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NWDL Overview

SBC SWe deployments support a domain-based licensing model referred to as Network-Wide Domain Licensing (NWDL). In contrast to node-locked licensing, a domain license is tied to an administrative domain rather than the hardware ID for a specific host server or the UUID for a specific node instance. A domain license is bound to the domain through public/private key-pairing and it defines the features and capacity allowed for all nodes within the domain. NWDL provides flexibility in cloud environments where the number and placement of nodes sometimes varies. Contact your Ribbon representative for more information on available licensing options and to complete the ordering process that is required prior to implementing NWDL.

NWDL is implemented using license management capabilities within the Insight Element Management System (EMS). The EMS provides the public key used to bind the license to the local domain and is used for associating license data with eligible nodes. The basic steps to implement domain licensing are as follows:

  • Log into the EMS managing the SBC SWe cluster and copy the EMS domain public key.
  • Submit the copied public key, along with the order details, to the self-service licensing portal to generate a license bundle file that incorporates the domain public key.
  • Install the NWDL license bundle on the EMS.
  • From the EMS, add the feature licenses to the SBC cluster configuration. The licenses are added to the OAM which then replicates the configuration (including licenses) to the SBC nodes. 

Refer to the License Management section in EMS documentation for specific procedures to locate and copy the public key, install a license bundle, and associate feature licenses with SBC nodes.

After these preparations are completed on the EMS, enable domain-based licensing on the SBC cluster by configuring the license mode as "domain." Save and activate the configuration. The OAM node for the cluster provides the configuration update to each SBC node in the cluster. The nodes then enable or disable features based on the license definition in their configuration.

Important

The NWDL license bundle must be added to the SBC cluster configuration before or at the same time you change the license mode to "domain." Changing license mode to domain on an active system without an NWDL license bundle installed will result in a service outage.

Note

If you push the count-based license, the "show table system licenseInfo" table displays "USAGE LIMIT" as 999999.
If you push the ON/OFF-based license, the "show table system licenseInfo" table displays "USAGE LIMIT" as 1.

Note

The in-use column does not increment for the active sessions if the license type is ON/OFF.

Adding License Capacity

In domain licensing mode, you can add to your existing license definition following the same process to load another license bundle file onto the EMS, and using the EMS to assign the additional features licenses to the SBC clusters. The resulting set of licenses features and capacity for the cluster is the aggregate of the existing license and the added license.

Full-Capacity Licensing Option

When configured for NWDL, the SBC supports a "full-capacity" option in which the counts for individual, counted license features are no longer used to limit activity on the SBC. Enabling the full-capacity feature effectively enables feature use up to the capacity of the node. Actual license usage is reported to Ribbon using EMS statistics.

The full-capacity feature requires the SBC-CAPACITY-D license key in the license file. Contact your Ribbon representative for more information on the use of the full-capacity licensing option. 

Note

The NWDL architecture permits the nodes to burst to capacity when the "D" feature ID is present (SBC-RTU-D).

Note

If the License SBC-CAPACITY-D is present, the SBC does not need to register with the License Manager.
If the License SBC-CAPACITY-D is not present, the SBC needs to register with the License Manager within 90 days. If not, call processing fails.

Configuring NWDL Options

Use the SBC CLI or access the SBC Configuration Manager UI from the EMS to enable domain license mode and optionally specify license capacity limits for the nodes in the cluster. Refer to Modifying SBC Cluster Configuration.

Enabling Domain License Mode

Caution

To avoid a service outage, ensure your NWDL licenses are already installed if you reconfigure an SBC cluster into domain license mode.


By default, SBC license mode is set to nodeLocked. Use the following CLI commands to place the SBC in domain (NWDL) license mode:

Enable Domain License Mode using CLI
% set system licenseMode mode domain
% commit

Or, in the SBC Configuration Manager UI:

  1. Go to All > System > License Mode  The License Mode window opens.
  2. In Mode, select Domain.
  3. Click Save.

Displaying Domain License Bundle Information

Use the following command to output information on the domain license bundles loaded into the system.

 > show table system licenseDomainBundleInfo

Or, in the SBC Configuration Manager UI:

Go to All > System > License Domain Bundle Info  The License Domain Bundle Info window opens.

The following license information is output:

  • activeLicenseMode – The licensing mode currently in use by the SBC
  • bundleName – License bundle name
  • expirationDate – License expiration date
  • featureName – license keys for each licensed feature
  • generationDate – The date the license was generated
  • installDate – The date the license was installed
  • licenseId – License ID
  • lineId – The line ID for the license feature entry
  • purchaseOrderId – The purchase order ID specified when the license was generated
  • usageLimit – Usage limit for the licensed feature

Shut Off Calls if License Manager Doesn't Refresh After 90 Days

Note

This functionality is not supported on the MRFP.

The SBC SWe includes the capability to shut off calls when there is no License Manager refresh in the last 90 days. The NWDL architecture requires the user to have the node/instance register with the license manager to report the usage, and then refresh the registration periodically. This functionality is enabled by the LACK of a CAPACITY license. If the SBC instance is not successfully registered with the license manager in 90 days, the SBC stops processing calls after sending warning alarms to the user. 

The SBC SWe registers with the License Manager once per day, independent of the registration status.

Feature behavior:

ActionConditionsResult

The SBC runs with the licenseMode set to domain


  • No SBC-CAPACITY-D license is present in any license bundle
  • At least on NWDL license bundle is present containing a feature with a count of at least 1
The SBC attempts to register with the License Manager

The SBC sends a registration request to the License Manager

  • The License Manager responds with a 200 OK
  • The resulting parameter in the returned message is set to "success"
The registration is considered as successful.

The SBC sends a registration request to the License Manager

  • The License Manager responds with a 200 OK
  • The result parameter in the returned message is set to "failed"
  • The registration is considered as failed
  • The license counts are not affected; however, a 90-day timer is initiated
  • This 90 day period can be extended with the new REG-GRACE-D license
The SBC sends a registration request to the License Manager
  • A response is not received, or
  • An HTTP return code (except 200) is returned
  • The license counts are not affected
  • However, a 90-day timer is initiated

The SBC fails to register with the License Manager for 90 days


All license counts are set to 0

The License Manager returns a response field called lastCollectionTime (In addition to the registration status)

(This represents the previous time the License Manager detected at least one license was consumed – either a counted license was consumed while making a call, or an on/off license is present)

  • No on/off-licenses are present, and
  • No calls are made
The License Manager rejects the registration after 90 days

The lastCollectionTime in the LicenseManager response is older than one day


The start of the grace period is not updated, even if the registration is successful

A licensed feature, REG-GRACE-D, is added (This is a counted license) 


  • The value of this license is added to the default 90-day grace period
  • A total of 90 days + the count in the grace license is allowed before a successful registration is received
  • The total counts of all REG-GRACE-D are additive

NOTE: On a 1-to-1 system, the GRACE period remaining is identical on both systems.

All NWDL licenses on the SBC SWe expire (Example: trial license scenario)


The SBC will not attempt to register with the License Manager. When new NWDL licenses are installed, the 90 day grace period will restart.

An action command is added to test the License Manager settings or to trigger a new License Manager registration after a previous registration request failed. 


This provides an opportunity for the operator to rectify the condition on the License Manager that caused a registration to fail, and to retry the request.

The installed count for any NWDL-counted license is greater than 0


A count of 999999 is available for that license (except for REG-GRACE-D feature)

NOTE: If all the license bundles containing a particular feature expire, the count for that feature reaches 0 and the calls requiring that feature do not succeed. The licenseRequired table is no longer supported to limit the license count.


The SBC SWe identifies the addresses of the EMS servers running the License Manager Micro Service through the following methods:

    • If the SBC auto-registers with the EMS through the LCA, the same EMS address and user/password information is used to communicate with the License Manager.
    • If the SBC does not auto-register with the EMS, then the new CLI parameters have been added to specify the address and user/password information of the EMS servers. If the values of these new parameters are set, those values are used instead of any auto-registration data.

To configure a License Server, refer to: