License Activation Service

The License Activation Service (LAS) is a new cloud-based licensing solution that provides an alternative to the traditional Citrix legacy licensing. LAS introduces new modules for activation of Citrix products, ensuring a seamless and modern approach to license management.

The License Activation Service simplifies the Citrix Licensing experience. There are no longer license access codes or files to generate, download, or install on the license server. Customers only need to upgrade their license server and register with Citrix Cloud. Once the compatible products are pointed to the license server, they can be activated automatically.

After activation, the License Server regularly communicates with the LAS to keep its activation up to date. The License Activation Service enhances performance and scalability for products using this technology.

For more details on LAS, see the Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops documentation License Activation Service.

Prerequisites:

• Onboard to Citrix Cloud using the Org ID associated with the entitlements that you want to use for the product activation.
• Register the license server using the Citrix Cloud account created in the previous step.

Compatibility:

• LAS is only available on the License Server build 51000 or higher.
• Supported products: Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops 2411 or higher.

Limitations:

• Currently, LAS requires an online connection for license verification and renewal on a daily basis.

How activation works

If customers are not onboarded to the License Activation Service, the following screen is displayed to guide them through the next steps.

The License Server can simultaneously support both License Activation Service and Citrix legacy licensing. Enabling License Activation Service is a two-step process:

1. On the License Server: The License Server must be configured to support License Activation Service, typically by registering License Server with Citrix Cloud and ensuring the required firewall rules are configured.
2. On the Product: The product itself needs to be configured to communicate with the License Server, allowing it to request and receive licenses through LAS.

Entitlements are linked to the Org ID associated with the registered license server. If a customer needs to change their Org ID, they must first remove the license server registration and then register with the correct Citrix Cloud account linked to the new Org ID. A license server can only be registered to one Citrix Cloud ID (CCID). Citrix Cloud account is linked to an Org ID that includes the valid or desired entitlements. For more information, see License Server telemetry data elements.

How to configure License Server for License Activation Service

Register the License Server with Citrix Cloud for License Activation Service using Citrix Licensing Manager. For more information, see Product Registration.

1. On the Citrix Licensing Manager, click Go to Registration, then click Register, and copy the generated code.
2. Add https://las.cloud.com:443 to the firewall to ensure connection. For more information, see Firewall considerations.
3. Log in to Citrix Cloud, ensure that your organization is onboarded using an account that includes the relevant licenses.
4. Go to Identity and Access Management > API Access > Product Registrations.
5. Click Register, paste the code, and click Register again.

Now, the registration is complete, and the license server can communicate with License Activation Service. For more information, see Citrix Licensing Manager.

Once onboarded, the entitlements can be viewed, and alert messages are received.

The LAS displays a new alert message indicating LAS cannot be reached.

Entitlement updates and activation behavior

Entitlements are updated from LAS to the License Server every 12–24 hours. However, the system ensures that activations are processed when LAS is reachable even if the entitlement data hasn’t been recently refreshed. If LAS is unreachable, the entitlement shows stale data and only existing activations are processed.

Each product instance is assigned an activation period of up to 30 days, depending on the entitlement validity period. If the entitlement validity period is longer than 30 days, the activation period is 30 days. If the entitlement validity is less than 30 days, the activation period is limited to the entitlement’s validity period. The License Server must be connected to the License Activation Service at all times to extend the activation for a rolling 30 day period.

License activation validity and system dependencies

If the connection to the LAS is lost, the system is temporarily unable to fetch entitlements, activate products, or renew activations. New activations, however, are denied until LAS connectivity is restored and the system can properly validate them.

Multiple license servers can be configured for LAS as long as a valid license purchase is associated with the Citrix Cloud tenant to which the license server is registered to.

The activation process is successful as long as the entitlement is valid. However, the activation is tied to specific properties of the operating system. If these operating system properties or the installation configuration change, the activation becomes invalid.

Note:

If any system properties related to the License Server change, the existing activation becomes invalid, prompting a request for a new activation. If, for any reason, the License Server or LAS is unreachable, the product enters license caching mode, which is specifically designed to protect the system from being unlicensed and avoid an outage. For more information, see License caching mode.

Your activation might change if any of the following properties are modified:

• FQDN
• Mac Address
• CPU ID
• Motherboard Serial Number
• Hard Drive Serial Number
• BIOS Serial Number
• Current install

You can launch as many sessions as you want, regardless of the number of purchases, as long as your activation is successful. You must maintain LAS connectivity in License Server for automatic renewal of activation. Additionally, compliance with the telemetry program is required to ensure full functionality and compliance.

With LAS, license usage details cannot be viewed directly in the License Server and this functionality is available in a future update. However, LAS allows for an unlimited number of sessions, if the license activation is successful.

To view the registration details, click Settings icon > Register.

License caching mode:

In Licensing cache mode, the License Server cannot activate new sites, but existing sites that are already activated continue to function until their activation expires. In the event of activation issues, the system enters license caching mode, which is designed to prevent customer outages due to issues activating the product.

The following are the two types of caching mode:

1. LAS cloud service unreachable from License Server:

   When the LAS cloud service is unreachable from the License Server, existing product instances activations continue to be processed, but new product instances activations are denied until the connection to LAS is restored in License Server. The following are the behaviors when the system property changes during caching mode:

   • If the system property changes during caching mode, no product activations are granted from this License Server.
   • Existing product instances activated using this License Server continues to be processed, but new activations are denied, provided the system property remains unchanged.
   • The user is granted a 30-day grace period allowing time to restore the connection from License Server to LAS.

2. Product unable to connect to License Server:

   If the product is unable to connect to the License Server, it enters caching mode and continues to operate for a limited time with current activation data unless the system property remains unchanged.

   • The user gets a 15-day grace period if the connection to product instances is broken, allowing time to restore the connection between the product and License Server.

Activation is bound to the License Server based on License Server system properties and the product instance properties. The software’s activation is guaranteed as long as there is a continuous connection to the LAS. This connection is required to monitor and maintain the activation status.

You must maintain the License Server to LAS connection to avoid service impact. Additionally, the product to License Server connection must also be maintained to ensure continued functionality.

Disabling LAS status alerts

To enhance the user experience and prevent unnecessary License Activation Service alerts for customers using only Citrix legacy licensing, a new configuration tag is now available. This tag suppresses the alert indicating that License Activation Service is unreachable.

Note:

Disabling the LAS alert also suppresses LAS-related errors. This could lead to an outage if LAS activation is needed.

Configuration

To enable the LAS status alert, use this command:

• <NoLASStatusAlert>0</NoLASStatusAlert>

Note:

This is the default value when the tag is not present.

To disable the LAS status alert when using Citrix legacy licensing, use this command:

• <NoLASStatusAlert>1</NoLASStatusAlert>

Implementation

1. Open the configuration file %installation path%/WebServicesForLicensing/SimpleLicenseServiceConfig.xml.

2. Add the desired alert setting within the Configurations section of the XML file:

   <NoLASStatusAlert>0</NoLASStatusAlert>

   or

   <NoLASStatusAlert>1</NoLASStatusAlert>

3. Save the changes and restart the Citrix Web Services for Licensing (WSL) to apply the new configuration.

Following these steps, allows you to manage the LAS status alert based on your licensing needs. This helps streamline the operations and reduce unnecessary notifications when using Citrix legacy licensing.