Listed below are some frequently asked questions (FAQ) about VLS (Virtual License Server) that are not covered in the admin guide. For more information, please review Chapter 8 of the License Management Guide
here.Q: What platform is VLS supported?A: Currently supported in PCS personality of the VMware Virtual Appliance Service Provider Edition (VA-SPE).
Q: What are the licenses supported for leasing and surrender?A: Licenses supported are listed below:
Leasing : CONSEC-xxU-xYR, CONSEC-ADD-xxU, POLSEC-xxU-xYR, POLSEC-ADD-xxU
Surrendering : CONSEC-ADD-xxU, POLSEC-ADD-xxU
Note: Only permanent licenses can be surrendered to VLS by PSA appliances, which then requires MBR license to be installed locally. Virtual Appliances do not need MBR licenses to participate in license leasing.
Q: Can I convert licenses install on a hardware based license server to Virtual License server (VLS)?A: This is not possible to convert licenses. For more information, please contact Pulse Secure Sales team to discuss other options.
Q: How does VLS know another duplicate copy of the authentication codes in another VLS instance?
A: Every Virtual Machine creates a unique VMID (similar to the hardware ID (HWID)) and communicates this to the Pulse Cloud License Server during heartbeat check-ins. If two machines provide different VMIDs with the same authentication codes, then there is detected duplicate instance of VLS.Q: I have an existing VA SPE image of PCS, can I upgrade this to 8.3R1 for VLS use and how do I do that?A: If you currently have a PCS image of Virtual Appliance SPE, you can convert it as follows:
- Upgrade PCS software to 8.3R1 (if not yet done)
- From the serial console, choose options 4 - System Operations > 6 - Clear all configuration data at this Pulse Connect Secure to clear the configurations
- Follow the instructions and provide initial configuration, and when you reach the Virtual License Server prompt to enable it, answer “y”
- Upon entering “y”, the Vitual machine boots as a license server and after it comes up, only license sever related UI itemas are exposed.
- Generate the ACCESS-LICENSE-VLS-SVR or PSA-LICENSE-VLS-SVR license from VLS admin UI (see below). Without this license, the “Configure Clients” page is not available.
- Generate the other licenses (below)
Q: How do it Obtain and Install License Keys for VLS?A: A Virtual License Server admin obtains an authentication code for his entitlement externally via e-mail, including the copy of RTU (Right To Use) certificate with associated authentication codes for the licenses. The admin must enter the authentication code in the License Server download page to validate and fetch the license keys. If validation is successful, the admin receives the license keys in return which then gets installed.
- Go to System > Configuration > Download Licenses
- Under On Demand license downloads, enter the authentication code in the text box and click on Download and install
- Go to License Summary to view all licenses that were just installed
- When the Virtual Appliance SPE tries to re-use the authentication code, an error will pop-up as follows:
Therefore, it is recommended that customers back up the license keys and manually input the license keys in the event that the VLS or the license gets cleared for whatever reason. Just add the license keys below:
