Licensing elements

The License Server comprises several licensing elements:

  • Citrix vendor daemon
  • Options configuration file
  • License request process
  • Citrix Licensing Customer Experience Improvement Program (CEIP), Call Home, and compliance

This diagram shows Citrix products connect to the License Server.

Using TCP/IP

Citrix vendor daemon

The Citrix vendor daemon (CITRIX), a process that runs on the License Server, grants licenses. The Citrix vendor daemon tracks the number of licenses that are checked out and which product has them. Citrix products communicate with the Citrix vendor daemon using TCP/IP. By default, the Citrix vendor daemon uses TCP/IP port 7279.

Options file

The options file (Citrix.opt) is a License Server configuration file. The Citrix vendor daemon reads this file every time it restarts or receives a command to reread the file. This configuration file defines licensing behavior-the number of licenses a product server can use, the location of the System Logs, logging levels, and other user-defined customizations. The Customer Experience Improvement Program (CEIP) and Call Home configurations are stored in this file.

License request process

When a product requests a license from the License Server, the Citrix vendor daemon determines whether a license is available for the request.

The license request process has two phases: the product startup phase and the user connection phase.

Product Start-Up Phase:

  • When a Citrix product starts, it retrieves the License Server location from its data store.
  • The product connects to the Citrix vendor daemon.
  • The product checks out a startup license.

User connection phase:

  • A user connects to a computer running the Citrix product.
  • The product requests a license from the License Server.
  • The Citrix vendor daemon checks to see if any licenses are available and grants or denies the product’s request.
  • The license module in the product grants or denies the use of the product based on the response from the Citrix vendor daemon.

Citrix licensing Customer Experience Improvement Program (CEIP), Call Home, and compliance usage and analytics programs

The Citrix Licensing CEIP, Call Home, and compliance usage and analytics programs are data collection programs designed to improve your product experience and gather important license compliance information.

Citrix handles your data in accordance with the terms of your contract with Citrix, and protects it as specified in the Citrix Services Security Exhibit available on the Citrix Trust Center.

CEIP and compliance are enabled by default during License Server installation. Call Home is voluntary. You can change your participation in the programs at any time by using the Citrix Licensing Manager. For more information, see “Share usage statistics” under Usage and statistics.

Important

The Citrix Service Provider program requires CEIP and Call Home. If you have Citrix Service Provider licenses installed, you can change the settings, but you cannot disable CEIP or Call Home. When the License Server detects Citrix Service Provider licenses, it enforces daily uploads.

For information about configuring a proxy server, see Configure a proxy server manually in the Get started article.

For information about command-line installation, see Use the Windows command line to install licensing.

Citrix Licensing Customer Experience Improvement Program (CEIP)

The CEIP program gathers configuration and usage data from your Citrix product deployment and sends the data to Citrix once a day, based on the service start time.

Data Collected Description What We Use It For
License usage and compliance data Information about the Citrix licenses installed on the License Server, including product ID, license type, and quantity, in addition to license usage information. We use this data to track how licenses are consumed and track customer population compliance.
License Server deployment and configuration data Information about the License Server and how it was deployed, including license server version, operating system version, and configuration states. We use this data to inform further development of Citrix products and to improve the customer experience.

CEIP data elements for build 32000:

License Server Information Feature SADate StartupCounts SerialNumbers
GUID FeatureID DateSampleStartUTC LPE ID Serial
DateSampleStopUTC UDBinFileCreatedUTC DateSampleStopUTC   ID
DateSampleStop UDReportGenerationUTC CountUsedMax   SADate
PortLACHTTP EventLog Active   SN
PortLACHTTPS UDAdminUsersReleased Licensees    
PortLACRedirect UDAdminDevicesReleased CountInstalled    
PortLS   Pool    
PortVD   CountTotal    
PortWSL   Devices    
UDUseDomain   Usage Samples    
OptFileNoLogStatus   Serial    
OptFileComplianceConfig   DateExpiration    
UDUserNameCase   DateIssued    
UDDeviceNameCase   VendorStr    
SARenewalCheckOption   CountInstalled    
EncoreSamplingPeriod   CountOverdraft    
EncoreRetentionTime   Sample    
EncoreEnabled   Timestamp    
SLSProxy   CountInUse    
SLSProxyWinAutoURL   OverDraft    
SLSProxyWinIE   Installed    
SLSProxyWinDefault   Users    
SLSProxySlsConfig        
OS        
WindowsBuildLabEx        
WindowsEditionID        
WindowsInstallationType        
WindowsProductName        
WindowsDomainMember        
OSBits        
OSLocale        
VM        
VMIDString        
VMHVIDString        
InstallUTC        
ProductVersion        
UpgradeFrom        
SetupCluster        
SGPClockErrorCode        
SGPMaxDays        
SupplementalGracePeriod        

CEIP data elements for build 31000 and earlier:

       
GUID WindowsEditionID FlexeraVersion Feature ID
DateSampleStopUTC WindowsInstallationType SGPClockErrorCode UDBinFileCreatedUTC
DateSampleStop WindowsProductName SGPMaxDays UDReportGenerationUTC
PortLACHTTP WindowsDomainMember Services Event Log
PortLACHTTPS OSBits Name SADate
PortLACRedirect OSLocale DisplayName DateSampleStartUTC
PortLS MemPhysMB State DateSampleStopUTC
PortVD CPUIDString StartType CountUsedMax
UDUseDomain VM Path Active
OptFileNoLogStatus VMIDString FirewallProfile Licensees
OptFileComplianceConfig VMHVIDString FirewallRule CountTotal
UDUserNameCase CPUCountLogical Profile CountInstalled
UDDeviceNameCase DiskFreeMB Enabled Pool
PortWSL DiskTotalMB BlockAllInboundTraffic Usage Samples
SARenewalCheckOption HasIPv4 DefaultInboundAction Sample
EncoreSamplingPeriod HasIPv4_DHCP DefaultOutboundAction Timestamp
EncoreRetentionTime HasIPv6 FirewallRule CountInUse
EncoreEnabled HasIPv6_DHCP Name OverDraft
SLSProxy HardwareId Enabled Installed
SLSProxyWinAutoURL FQDN Application LPE ID
SLSProxyWinIE PrivacySetting Protocol Count
SLSProxyWinDefault InstallUTC LocalPorts  
SLSProxySlsConfig ProductVersion Action  
OS UpgradeFrom Direction  
WindowsBuildLabEx SetupCluster Inventory  

Citrix Call Home

Call Home is voluntary. When you opt in, Call Home performs a periodic collection of system and product configuration, performance, errors, and more. This information is transmitted to Citrix Insight Services once a day, based on the service start time.

You can scramble user names and device information on the License Server before it’s sent to Citrix for processing. For more information, see Anonymize usernames through the License Server.

If you want to disable the Call Home Citrix Cloud-registered License Server upload, use the Citrix Licensing Manager. Change your selection under Usage and statistics > Share usage statistics to either Help improve Citrix products by sending detailed License Server system and non-identifiable usage information (which does not identify users) to the Citrix Customer Experience Improvement Program (CEIP) or Send only basic License Server system and usage information (which does not identify users) required for license compliance purposes. You’re still registered with Citrix Cloud, but your Call Home information isn’t sent.

If you want to remove your registration, see Register and remove registration with Citrix Cloud in Usage and statistics.

Data Collected Description What We Use It For
License usage and compliance data Information about the Citrix licenses installed on the License Server, including product ID, license type, and quantity, in addition to license usage information. We use this data to track how licenses are consumed and track customer population compliance. Registering the License Server with Citrix Cloud allows you to track your usage over time in Citrix Cloud.
License Server deployment and configuration data Information about the License Server and how it was deployed, including license server version, operating system version, and configuration states. We use this data to inform further development of Citrix products and to improve the customer experience.

Call Home data elements for build 32000:

License Server Information Feature SADate StartupCounts SerialNumbers
GUID FeatureID DateSampleStartUTC LPE ID Serial
DateSampleStopUTC UDBinFileCreatedUTC DateSampleStopUTC   ID
DateSampleStop UDReportGenerationUTC CountUsedMax   SADate
PortLACHTTP EventLog Active   SN
PortLACHTTPS UDAdminUsersReleased Licensees    
PortLACRedirect UDAdminDevicesReleased CountInstalled    
PortLS   Pool    
PortVD   CountTotal    
CustomerID   Users    
OrgID   Devices    
PortWSL   Usage Samples    
UDUseDomain   Serial    
OptFileNoLogStatus   DateExpiration    
OptFileComplianceConfig   DateIssued    
UDUserNameCase   VendorStr    
UDDeviceNameCase   CountInstalled    
SARenewalCheckOption   CountOverdraft    
EncoreSamplingPeriod   Sample    
EncoreRetentionTime   Timestamp    
EncoreEnabled   CountInUse    
SLSProxy   OverDraft    
SLSProxyWinAutoURL   Installed    
SLSProxyWinIE        
SLSProxyWinDefault        
SLSProxySlsConfig        
OS        
WindowsBuildLabEx        
WindowsEditionID        
WindowsInstallationType        
WindowsProductName        
WindowsDomainMember        
OSBits        
OSLocale        
VM        
VMIDString        
VMHVIDString        
HardwareId        
FQDN        
PrivacySetting        
InstallUTC        
ProductVersion        
UpgradeFrom        
SetupCluster        
SGPClockErrorCode        
SGPMaxDays        
SupplementalGracePeriod        

Citrix Call Home data elements for build 31000 and earlier:

       
GUID WindowsEditionID FlexeraVersion Feature ID
DateSampleStopUTC WindowsInstallationType SGPClockErrorCode UDBinFileCreatedUTC
DateSampleStop WindowsProductName SGPMaxDays UDReportGenerationUTC
PortLACHTTP WindowsDomainMember Services Event Log
PortLACHTTPS OSBits Name SADate
PortLACRedirect OSLocale DisplayName DateSampleStartUTC
PortLS MemPhysMB State DateSampleStopUTC
PortVD CPUIDString StartType CountUsedMax
UDUseDomain VM Path Active
OptFileNoLogStatus VMIDString FirewallProfile Licensees
OptFileComplianceConfig VMHVIDString FirewallRule CountTotal
UDUserNameCase CPUCountLogical Profile CountInstalled
UDDeviceNameCase DiskFreeMB Enabled Pool
PortWSL DiskTotalMB BlockAllInboundTraffic Usage Samples
SARenewalCheckOption HasIPv4 DefaultInboundAction Sample
EncoreSamplingPeriod HasIPv4_DHCP DefaultOutboundAction Timestamp
EncoreRetentionTime HasIPv6 FirewallRule CountInUse
EncoreEnabled HasIPv6_DHCP Name OverDraft
SLSProxy HardwareId Enabled Installed
SLSProxyWinAutoURL FQDN Application LPE ID
SLSProxyWinIE PrivacySetting Protocol Count
SLSProxyWinDefault InstallUTC LocalPorts  
SLSProxySlsConfig ProductVersion Action  
OS UpgradeFrom Direction  
WindowsBuildLabEx SetupCluster Inventory  

Compliance uploads

Installing the License Server enables the sending of compliance information to the Citrix License Management Service. Your installation of the License Server constitutes your acknowledgment of the License Management Service and your consent to use the License Management Service. You can disable the License Management Service anytime after installation.

For information about the Citrix License Management Service and how to disable the compliance upload, see Citrix License Management Service.

Data Collected Description What We Use It For
License usage and compliance data Information about the Citrix licenses installed on the License Server, including product ID, license type, and quantity, in addition to license usage information. We use this data to confirm customer compliance with license requirements.
License Server system information Information about the license server (such as Hardware ID) We use this data to identify the License Server in the customer’s environment.

Compliance data elements for build 32000:

License Server Information Feature SADate StartupCounts
GUID Feature ID CountUsedMax LPE ID
HardwareId UDBinFileCreatedUTC Serial  
InstallUTC UDReportGenerationUTC    
  UDAdminUsersReleased    
  UDAdminDevicesReleased    

Compliance data elements for build 31000 and earlier:

     
GUID Feature ID Serial
HardwareId SADate Startup Counts
Inventory CountUsedMax LPE ID
Licensing elements