the serial number of the device associated with a license:

  1. Log in to Versa Director.
  2. Select the Administration tab in the top menu bar.
  3. In the left menu bar, select Inventory > Hardware.

    inventory-hardware-dashboard.png
  4. In the device list in the main pane, click the box for the appropriate device.
  5. Click the Replace Serial Number icon in the upper right menu bar. The Replacement Serial Number dialog box displays.
  6. Enter the new serial number:

    replace-serial-number-dialog-box.png

Note: Change only the serial number. Do not change any configuration or template.

  1. Click OK.

Supported Software Information

Releases 20.2 and later support all content described in this article, except:

  • Releases 21.1.1 and later support allocation of licenses for 1, 3, and 5 years; license subscriptions do not support the Created and Suspended states; license is immediately activated after the device performs ZTP; manual license activation is not required; you can select the license period, solution add-on tier, and service bandwidth in the Perform Subscription Action window.
  • Releases 21.2.1 and later support Titan solution tiers for all license years.

Additional Information

Licensing Overview