Upgrade the License Server

Each time you upgrade your Citrix product, also upgrade the Citrix License Server. Each time a new License Server is released, it might contain better security, fixes to known issues, and so on.

Sometimes, new versions of the Citrix product are incompatible with older versions of the License Server. New versions of the License Server are compatible with older versions of the product and old licenses.

Customer Success Services members are eligible for version upgrades to the latest release of Citrix products and to upgrade existing licenses to the license system used by these products.

Version upgrade means the movement from any previous version of a product to the newest version of the product. For example, moving from XenDesktop 7.18 to Citrix Virtual Desktops 7 1909.

Edition upgrade means the purchase of a higher edition level of a product. For example, you now have Advanced Edition and you purchase an upgrade to Platinum Edition.

How to upgrade the License Server

Citrix recommends that you install the newest License Server. The new License Server is backward compatible and supports older products and license files. However, new products require the newest License Server to check out licenses correctly. You can install or upgrade the latest version from the Citrix website (Downloads page).

We don’t support installing the License Server from a UNC path (\\server\share). Install the License Server from a local copy.

Upgrade your licensing components before upgrading your product, if necessary.

Uninstall any versions of Citrix Licensing older than version 11.12.1 before installing this version.

Use the new CitrixLicensing.exe file for all future installations and upgrades, except for Active Directory deployments. In that case, use the .msi. Ensure that both .exe and .msi files are present for the installation.

Unsure which version of the License Server you have? See Ensure you have the latest License Server.

For information about system requirements, see System requirements.

Important

To avoid the failure of any subsequent License Server upgrades: Ensure that when you installed your License Server, you successfully configured it with the post installation License Server Configuration tool or uninstalled your previous License Server.

To upgrade the License Server:

Download the license components on the Citrix website Downloads page, start the License Server installer (CitrixLicensing.exe) as an administrator, and follow the graphical interface.

To upgrade the License Server from your product media:

If you use the product media for your installation, you might have to enable some functionality by using the Citrix Licensing Manager after your installation. For example, use the Citrix Licensing Manager to enable Customer Success Services renewals.

1. From your License Server, open the media for your product.
2. If you do not see Setup, use Windows Explorer to open Autorun.exe or AutoSelect.exe.
3. Navigate through the Setup screens to Citrix Licensing and follow the instructions.

To upgrade the License Server from the command line:

Ensure that you run the command line with administrator privileges. To start the command prompt with elevated privileges, choose Start, right-click Command Prompt, and choose Run as administrator.

You cannot change ports during a command line upgrade.

The following sample command line installs licensing in silent mode.

CitrixLicensing.exe /quiet /l install.log INSTALLDIR=installdirectory CEIPOPTIN=ANON

• /quiet specifies a silent (quiet) installation.
• /l specifies the log file location
• INSTALLDIR is the location where the License Server executable is stored. Optional parameter. The default is c:\program files\citrix licensing or c:\program files (x86)\citrix\licensing.
• CEIPOPTIN specifies whether, or how, to opt in to Citrix Customer Experience Improvement Program (CEIP) or Call Home. Optional parameter. The default is ANON.
  • DIAG - Call Home
  • ANON - CEIP
  • NONE

You can modify the CEIP and Call Home choice using the Citrix Licensing Manager.

Important

The Citrix Service Provider program requires Customer Experience Improvement Program (CEIP) and Call Home. If you are a Citrix Service Provider, you cannot disable CEIP or Call Home.

Establishing new connections during a License Server upgrade

As part of the License Server upgrade, we stop services, upgrade the License Server, and then restart services. During the upgrade, products enter the grace period and self-license. When the License Server is online again, all product servers return from the grace period and reconcile license counts. This grace period works in the same manner as the regular grace period functionality.

Upgrade licenses for your edition

If you are eligible for a version upgrade as a benefit of your maintenance, you can obtain a new license and add it to the License Server. Also change the product edition setting in the product user interface. It’s best to change the product edition setting when there are few connections to the affected servers or redirect connections to another computer. When you change the product edition setting, restart the product server for changes to take effect. See the product documentation for changing the edition setting. If you add the upgrade license to the License Server before you set the edition to the new edition, the Citrix product stops accepting new connections.

Note

Licenses from old product editions display on the Dashboard of the License Administration Console even though they are no longer valid. If you do not remove obsolete or unnecessary license allocations, you might see persistent alerts regarding the Customer Success Services expiration dates of these licenses. You cannot disable these alerts. The only impact of leaving obsolete license allocations on License Servers is that you continue to receive these alerts. If you want to delete the licenses, see “Delete license files” in Administration without a console.

To upgrade edition licenses:

1. From a web browser, go to http://www.citrix.com.
2. Choose Log In and type your user ID and password.
3. Select Manage Licenses.
4. At the bottom of the landing page, select Upgrade my licenses.
5. Follow the site options and instructions for upgrading your product edition licenses.
6. Either download or order new media. An email message provides you with instructions to return to citrix.com to allocate or receive more feature licenses.
7. Log on to www.citrix.com to allocate your licenses, generate a license file, download the license file to your License Server, and reread the file.