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Michael_Zlotnik's avatar
Michael_Zlotnik
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Apr 05, 2016
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Unable to re-activate license for an AWS marketplace machine

We have couple of F5 Big-IP VE units from AWS marketplace that are on hourly licensing contract. I'm trying to re-activate the license on these units to be able to upgrade these machines to newer software version and get the following error:

 

Error 51092, This license has already been activated on a different unit. Please contact technical support for assistance

 

What could be the problem and how can this be solved.

 

ASM Advanced WAF
cloud
LTM
  • Seth_81884's avatar
    Seth_81884
    Apr 05, 2016

    The 12.0-HF1 AMIs for Hourly Billing are not currently available in the marketplace.

     

    So this sounds like you are trying to install the 12.0-HF1 .iso (for BYOL) into slot 1.2 and then booting to that volume.

     

    If so, this would be a HB to BYOL migration and you would need a new BYOL license.

     

    If you did apply a BYOL license to a HB instance, AWS 'may' still see it as a Hourly billing instance (from the original ami-id) and will bill you as if it was. So the process is:

     

    "To convert an HB license to a BYOL license, you launch a new BYOL instance, apply the BYOL license, and move the configuration."

     

    Since you are using Hourly Billing, you will have to wait for the new 12.0-HF1 HB instances to be made available. When the new AMIs are available the upgrade process between Hourly Billing instances it to:

     

    "To update an HB license you launch a new instance, apply the existing configuration, and retire the old HB instance."

     

7 Replies

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    • Michael_Zlotnik's avatar
      Michael_Zlotnik
      Icon for Nimbostratus rankNimbostratus
      Apr 05, 2016
      Thanks for your reply. I can't open a support case with for these devices as they are purchased (actually leased) from AWS marketplace, so the license belongs to AWS and I have no support contract with F5. The F5 representative on the phone just pointed me to this community.
  • Seth_81884's avatar
    Seth_81884
    Historic F5 Account
    Apr 05, 2016
    Hello Michael, Take a look at the bottom of the following article. https://support.f5.com/kb/en-us/products/big-ip_ltm/manuals/product/bigip-ve-setup-amazon-ec2-11-6-0/3.html?sr=52904050 It would also help to know which version you are starting with and which one you are trying to upgrade too.
  • Michael_Zlotnik's avatar
    Michael_Zlotnik
    Icon for Nimbostratus rankNimbostratus
    Apr 05, 2016
    Hello Seth, we are currently running 11.6 HF4 and upgrading to 12.0 HF1. This is not the first time we are upgrading and the process is very clear to me. My problem is not with the upgrade but with the license itself which seems to be registered to a different machine now.
  • Seth_81884's avatar
    Seth_81884
    Historic F5 Account
    Apr 05, 2016

    The 12.0-HF1 AMIs for Hourly Billing are not currently available in the marketplace.

     

    So this sounds like you are trying to install the 12.0-HF1 .iso (for BYOL) into slot 1.2 and then booting to that volume.

     

    If so, this would be a HB to BYOL migration and you would need a new BYOL license.

     

    If you did apply a BYOL license to a HB instance, AWS 'may' still see it as a Hourly billing instance (from the original ami-id) and will bill you as if it was. So the process is:

     

    "To convert an HB license to a BYOL license, you launch a new BYOL instance, apply the BYOL license, and move the configuration."

     

    Since you are using Hourly Billing, you will have to wait for the new 12.0-HF1 HB instances to be made available. When the new AMIs are available the upgrade process between Hourly Billing instances it to:

     

    "To update an HB license you launch a new instance, apply the existing configuration, and retire the old HB instance."

     

    • Michael_Zlotnik's avatar
      Michael_Zlotnik
      Icon for Nimbostratus rankNimbostratus
      Apr 14, 2016
      Hi Seth, The issue is that AWS doesn't yet offer version 12.0 for its HB instances and i don't want to change the scheme of the licensing that we currently have and move to the BYOL. If I update the device myself to version 12.0-HF1 (install into new partition) - do you know if it will still be under HB license with AWS?
  • Seth_81884's avatar
    Seth_81884
    Historic F5 Account
    Apr 14, 2016
    For the second question:

    Yes, installing into a new partition should maintain the Hourly Billing license.
    For those interested in more detail on that process, the notes are below.


   In this example we used the following AMI as the starting point:

   F5 Networks Hourly BIGIP-11.6.0.6.204.442 - Better 1Gbps - built on Apr 01 2-361ec61b-7242-4ec2-820c-0cfe9de77582-ami-b3d6dcd9.3 (ami-42e9ff28)


    admin@(ip-10-0-0-37)(cfg-sync Standalone)(Active)(/Common)(tmos) show sys software

    -----------------------------------------------------
    Sys::Software Status
    Volume  Product  Version      Build  Active    Status
    -----------------------------------------------------
    HD1.1    BIG-IP   11.6.0  6.204.442     yes  complete




    Now for the Upgrade. Upload the following images to your AWS instance into /shared/images.

     BIGIP-12.0.0.0.0.606.iso
     Hotfix-BIGIP-12.0.0.1.0.628-HF1.iso



    Install the newbase 12.0.0.0.0.606.iso into HD1.2
    install sys software image BIGIP-12.0.0.0.0.606.iso volume HD1.2 create-volume

    When Complete, install HF onto the new base in HD1.2
    install sys software Hotfix-BIGIP-12.0.0.1.0.628-HF1.iso volume HD1.2

    Reboot to new volume
     reboot volume HD1.2


If all went well, after the reboot, you should now see the following:

    [admin@ip-10-0-0-37:Active:Standalone] ~  cat /VERSION
    Product: BIG-IP
    Version: 12.0.0
    Build: 1.0.628
    Sequence: 12.0.0.1.0.628.0
    BaseBuild: 0.0.606
    Edition: Hotfix HF1
    Date: Tue Dec 22 13:18:00 PST 2015
    Built: 151222131800
    Changelist: 1574648
    JobID: 59191


    From the AWS perspective, you will still be getting billed following the costs set for the original instance.