Summary

This article describes the process of upgrading the License server for Presentation Server from version 4.0 to 4.5.

Background

With the introduction of the Presentation Server 3.0, most Citrix Products need to connect to a Citrix License server. This License server contains license files (so called Version 6 (V6) licenses). The license file citrix_startup.lic provides the licenses for the Presentation Servers themselves and is mandatory for the communication between the Presentation Server and the License server. It is part of the License server installation and is free of charge.

The first Citrix License server is installed with the first Presentation Server of a farm. The License server, which was delivered with Presentation Server 4.0, was version 9.2. Because the License server was revised before the latest Presentation Server release, Presentation Server version 4.5 must connect to a License server version 11.3. There will be no connection possible to a License server version 9.2. Nevertheless, the License server version 11.3 is backwards compatible, so that a Presentation Server 4.0 can communicate with the new License server version.

When a farm is upgraded from Presentation Server 4.0 to Presentation Server 4.5 the License server needs to be upgraded accordingly.

This can be achieved with minimum impact and without obtaining additional Licenses.

Note: Citrix licenses are backwards compatible. The Subscription Advantage expiry date in the License, or its additional Subscription Advantage Renewal file, indicates the program version up to which a license is valid. Means: the license is valid for, for example, Presentation Server 3.0 or 3.0 + 4.0 or 3.0 to 4.5. There are no Licenses for Presentation Server 4.5 only.

Procedure

It is assumed for the following scenarios, that the used Licenses are valid for Presentation Server version 4.5. The earliest Subscription Advantage Expiry date of a Citrix License or a Citrix License with additional Subscription Advantage Renewal, which allows you to open sessions at a Presentation Server 4.5, is the 23/02/07.

Scenario 1: In-place Upgrade

If the License server will keep its name in the Domain, perform the following steps:

1. Save the license files at a location outside the C:\Program Files\Citrix\Licensing path.

2. Uninstall the License server and License server console from the server.

3. Delete the remaining C:\Program Files\Citrix\Licensing branch.

4. Install the License server from the installation media of Presentation Server 4.5.

5. Implement the licenses by using the License Management Console following the steps in CTX114695 – How to Install a Citrix License on a Citrix License Server.

Scenario 2: New Farm

A new Presentation Server 4.5 farm is set up beside the existing Presentation Server 4.0 farm.

The farms are independent but within the same Environment (Domain or Domains with two-way trust relationship). Citrix License servers can serve different farms at the same time, as long as communication is possible between Presentation server and License server. The switch between the license servers should have no impact to the productive Presentation Server 4.0 farm and connected users, given that the communication between the Presentation Servers 4.0 and the Citrix License server 11.3 of the new Presentation Server 4.5 farm is correctly established. It is not possible to have the same license at two different operating License servers in the same environment! Therefore it is crucial, to follow the steps in the given order!

1. Set up the License server in the new farm.

2. Return and re-host the Licenses on the MyCitrix Web site to the new License server following the steps in CTX115870 – How To Return and Reallocate a License File.

3. Stop the License service on the License server of the new farm.

4. Download the re-hosted Licenses from the MyCitrix portal to the License server of the new farm.

5. Stop the License Service (or shut down the whole server) on the License server of the old Presentation Server 4.0 farm. (The Presentation Servers will loose connection to the License server and fall into the 30 days grace period)

6. Start the License Service on the License server of the new Presentation Server 4.5 farm.

7. Implement the Licenses following CTX114695 – How to Install a Citrix License on a Citrix License Server at the license server of the new Presentation Server 4.5 farm

8. Point the Presentation Servers of the old Presentation Server 4.0 farm to the License server of the new Presentation Server 4.5 farm.

Now that both farms are pointing to the new License server, both farms are operational and the users can be moved (step by step or all) from the old farm to the new farm. Because a client can only connect to one farm at a time, no additional licenses are needed since the overall number of users stays unchanged!

Note: The switching process can be done within a few minutes. The License server downtime for the productive farm can be kept below two minutes. To avoid service disruption because of configuration or communication problems at servers or network, Citrix recommends that you switch the servers in an off-peak time.

Scenario 3: Upgrade of Version and Edition at the same time

In case that with the migration to a new farm an upgrade of the Presentation Server Edition is intended, the old productive Presentation Server 4.0 farm needs to be upgraded as well.

Note: In general it is possible to host licenses of different editions on a Citrix License server.

Licenses which are upgrades from lower Editions are technically spoken the same licenses as their Base Licenses (the licenses of the previous lower edition).

Therefore Upgrade Licenses cannot be in the same environment (even on different License servers) with their own Base Licenses.

In addition to the steps in the previous scenario, the upgrade of the Edition of the reproductive farm requires all Presentation Servers to be restarted. This will cause a short downtime of the productive farm.

1. Set up the License server in the new farm.

2. Activate the Upgrade Licenses on the MyCitrix Web site and host them to the new License server.

3. Stop the License service on the License server of the new farm.

4. Download the fresh activated Licenses from the MyCitrix portal to the License server of the new farm.

5. Stop the (or shut down the whole server) on the License server of the old Presentation Server 4.0 farm. (The Presentation Servers will loose connection to the License server and fall into the 30 days grace period)

6. Start the License Service on the License server of the new Presentation Server 4.5 farm.

7. Implement the Licenses following CTX114695 – How to Install a Citrix License on a Citrix License Server at the license server of the new Presentation Server 4.5 farm.

8. Set the edition on the Presentation Server of the Productive Presentation Server 4.0 farm to the new edition level.

9. Restart the Presentation Server of the productive Presentation Server 4.0 farm.

10. Point the Presentation Servers of the old Presentation Server 4.0 farm to the License server of the new Presentation Server 4.5 farm.

Now that both farms are pointing to the new License server both farms are operational and the users can be moved from the old farm to the new farm. Because a client can only connect to one farm at a time, no additional licenses are needed since the overall number of users stays unchanged!

Note: If the farm edition is upgraded to Platinum Edition, the servers running version 4.0 Presentation Server need to have Hotfix Rollup Pack 4 (for Windows Server 2000 / 2003; CTX113483 / CTX113484) for Presentation Server 4.0 installed or the Hotfix PSE400R03W2K030 (W2K; CTX114523) / PSE400R03W2K3058 (W2K3; CTX113433) for Presentation Server 4.0 installed. This is mandatory because the Presentation Server 4.0 was released before the Platinum Edition was introduced. Only with Hotfix Rollup Pack 4 is the Presentation Server 4.0 is able to retrieve Platinum licenses.

Scenario 4: Parallel Farms

In this scenario both farms need to be productive at the same time and users need to have access to both farms simultaneously, due to compatibility issues of published applications or safety reasons. Here a second set of licenses on the license server of the new Presentation Server 4.5 farm, different from the license set on the previous Presentation Server 4.0 farm, is required. The additional licenses must be purchased from a Citrix reseller. Both farms can point to the same server as above, but the number of licenses needs to be adjusted according to the overall number of opened sessions on both farms.

More Information

CTX109108 – Getting Started with Citrix Licensing Guide

CTX108660 – Licensing: The License Management Console

CTX108662 – Licensing: Troubleshooting

CTX108658 – Licensing: Firewalls and Security Considerations

CTX108655 – Licensing: Migrating, Upgrading, and Renaming

CTX110847 – Licensing: Understanding License Files