Licensing Fundamentals

This section provides conceptual information about licensing. Subsequent sections discuss how to acquire, install, and enable licenses.

New switches include a Factory Default License to use all features (excluding MACsec). You can configure all features, except MACsec, without restrictions and save the configuration. Evaluation periods differ depending on the platform.

The hardware platforms support different levels and types of licenses. Refer to the topics in this section for detailed licensing information for your specific device.

License Files on VSP 4450 Series

The VSP 4450 Series switch supports two types of legacy license files — .dat and .lic. License files with .dat and .lic extension were created using an older license generator and are considered legacy licenses. License files that have an .xml extension are created using a newer license generator and are considered newer license files.