To license a Citrix product, it requires a license code that must be activated or allocated and uploaded to the appropriate environment, such as the License Administration Console, the XenServer or an appliance.

• License Code contains a 21 digit serial number (License Code Format V4)

• License Code contains a 25 digit serial number (License Code Format V5)

• License Code does not contain a set number format (License Code Format V6)

• License Code contains a combination of digits and letters

License Code Format V4

• Legacy License Code Format

• Not sold anymore, however Licensing Help desk still receives queries (most likely in terms of upgrade possibilities)

• 21 digit serial number

• Designed by Citrix

• Distributed License Installation

  • WinFrame,MetaFrame1.x,MetaFrame for Unix
  • Per Server licensing
  • Every Server needs its own set of licenses
  • Management Product licenses need to be applied to every server in the farm in turn
  • Every new server requires a new set of licenses

License Code Format V5

• Legacy License Code Format

• Not sold anymore, however Licensing Help desk still receives queries (most likely in terms of upgrade possibilities)

• 25 digit serial number/Sample Code: E32YZ-2522Q-12345-67890-T+LLB

• Still possible to upgrade to a new format

• Designed by Citrix

• Centralized Licensing Installation and Administration

  • MetaFrame XP, MetaFrame Conferencing Manager, MetaFrame Secure Access Manager, MetaFrame Password Manager
  • Per farm licensing
  • All licenses appear in a centralized database
  • Management Products are built into the base product, no additional licenses required
  • New servers can be added to the existing installation without any new licensing requirement
  • Upgrade and Feature Release licenses can be added to the entire installation from a central point

License Code Format V6

• No set serial number format

• Current License Code format

• CCU entitlement (except for XenServer and Hardware as these products use platform resp. server licenses)

• Technology acquired from MacroVision Corporation

• Centralized License Installation and Administration

  • XenApp, XenDesktop, Repeater, Branch Repeater, Access Gateway, NetScaler, Provisioning Services, Password Manager, and so on
  • Licenses can be shared across farms
  • All licenses appear in a centralized database
  • Management Products are built into the base product, no additional licenses required
  • New servers can be added to existing installation without any new licensing requirements
  • Upgrade licenses can be added to the entire installation from a central point
  • Feature releases no longer require new licenses

“V6” Connection Based Licensing Keywords

• License Authorization Code (LAC)
  • Sample Code: CM-1234567-88111
  • Unique identifier that identifies the licenses purchased by the customer
• Entitlement
  • Number of users and product ordered by the customer.

• Allocation/Hosting
  • Process used to associate the purchased licenses to a specific server name

• Re-Allocation/Re-Hosting
  • Process of changing the server name associated to the purchased licenses

• License Files
  • File produced by the allocation process that requires installation on the License Server to allow application access

• Date-Based-Versioning (DBV)
  • Subscription End date embedded in the license file that allows access to Subscription benefits (Feature Releases, Migration, and so on)

• Consolidation
  • Process during migration that allows a customer to combine multiple licenses into a single entitlement based on Sales Program, Product and SA End date

Identifying a “V6” license

• Licenses look very similar to “V4” and “V5” licenses, but no “intelligence” is built into the license code

• Meaningful prefixes however exist

Not-For-Resale, Internal Use, Evaluation licenses

• Licenses used for testing or demonstration purposes

• End customers not entitled to use NFR, IUO licenses, applies mainly for partners, resellers, distributors

• V6 License Code Format for all products, except for XenServer

• Licenses with a fixed expiration date

• Become invalid after expiration

• NFR/IUO licenses valid between 12 and 24 months

• Evaluation licenses valid for 30 days

• Evaluation licenses for certain products can be retrieved through Citrix.com

XenServer and Hardware Licensing

XenServer licensing

• License file type different (*.xslic)

• Per Server license

Hardware licensing

• Applies for NetScaler, Repeater, Branch Repeater, Application Firewall

• Per Appliance license

• Normal license file type (*.lic)

How to read a license (V6)

# This file is in UTF-8 format.
#
SERVER this_hostHOSTNAME=LicHelpdesk
VENDOR CITRIX
USE_SERVER
INCREMENT MPS_PLT_CCUCITRIX 2010.0101permanent 99999\
VENDOR_STRING=;LT=Retail;GP=720;CL=PLT,ENT,ADV,STD,AST;SA=1;CCUDURMIN=90;CCUDURMAX=525600;CCUASNUDURMIN=2880;CCUASNUDURMAX=525600;ODP=0 \
DUP_GROUP=V ISSUED=28-Sep-2009 NOTICE="_test Citrix Wojo" \
SN=CM-012345-34567:2402185 START=24-mar-2009 SIGN="15A9 B676 \
7C69 6009 DF71 316D B093 105B 0C91 017D C4E2 BC9B D380 FB3D \
5BC3 088A 8A63 EC2D 7C12 D625 A73D 3BDE AF53 7E33 2A08 B149 \
0039 00E8 49B0 60DD“
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