Licensing Types for Universal Switches

This document explains the license levels and feature licenses available for universal hardware switches, and lists the features that they support.

Switch Engine software supports the following license levels for the universal hardware switches:

• Base—included as standard (see Base License Features)
• Premier (see Premier License Features)

The Base license provides a basic feature set and the Premier license adds additional functionality.

Feature Licenses

To supplement the license levels, additional capabilities can be added by purchasing feature licenses (see Optional Feature Licenses).

Additional General License Information

Software licenses are stored in the Flash memory and, after enabled, persist through reboots, software upgrades, power outages, NOS conversion, and reconfigurations. The keys are unique to the switch, but can be transferred (see Transferring Licenses).

If you attempt to execute a command and you either do not have the required license or have reached the limits defined by the current license level, the system displays one of the following messages:

Error: This command cannot be executed at the current license level.

Error: You have reached the maximum limit for this feature at this license level.

Subscription Licenses for Extreme Platform ONE

A Pilot or Extreme Platform ONE Standard Subscription (referred to as "Subscription" in this section) lets you use Premier features when a Universal Switch is assigned to and managed by Extreme Platform ONE, ExtremeCloud IQ, or ExtremeCloud IQ Site Engine (including air gap mode). Subscriptions give you an alternative to purchasing perpetual Premier feature licenses. Subscription licenses can coexist with Perpetual Premier licenses on the same switch. If a switch has both license types, the Perpetual Premier license stays in effect even if the Subscription is revoked or expires.

Starting with Software Versions:

• Switch Engine 33.2 or later
• Fabric Engine 9.1 or later
• Extreme Platform ONE v25r2 (March 2025) or ExtremeCloud IQ Site Engine 25.2.10 (February 2025)

Subscription Validity Check

The switch and the cloud management system (Extreme Platform ONE, ExtremeCloud IQ, or ExtremeCloud IQ Site Engine) perform a license validity check once per day.

Daily Check Behavior:

• If the check succeeds, a 30-day timer restarts on the switch
• If the check fails or the switch cannot reach the cloud, a countdown begins
• The switch can operate without cloud connectivity for up to 30 consecutive days
• After 30 days without successful validation, the Subscription license expires

License Validity Status Messages:

When the switch is successfully connected and validated:

• No "License check failed" message appears in show license output
• Subscription License Refresh Date shows current timestamp

When the switch is disconnected from cloud for more than 3 days:

• "License check failed" message appears in show license output
• Message includes countdown: "license assignment will expire in X day(s)"
• Example: "License check failed, license assignment will expire in 13 days"
• This indicates the switch has 13 remaining days before full expiration

Reconnect Grace Period

If a switch loses cloud connectivity for the full 30-day period, it enters a 60-minute grace period upon the next boot or power-on:

• After 30 days without connectivity, the subscription is marked expired
• Upon reboot or power-on after this period, the switch has 60 minutes to reconnect to cloud and obtain updated license information
• If the switch successfully reconnects within 60 minutes, the subscription is refreshed
• If the switch fails to connect within 60 minutes, the subscription is revoked and licensed features are disabled

Subscription Revocation

If a switch is unmanaged, deleted, or the subscription is unassigned from the cloud management application:

• The cloud immediately sends license level "NONE" to the switch
• You will no longer be able to configure new Premier features
• Existing configured features continue to run until the next reboot
• After reboot, licensed features in the saved configuration will not load if no valid Perpetual Premier license is present

License Reassignment:

After removing a switch from management or unassigning a subscription:

• You can reassign the same Subscription license to a different switch
• No waiting period is required between unassignment and reassignment

Subscription Expiry Scenarios

Two distinct expiry scenarios exist depending on whether a Perpetual Premier license is also installed:

Case 1: Subscription Expires, NO Perpetual Premier License Installed

Behavior:

• Premier feature configuration is BLOCKED
• Extreme Platform ONE features are BLOCKED
• No immediate impact to currently running configuration
• Existing configured features continue to run

Upon Next Reboot/Power Cycle:

• Premier NOS features in the saved configuration will NOT load
• Extreme Platform ONE features remain blocked
• Switch reverts to Base license functionality for those features

Recovery:

• Install a Perpetual Premier license, or
• Re-establish Subscription license and reconnect to cloud

Case 2: Subscription Expires, WITH Perpetual Premier License Installed

Behavior:

• Premier feature configuration IS PERMITTED (Perpetual license takes over)
• Extreme Platform ONE features are BLOCKED
• No immediate impact to currently running configuration
• Existing configured features continue to run

Upon Next Reboot/Power Cycle:

• Premier NOS features in the saved configuration WILL load normally
• Extreme Platform ONE features remain blocked

Recovery:

• Re-establish Subscription license to restore Extreme Platform ONE feature access (if needed)

Configuration Persistence

Important: While a subscription is active or during the grace period:

• All Premier feature configurations can be saved and persist

After expiry without a Perpetual Premier license:

• Configuration is retained, but features will not load on next reboot
• Reconfiguring Premier features after Subscription renewal or perpetual license installation will restore functionality. Performing a "save config" permanently removes those Premier features from the saved configuration.