Licensing FAQ
This article contains frequently asked questions about licensing your XenServer hosts and pools.
- General questions
- Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops
- Citrix License Servers
- Licensing a XenServer pool
- More information
General questions
Q: Where can I get a XenServer license?
A: You can learn about getting a XenServer license at the XenServer website.
Q: How do I apply a XenServer license?
A: XenServer requires a License Server. After licensing XenServer, you are provided with a .LIC license access code. Install this license access code on your Citrix License Server.
When you assign a license to a XenServer host, XenServer contacts the specified Citrix License Server and requests a license for the specified hosts. If successful, a license is checked out and the License Manager displays information about the license the hosts are licensed under.
Q: How many licenses do I need to license my resource pool?
A: XenServer is licensed on a per-CPU socket basis. For a pool to be considered licensed, all XenServer hosts in the pool must be licensed. XenServer only counts populated CPU sockets.
You can use the Citrix License Server to view the number of available licenses displayed in the License Administration Console Dashboard.
Q: Do I need a per-socket license for sockets that are not populated?
A: No, only populated CPU sockets are counted toward the number of sockets to be licensed.
Q: Do I lose my virtual machine (VM) when my license expires?
A: No, you do not lose any VMs or their data.
Q: What happens if I have a licensed pool and the License Server becomes unavailable?
A. If your license has not expired and the License Server is unavailable, you receive a grace period of 30 days at the licensing level that was applied previously.
After the grace period, if your license is still unavailable, your pool changes to a Trial Edition pool and only those features included in Trial Edition are available for a 90-day period. Your pool remains the same size, but if it has three or more hosts, you cannot add any more hosts to it. After the 90-day trial period expires, you cannot start any VMs.
Q: How do I get a license to evaluate XenServer?
A: With Trial Edition, you can install XenServer without a license and trial all the Premium Edition features for 90 days in a reduced-size pool. For more information, see XenServer editions.
After the 90-day trial period expires, you cannot start any VMs on your Trial Edition host or pool.
Q: Can I use XenServer 8 without a license?
A: Yes. XenServer 8 Trial Edition makes XenServer available without a license. The edition provides all of the Premium Edition features for 90 days in a reduced-size pool of up to three hosts. For more information, see XenServer editions.
After the 90-day trial period expires, you cannot start any VMs on your Trial Edition host or pool.
Q: If I’m already using XenServer with Trial Edition without the trial period expiry, when does the trial period begin?
After you apply the updates that introduce the expiry period, the trial period begins on the updated hosts and pools. This period expires 90 days after applying the update.
Q: Can I start an existing shutdown VM after the 90-day limit?
VMs cannot be started on your Trial Edition hosts and pools after the 90-day trial period expires. This includes new VMs and Vms that were created before the trial period expires.
Q: Can I use Citrix Cloud to apply a license to XenServer?
No, XenServer does not currently support licensing hosted on Citrix Cloud. To license XenServer, you require a License Server. For more information, see Licensing your hosts and pools.
Q: What level of support does my license entitle me to?
When you get a XenServer per-socket license, you also get the benefit of our Technical Support services. For more information about levels of support, see https://xenserver.com/support.
If you are a Trial Edition user, you are not eligible for support. However, we value your feedback: Provide feedback.
For more information, see Technical Support questions and Support
Q: I am upgrading to XenServer 8 from a previous Citrix Hypervisor version with a per-socket license. Do I have to do anything?
A: No. You can upgrade your hosts to XenServer 8 using the previously bought per-socket licenses, provided Customer Success Services is valid at least until Mar 1, 2024.
If you have renewed your Customer Success Services after the original purchase, you might need to refresh the license file on the License Server to ensure it displays the Customer Success Services eligibility.
Q: I am upgrading to XenServer 8 from a previous Citrix Hypervisor version with a Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops license. Do I have to do anything?
A: Yes. Before attempting to upgrade to XenServer 8, you must obtain XenServer Premium Edition licenses, import them into Citrix License Server, and assign them to the XenServer hosts that are currently using Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops licenses.
For more information, see Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops questions.
Q: I am moving from the preview version of XenServer 8 to the GA version of XenServer 8. Do I have to do anything?
A: Maybe. This depends on your license.
- If you are using a Premium or Standard Edition license or are using XenServer 8 preview without a license (Trial Edition), your XenServer hosts require no licensing changes.
- If you are using a Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops license, your XenServer hosts show this license as deprecated. You must get a XenServer Premium Edition license to continue to run your Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops workloads on XenServer.
For more information, see Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops questions.
Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops
Q: What edition of XenServer do I need to run Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops workloads on XenServer?
A: To run your Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops workloads on XenServer, you must have a Premium Edition per-socket license for XenServer. Premium Edition delivers many advanced features that make XenServer a highly optimized hypervisor platform for your workload. For more information, see XenServer editions.
For more information about getting a XenServer license, see the XenServer website.
XenServer is now an entitlement of the Citrix for Private Cloud, Citrix Universal Hybrid Multi-Cloud, Citrix Universal MSP, and Citrix Platform License subscriptions for running your Citrix workloads. Read more.
Q: I am a Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops or Citrix DaaS customer moving from an earlier version of Citrix Hypervisor to XenServer 8. Do I have to do anything?
A: Yes. Before attempting to upgrade to XenServer 8, you must obtain XenServer Premium Edition licenses, import them into Citrix License Server, and assign them to the XenServer hosts that are currently using Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops licenses.
For more information about getting a XenServer license, see the XenServer website. XenServer is now an entitlement of the Citrix for Private Cloud, Citrix Universal Hybrid Multi-Cloud, Citrix Universal MSP, and Citrix Platform License subscriptions for running your Citrix workloads. Read more.
This behavior is different to that of earlier versions of Citrix Hypervisor and XenServer. Citrix Hypervisor 8.2 Cumulative Update 1 and earlier used Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops licenses for XenServer. Now separate XenServer licenses are provided as part of your entitlement.
Q: I am a Citrix Service Provider licensed for Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops or Citrix DaaS. Can I use this license for XenServer when I upgrade to XenServer 8?
A: No. Before attempting to upgrade to XenServer 8, you must obtain XenServer Premium Edition licenses, import them into Citrix License Server, and assign them to the XenServer hosts that are currently using Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops licenses.
For more information about getting a XenServer license, see the XenServer website. XenServer is now an entitlement of the Citrix for Private Cloud, Citrix Universal Hybrid Multi-Cloud, Citrix Universal MSP, and Citrix Platform License subscriptions for running your Citrix workloads. Read more.
This behavior is different to that of earlier versions of Citrix Hypervisor and XenServer. Citrix Hypervisor 8.2 Cumulative Update 1 and earlier used Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops licenses for XenServer. Now separate XenServer licenses are provided as part of your entitlement.
Q: I am a customer with a Citrix DaaS subscription. Am I entitled to use XenServer 8?
A: No. You must obtain XenServer Premium Edition licenses, import them into Citrix License Server, and assign them to your XenServer hosts.
For more information about getting a XenServer license, see the XenServer website. XenServer is now an entitlement of the Citrix for Private Cloud, Citrix Universal Hybrid Multi-Cloud, Citrix Universal MSP, and Citrix Platform License subscriptions for running your Citrix workloads. Read more.
This behavior is different to that of earlier versions of Citrix Hypervisor and XenServer. Citrix Hypervisor 8.2 Cumulative Update 1 and earlier used Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops licenses for XenServer. Now separate XenServer licenses are provided as part of your entitlement.
Q: What are the constraints on the use of the XenServer advanced virtualization management capabilities delivered as part of Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops?
A: To run Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops workloads on XenServer, you need a Premium Edition license. Premium Edition delivers many advanced features that make XenServer a highly optimized hypervisor platform for your workload.
For information about the advanced capabilities that XenServer provides for Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops, see Using XenServer with Citrix products.
For more information about getting a XenServer license, see the XenServer website. XenServer is now an entitlement of the Citrix for Private Cloud, Citrix Universal Hybrid Multi-Cloud, Citrix Universal MSP, and Citrix Platform License subscriptions for running your Citrix workloads. Read more.
Citrix License Servers
Q: Which License Servers can I use with XenServer?
A: You can use the Citrix License Server software version 11.16 or later on a server running Microsoft Windows.
In previous releases, we supported a Linux-based License Server virtual appliance. This product is no longer supported. If you are using the License Server virtual appliance with an existing pool, migrate to the latest version of Citrix License Server for Windows before upgrading to XenServer 8.
Q: How do I import my license onto the Citrix License Server?
A: For information on importing a license file, see the Citrix Licensing documentation.
Q: Can I run the License Server on my XenServer pool?
A: Yes. You can install the Citrix License Server software on a Windows VM.
XenServer operates with a ‘grace’ license until the License Server is able to boot. This behavior means, after you have licensed the XenServer hosts in your pool, and you reboot the host that has the Citrix License Server running on it, a grace period is applied to that host until the License Server is restarted.
Q: Can I use the Windows version of the Citrix License Server with XenServer?
A: Yes.
Q: Can I install Licenses for Citrix products on the Citrix License Server software installed on Windows?
A: Yes, you can license Citrix products by using the Citrix License Server software installed on Windows. For more information, see Licensing on the Citrix Product Documentation website.
Licensing a XenServer pool
Q: How do I apply a license to all the hosts using XenCenter?
A: Follow this procedure to apply a license:
-
On the Tools menu, click License Manager.
-
Select the Pool or Hosts you would like to license, and then click Assign License.
-
In the Apply License dialog, specify the Edition type to assign to the host, and type the host name or IP address of the License Server.
Q: Can I apply a license without using XenCenter?
A: Yes, you can use the xe CLI. Run the host-apply-edition command. For example, enter the following to license a host:
xe host-apply-edition edition=premium-per-socket|standard-per-socket \
license-server-address=<license_server_address> host-uuid=<uuid_of_host> \
license-server-port=<license_server_port>
<!--NeedCopy-->
To license a pool, use the pool-apply-edition command. For example, enter the following to license a pool:
xe pool-apply-edition edition=premium-per-socket|standard-per-socket \
license-server-address=<license_server_address> host-uuid=<uuid_of_host> \
license-server-port=<license_server_port>
<!--NeedCopy-->
Q: How can I discover the license status of my hosts and pools?
A: XenCenter displays the license type of a host or pool.
To see the license type of a host or pool, select that host or pool in the tree view. XenCenter displays the license status in the title bar for that host or pool, after the host or pool name.
You can also go to the General tab of the host and find the license type in the License Details section.
To find the license type of a host by using the command line, run the following command in the console of a host in your pool:
xe host-license-view host\_uuid=<UUID> | grep sku\_marketing\_name
More information
-
For more information about the XenServer 8 release, see XenServer 8 Release Notes.
-
To access XenServer 8 product documentation, see XenServer 8 Product Documentation.
-
For an overview of the XenServer product, see Technical Overview.
-
For support information, see https://xenserver.com/support.