This article provides more information on how the Citrix License Server works with Citrix Provisioning Services 4.5, 4.5 Service Packs, 5.0, 5.0 Service Pack 1, 5.0 Service Pack 2, 5.1 and 5.1 Service Packs in different situations.

• Licensing Support for Provisioning Services 5.1 Service Pack 1

• Licensing Support for Provisioning Services 5.1

• Licensing Support for Provisioning Services 4.5, 4.5 Service Packs 5.0 and 5.0 Service Pack 1

• General License Questions

Licensing Support for Provisioning Services 5.1 Service Pack 1

Provisioning Services 5.1 Service Pack 1 includes a number of modifications to the license consumption logic required to support the release of XenDesktop 4 and the VM Hosted Applications feature of XenApp. These modifications do not require the administrator to upgrade licenses and in general will have little to no visibility in day to day operations.

Q: Which editions of XenDesktop 4 include Provisioning Services?

A: Provisioning Services is included in the VDI, Enterprise and Platinum editions of XenDesktop 4.

Q: What types of systems can I provision with Provisioning Services in XenDesktop 4 Enterprise?

A: Within XenDesktop 4 Enterprise Edition, you might use Provisioning Services to provision desktop grade operating systems to any and all physical or virtual desktops and thin client devices that are part of the XenDesktop deployment. You can also provision any server systems that are part of the XenDesktop deployment.

Q: What types of systems can I provision with Provisioning Services in XenDesktop 4 Platinum?

A: Within XenDesktop 4 Platinum Edition, you might use Provisioning Services to provision desktop grade operating systems to any and all physical or virtual desktops and thin client devices that are part of the XenDesktop deployment. You can also provision any server systems that are part of the XenDesktop deployment.

Q: I have XenDesktop Advanced Edition and have not yet upgraded to XenDesktop 4.  What are my Provisioning Services Entitlements?

A: Within XenDesktop 3.x Advanced Edition, you might use Provisioning Services to provision desktop grade operating systems to any and all physical or virtual desktops and thin client devices that are part of the XenDesktop deployment. You might not provision servers with this license type. If you want to provision servers, you might acquire Provisioning Services for Datacenters or Essentials for XenServer or Hyper-V licenses separately.

Q: What types of systems can I provision with Provisioning Services in XenApp Enterprise?

A: As of XenApp 5 Feature Pack 2, you may use with Enterprise Edition and Provisioning Services only to provision desktop grade operating systems to virtual machines as part of the VM Hosted Applications feature.  You may not use Provisioning Services to provision servers or any other type of desktop. Previous versions of XenApp Enterprise have no Provisioning Services entitlement.

Q: What types of systems can I provision with Provisioning Services in XenApp Platinum?

A: Within XenApp Platinum Edition, you might use Provisioning Services to provision any server systems that are part of the XenApp deployment. In addition, you might, as of XenApp 5 Feature Pack 2, use Provisioning Services to provision desktop grade operating systems to virtual machines as part of the VM Hosted Applications feature.

Q: I am using XenApp Platinum licenses with Provisioning Server 5.1.1 but when I boot a XenApp target device I still receive the five-minute shutdown warning.

A: “No device license is currently available for this computer. A system shutdown will be initiated in 5 minutes. To avoid loss of data, save your work now and close app applications.” For  Provisioning Server Target Devices to boot successfully when using XenApp Platinum licenses, XenApp must be installed on the Target Device.

Q: Provisioning Services is working, however the License Management Console does not show licenses being used. What might be the cause?

A: Provisioning Services now recognizes both XenDesktop and XenApp licenses. If a XenApp or XenDesktop 4 Enterprise or Platinum license is installed, Provisioning Services will be enabled without consuming licenses.  The Provisioning Services licenses are no longer needed. However, if these licenses were purchased as part of XenDesktop, you are bound by the terms of the EULA and you may not install and use these outside of the XenDesktop deployment.

Q: Are there any changes with Provisioning Services 5.1 Service Pack 1 when included with Essentials for XenServer Enterprise or Platinum?

A: No.

Q: Are there any changes with Provisioning Services 5.1 Service Pack 1 when included with Essentials for HyperV Enterprise or Platinum?

A: No.

Q: Will my existing Provisioning Services licenses work with Provisioning Services 5.1 Service Pack 1?

A: Yes.  Any license keys issued with Provisioning Services 4.5, 5.0, or 5.1 will continue to work with 5.1 Service Pack 1.

Q: Is the license server version used by Provisioning Services 4.5 and Provisioning Services 5.1 Service Pack 1 different?

A: Yes. The Citrix license server version number used by Provisioning Services 5.1 Service Pack 1 is 11.6. If upgrading from Provisioning Services 5.0 and lower, Citrix license server needs to be upgraded to version 11.6. The Citrix License Server installation is included with the download of Provisioning Services and an install option during the installation.

Q: There used to be a place to check the license status under Provisioning Services 4.5.x console, where is it located in Provisioning Services 5.1 Service Pack 1?

A: License status can be found in client status tool tray application on the client side.

 Licensing Support for Provisioning Services 5.1

Q: Can Provisioning Services 5.1 use a XenDesktop 4 Advanced, Enterprise or Platinum license key?

A: No, each XenDesktop 4 license includes and requires a Provisioning Services license key as well.

Q: Can Provisioning Services 5.1 use a XenApp Platinum license key?

A: Yes, Provisioning Services 5.1 Service Pack 1 can now exclusively use a XenApp Platinum license key without the need for a stand-alone Provisioning Services license key.

Q: Are there any changes with Provisioning Services 5.1 when included with Essentials for XenServer Enterprise or Platinum?

A: No.

Q: Are there any changes with Provisioning Services 5.1 when included with Essentials for HyperV Enterprise or Platinum?

A: No.

Q: Will a stand-alone Provisioning Services (Desktop or Datacenter) license key work with Provisioning Services 5.1?

A: Yes.

Q: Can Provisioning Services 5.1 use Provisioning Services 4.5.x license key?

A: Yes.

Q: Is the license version used by Provisioning Services 4.5 and Provisioning Services 5.1 different?

A: Yes. The Citrix license server version number used by Provisioning Services 5.1 Service Pack 1 is 11.5. If upgrading from Provisioning Services 5.0 and lower, Citrix license server needs to be upgraded to version 11.5. The Citrix License Server installation is included with the download of Provisioning Services.

Q: There used to be a place to check the license status under Provisioning Services 4.5.x console, where is it located in Provisioning Services 5.1?

A: License status can be found in client status tool tray application on the client side.

 Licensing Support for Provisioning Services 4.5, 4.5 Service Packs 5.0 and 5.0 Service Pack 1

Q: Can Provisioning Services 5.0 use Provisioning Services 4.5.x license key?

A: Yes.

Q: Is the license version used by Provisioning Services 4.5 and Provisioning Services 4.5 Service Pack 1/5.0 different?

A: Yes. The Citrix license server version number used by Provisioning Services 4.5 Service Pack 1 and Provisioning Services 5.0 is 11.5. If Provisioning Services 4.5 is upgrading to Service Pack 1, Citrix license server needs to be upgraded to version 11.5.

Q: When Provisioning Services 4.5.x/5.0 communicates with the License Server, a license is dedicated to Provisioning Services from “Citrix Start-up” pool. Is that how it is supposed to be?

A: Yes, also it is a good place to check the connectivity between Provisioning Services 4.5.x/5.0 and License Server. 

Q: There used to be a place to check the license status under Provisioning Services 4.5.x console, where is it located in Provisioning Services 5.0?

A: License status can be found in client status tool tray application on the client side.

Q: License Management Console, which contains XenDesktop 4 Platinum license key, shows 99 licenses for Provisioning Services 4.5.x/5.0. What does that number mean?

A: That is the default and maximum number of Provisioning Services clients you can boot.

 General License Questions

Q: How do Provisioning Services clients communicate with the Citrix license server?

A: Clients do not communicate with the Citrix License Server.

Q: How to check the version and build number of Citrix License Server?

A: Caution! Refer to the Disclaimer at the end of this article before using Registry Editor. 

1. At the license server, click Start > Run and type regedit. The Registry Editor appears.

2. Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Citrix\LicenseServer\Install. Version number

Q: What happens to the booting clients if there is no License Server installed or if there are not enough licenses available in the pool?

A: On startup, clients receive a five-minute shutdown-warning message.

Q: What happens to the booting client if the Citrix License Server is installed but there is no license key registered?

A: The clients use the out-of-box grace period.

Q: What is the Out-Of-Box Grace (OOBG) period?

A: The out-of-box grace period takes place when the Citrix License Server is installed but no licenses are registered. It lasts for 96 hours from installation.

Q: What happens if the OOBG grace period ends and the clients restart?

A: Upon restarting, clients receive a five-minute shutdown warning message.

Q: If the Citrix License Server loses its connection to the Provisioning Server, what happens to the active clients?

A: If Provisioning Services 4.5.x with a hotfix and Provisioning Services 5.x are being used, clients keep working for an unlimited period of time until a restart occurs.

Q: If the Citrix License Server loses its connection to the Provisioning Server, what happens to the clients that start up after this event?

A: It goes to grace period but still works without getting 5-minute shutdown message.

Q: What is the length of grace period regarding the previous question?

A: The grace period for most Provisioning Services installations is 720 hours.