This section describes Bare Metal Orchestrator License Manager.
The License Manager provides a more robust licensing scheme. It integrates the software licensing framework with Dell Financial Services (DFS).
The license manager runs as a micro service inside the k8s cluster. You need to create an .xml file that contains required parameters to generate a license. A Bare Metal Orchestrator ID (Unique Cluster ID), type of license (trial, premium), quotas, and duration are required in this .xml file. The license file is customized based on the customer requirements.
Dell generates a license file and this license is then uploaded to the Bare Metal Orchestrator GUI or CLI for activation. The generated license file is digitally signed and cannot be tampered with. Any change in the parameters after the license is generated (that is license type, quotas, duration, and so on) results in an error.
Once the license is uploaded and activated, Bare Metal Orchestrator is now licensed.
You can upload many licenses, but only one license is active at any given time. At a minimum, when an asset is onboarded, the API checks for a license and if the license is good, it proceeds with the tasks while further checking the available parameters (license type or quotas). If the license is expired, it continues to perform but will generate a log to indicate that the license has expired. Bare Metal Orchestrator will not deactivate any of its features because of an expired license.
Types of Licenses:
- A trial license starts on the day it is deployed and is valid for six months. The trial license can be deployed on one Bare Metal Orchestrator instance and cannot be reused. The trial license does not restrict the number of devices being managed. If a new trial license is deployed, the available duration should be reset.
- A premium license enables all features and allows both the pre-paid and post-paid license types of Bare Metal Orchestrator Premium. Based on the contract, it enforces the (device) count and duration with pre-paid license and posts regular updates to DFS when post-paid license is in use.
- License has expired
- Device count quota is reached
- Device count quota is exceeded
- Device count quota reached 90%
- License is about to expire in 7 days
- License is in a grace period