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Managing License Assignments

Aruba offers two tiers of device licenses as part of the Aruba Central Licenses. The two tiers are Foundation and Advanced Licenses. The devices in Aruba Central that offer Foundation and Advanced Licenses include the following:

  • APs
  • Switches
  • Controllers

The value-added services that previously required service subscriptions are now packaged as part of either a Foundation or an Advanced License. To know more about the different types of licenses available for the devices, and the services packaged with each license, see Managing Licenses.

Licensing Workflow for a New User

If you are a new user in Aruba Central and have purchased one or several licenses, ensure that all of your license keys are added to Aruba Central.

For license assignment to devices, you can avail of one of the following options:

  • Use the Auto-Assign Licenses option
  • Manually assign, update, or unassign licenses

Enabling the Auto-Assign Licenses Option

The Auto-Assign Licenses option in Aruba Central (on-premises) enables automatic assignment of available licenses to all of the devices available in the inventory. When you enable this option, you must specify the preferred license type as either Foundation or Advanced. You cannot manually assign licenses to devices if the Auto-Assign Licenses option is enabled.

The licenses for APs, switches, and controllers cannot be used interchangeably. For example, you cannot use an AP Foundation License on a controller. Similarly, if an Aruba 25xx Switch is in the inventory but the license available is for an Aruba 29xx Switch, the Aruba 29xx Switch license cannot be applied to the Aruba 25xx Switch. Before enabling the Auto-Assign License option for a specific device type, ensure that there are sufficient available licenses for the specific device type.

To enable automatic assignment of licenses from the License Assignment page:

  1. On the Account Home page, under Global Settings, click License Assignment.

    The License Assignment page is displayed.

  2. Select the device type to assign the license.

    The available tabs are Access Points, Switches, and Controllers. The total number of devices for each device type is displayed for each of the tabs.

  3. On the device tab, slide the Auto-Assign Licenses toggle switch to the On position.

    The Manage License Assignment (Auto) window is displayed.

  4. Select the appropriate license type, Foundation or Advanced, from the drop-down menu, and then click Update.

    All the unassigned devices of the selected type in the inventory are enabled for automatic assignment of license.

Manually Assigning, Updating, or Unassigning Licenses

The License Assignment page enables you to assign, update, or even unassign a license from a device.

Aruba Central monitors devices with a valid license only.

The licenses for APs, switches, and controllers cannot be used interchangeably. For example, you cannot use an AP Foundation License on a controller. Similarly, if an Aruba 25xx Switch is in the inventory but the license available is for an Aruba 29xx Switch, the Aruba 29xx Switch license cannot be applied to the Aruba 25xx Switch.

To manually assign licenses to devices or to change the existing license assignment:

  1. On the Account Home page, under Global Settings, click License Assignment.

    The License Assignment page is displayed.

  2. Select a device type tab.

    The available tabs are Access Points, Switches, and Controllers. The total number of devices for each device type is displayed for each of the tabs.

  3. Under License Summary, ensure that the Auto-Assign Licenses option is disabled.

    You cannot manually assign licenses if the Auto-Assign Licenses option is enabled.

  4. Select the device for which you want to assign or update the license.

    Clicking on a device type displays two additional sub-tabs: Licensed and Unlicensed.

    To manually assign or update licenses for all devices of a type, click Select All. You can also select devices at random.

  5. Click Manage.

    The Manage License Assignment (Manual) window is displayed.

  6. Do one of the following:
    1. To update or assign a license: Select the appropriate license from the drop-down menu and click Update.
    2. To unassign a license: Select Unassign to remove the existing license from that device.

Viewing the License Assignment Details

The License Assignment page consists of three sections for the type of device selected from the tabs. The device can be Access Points, Switches, or Controllers.

License Summary

A summary about the type of licenses available for the selected device type, the number of licenses available, and number of licenses assigned.

The available devices for Aruba Central include APs, switches, and controllers. Clicking on a device type displays two additional sub-tabs: Licensed and Unlicensed.

Clicking on one or more license type in the License Summary section displays the details of the license type in the License Management section. To deselect the license, click the selected license type again.

License Assignment

The License Assignment section provides detailed information about all the devices in the inventory and license status for each of the device. This table provides following information about each device in the inventory:

Use the sorting icon () in the table header row to arrange the rows in ascending or descending order. You can also use the row header indicated by the filter icon () to type in search queries to refine the search.

Renewing License Assignments

To renew your license, contact your Aruba Sales team.