• Supported Platforms
• EX Series

• Related Topics
• Managing Licenses for the EX Series Switch (CLI Procedure)
• Managing Licenses for the EX Series Switch (J-Web Procedure)
• Monitoring Licenses for the EX Series Switch
• License Key Components for the EX Series Switch
• EX Series Switch Software Features Overview

Understanding Software Licenses for the EX Series Switch

To enable and use some Juniper Networks Junos operating system (Junos OS) features, you must purchase, install, and manage separate software licenses. The presence on the switch of the appropriate software license keys (“passwords”) determines whether you are eligible to configure and use certain features.

Junos OS feature licenses are universal, and the same feature can be installed and configured on multiple switches. However, to conform to Junos OS feature licensing requirements, you must purchase one license per switch.

For a Virtual Chassis deployment, two licenses are recommended for redundancy. These licenses can be based on the serial numbers of any two member switches. If you add additional member switches to the Virtual Chassis configuration, you do not need additional licenses.

Features Requiring a License

The following Junos OS features require an Advanced Feature License (AFL):

• Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) and multiprotocol BGP (MBGP)
• Intermediate System-to-Intermediate System (IS-IS)
• IPv6 routing (except multicast protocols)
• MPLS with RSVP-based label switched paths (LSPs) and MPLS-based circuit cross-connects (CCCs)

Table 1 lists the license you can purchase for each EX Series switch model. The license allows you to run all the advanced software features on your switch.

For information about how to purchase a software license, contact your Juniper Networks sales representative.

License Warning Messages

For features that require a license, you must install and properly configure a license key to meet the requirements for using the licensable feature. To obtain a license key, use the contact information provided in your Advanced Feature License (AFL) certificate.

If you have not purchased the AFL and installed the license key, you receive warnings after you commit a licensible feature. The system generates system log (syslog) alarm messages notifying you that the feature requires a license—for example:

Sep  3 05:59:11   craftd[806]:  Minor alarm set, BGP Routing Protocol usage requires a license
Sep  3 05:59:11   alarmd[805]: Alarm set: License color=YELLOW, class=CHASSIS, reason=BGP Routing Protocol usage requires a license
Sep  3 05:59:11   alarmd[805]: LICENSE_EXPIRED: License for feature bgp(47) expired

Output from the show system alarms command displays the active alarms—for example:

1 alarm currently active
Alarm time               Class  Description
2009-09-03 06:00:11 UTC  Minor  BGP Routing Protocol usage requires a license

Every time you edit or view the configuration, a message displays the committed features that require a license. For example, when you edit the BGP configuration, a warning message appears—for example:

Likewise, viewing the configuration causes the system to display a message—for example:

## Warning: requires 'bgp' license
##
bgp {
    hold-time 10;
    damping;
}