Work with the grace period

When you clone or copy a virtual image hosting a license server, the server will enter a grace period. The grace period allows you to continue performing normal licensing functions for a limited time on the virtual image of the cloned or copied license server without interruption. The grace period lasts fifteen days. You have the duration of the grace period mode to rectify the grace period mode before the server stops allowing licenses to be acquired.

Note: When you clone or copy a virtual image hosting a license server, the license server may intermittently enter into grace period. However, if the license server is ready in the next cycle, it may come out of the grace period automatically.

The following status appears in the tile of the server that has entered the grace period:

The grace period notification also appears in the Server Details page beside the Activation Server Connection icon. You will see this icon:

Select this icon to see a list of any license servers in the grace period. The list also displays the expiration date and time of each server's grace period. You can navigate to each server from this list.

Once your license server enters the grace period, you will have fifteen days to exit the grace period and update your licenses. Otherwise, the server will stop functioning and will not allow licenses to be acquired.

Ending the Grace Period

There are two options for ending the grace period. Your selection will depend upon whether you want to use the licenses from the server on the base image for the server on the cloned image, or whether you want to activate new licenses for the server on the cloned image.

The procedures for both cases are described in the following scenarios.

Scenario 1: New Licenses for Server on Cloned Image

You have cloned the image hosting your license server. The server on the cloned image has entered the grace period. You want to leave the server on the base image intact with its licenses and activate new licenses on the server hosted on the cloned image.

End the grace period, do the following

1. Select Manage on the Action Bar.

   The Manage License Server slide out panel appears.

2. Under Grace Period, select Apply next to the End Grace Period and Remove Activated Licenses option.

   Note: This will clear all licenses from the server hosted on the cloned image. All licenses on the original image will remain functional. This action is not recoverable.

   The license server hosted on the cloned image will no longer be in the grace period and will continue to operate in its normal state.

   Scenario 2: Same Licenses for Server on Cloned Image

You have cloned the image hosting your license server. The server on the cloned image has entered the grace period. You want to continue using your licenses with the server on the cloned image. This requires that the server on the base image be deleted. You cannot operate with the same licenses on two nodes.

End the grace period, do the following

3. Select Manage on the Action Bar.

   The Manage License Server slide out panel appears.

4. Contact technical support to request the Exit Grace Period code.

   Important: Delete the license server on the base image before contacting Technical Support.

5. Under Grace Period, enter the Exit Grace Period code in the text box.

   The End Grace Period and Keep Activated Licenses option will be enabled.

6. Select Apply.

   The license server hosted on the cloned image will no longer be in the grace period and will continue to operate in its normal state.

Note: If you have a redundant pair and one or both servers is in grace period, only the End Grace Period and Keep Activated Licenses option will appear in the Manager License Server panel. The same Exit Grace Period code will end either or both grace periods.

Ending the Grace Period in Offline Mode

You can end the grace period in offline mode. In offline mode the server hosted on the cloned image must communicate with the Activation Server to exit the grace period. The procedure for ending the grace period in offline mode is therefore the same as activating licenses in offline mode.

The following procedure applies to Scenario 2.

You have cloned the image hosting your license server. The server hosted on the cloned image has entered the grace period and is in offline mode. You want to continue using your original licenses on the server hosted on the cloned image.

Exit the grace period in offline mode do the following

7. Contact technical support to request the Exit Grace Period code.

   Important: Delete the server on the base image before contacting Technical Support.

8. On the server hosted on the cloned image, enter the Exit Grace Period code in the text box.

   The Apply next to the End Grace Period and Keep Activated Licenses will be enabled.

9. Select Apply.

   Reset Grace Period will appear as a pending activation in the license grid.

10. Follow the procedure for activating licenses in offline mode.

    For details, see Activate licenses in offline mode.

11. Upon select of Receive Activation/Deactivation, the server hosted on the cloned image will exit the grace period.

    The license server hosted on the cloned image will no longer be in the grace period and will continue to operate in its normal state.

Note: Upgrading certain versions of AVEVA Enterprise Licensing can result in a grace period. End this grace period by syncing licenses in the license server. For information on how to sync licenses, refer to Sync licenses.

If the license server is in a Grace Period prior to upgrade, it will remain in Grace Period following upgrade. To end the Grace Period after upgrading, you will need to contact Technical Support to obtain a Grace Period exit code. To avoid this scenario, end the Grace Period before upgrading to a newer License Server version.

Reasons a license server enters grace period

• Moving a VM from one environment to another typically invalidates the original.

• Cloning or copying a License Server.

• Exporting a Virtual Hard Drive (VHD) from one system to another, then using it to set up a new VM.

• Upgrading to the latest version in Hyper-V and Azure virtual machines.

• Upgrading from version 3.0 to the latest version.

• License Servers in a Disaster Recovery virtual environment during DR activities.

• Disaster Recovery (DR) in a Hyper-V virtual environment activates a licensing grace period.

• Disaster Recovery (DR) in a VMWare virtual environment activates a licensing grace period.

• If you encounter hardware failure on the node hosting your License Server and choose to re-image your machine, the License Server will enter a grace period.

• When the license server's unique identification changes, the server enters a grace period.