Concept: Automate License Acquisition
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The discussion on failover licenses today got me thinking... why would anyone buy unneeded licenses "just in case" since you can buy them as you need them, anytime. It's not like having hardware that takes time to get into place, set up, etc. All you have to do is buy and... done.
So here is an idea. What if you had a system, such as a server to server failover system, that detects a fault situation and, when a new license is needed, hits an API with your license vendor (Softmart, CDW, etc.) and authorizes the acquisition of the appropriate license. The script then waits for a "confirmation" signal and continues on with the failover. This could, in theory, reduce license acquisition to minutes or even seconds allowing a failover system to, in the rare case that it is needed, failover automatically and almost instantly without needing to buy any licenses that are not actually needed for the scenario at hand.
Same kind of thing could apply to VDI and other auto-provisioning scenarios as well.
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Interesting, what i could see happening is this is setup and then many months down the line credentials have changed and the auto acquisition fails. Then does it prevent the failover from occurring or do it continue after a set timeout and cause you to be not compliant on the licenses.
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@tiagom said in Concept: Automate License Acquisition:
Interesting, what i could see happening is this is setup and then many months down the line credentials have changed and the auto acquisition fails. Then does it prevent the failover from occurring or do it continue after a set timeout and cause you to be not compliant on the licenses.
You'd still have it email everyone involved so that everyone knows it is being attempted and both parties, vendor and internal (and maybe MSP) all know that the license is needed and can check into the process.
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@tiagom said in Concept: Automate License Acquisition:
Then does it prevent the failover from occurring or do it continue after a set timeout and cause you to be not compliant on the licenses.
That would be scriptable. You could have it say it is attempting and continue the failover and send emails saying it has or hasn't gone through. Then you could be all over getting it purchased immediately. Like anything, not technically legal, but you can prove that you attempted it, put a lot of effort into buying it and as long as you completed the transaction immediately, no one would ever care that you crossed into a grey area for a few minutes. But you need to be on top of making people finish that transaction fast and not letting it slide.
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@scottalanmiller Makes sense. Also could have multiple vendors in case one fails.
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@tiagom said in Concept: Automate License Acquisition:
@scottalanmiller Makes sense. Also could have multiple vendors in case one fails.
True, but that would add a lot of complexity. One with email backup is likely quite adequate.
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In fact, it should be the vendors like Softmart that make a script like this for this kind of use case
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Im sure the vendors rather get the sales upfront
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So pretty much FlexLM with a true up for OS level stuff.
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@tiagom said in Concept: Automate License Acquisition:
Im sure the vendors rather get the sales upfront
Would rather, but they'd rather not lose the sales completely.
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@stacksofplates said in Concept: Automate License Acquisition:
So pretty much FlexLM with a true up for OS level stuff.
Yeah, or just "extremely rapid license acquisition."
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I love the idea, the simple question is how do you configure it. Per DR node to go out and purchase a license of said level?
What if you aren't able to purchase that version license any more?
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From my understanding FlexLM only handles managing floating licenses, it doesn't actually automatically purchase licenses.
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@DustinB3403 said in Concept: Automate License Acquisition:
I love the idea, the simple question is how do you configure it. Per DR node to go out and purchase a license of said level?
What if you aren't able to purchase that version license any more?
It would be very case by case, I think. It could have guidance in it, or logic. Example...
Script: I need Windows 2003 Server Standard
Logic: If 2003 is needed, buy 2016 instead and downgrade rights.
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@tiagom said in Concept: Automate License Acquisition:
From my understanding FlexLM only handles managing floating licenses, it doesn't actually automatically purchase licenses.
But with a true up you could.
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@scottalanmiller said in Concept: Automate License Acquisition:
@DustinB3403 said in Concept: Automate License Acquisition:
I love the idea, the simple question is how do you configure it. Per DR node to go out and purchase a license of said level?
What if you aren't able to purchase that version license any more?
It would be very case by case, I think. It could have guidance in it, or logic. Example...
Script: I need Windows 2003 Server Standard
Logic: If 2003 is needed, buy 2016 instead and downgrade rights.
Can you get downgrade rights that far spread?
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@stacksofplates said in Concept: Automate License Acquisition:
@tiagom said in Concept: Automate License Acquisition:
From my understanding FlexLM only handles managing floating licenses, it doesn't actually automatically purchase licenses.
But with a true up you could.
Not sure i follow.
I have several floating licensing servers and none provide any automatic purchasing feature.
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@tiagom said in Concept: Automate License Acquisition:
@stacksofplates said in Concept: Automate License Acquisition:
@tiagom said in Concept: Automate License Acquisition:
From my understanding FlexLM only handles managing floating licenses, it doesn't actually automatically purchase licenses.
But with a true up you could.
Not sure i follow.
I have several floating licensing servers and none provide any automatic purchasing feature.
A true up would give you the ability to use as many as you wanted and then pay at a later time. We have a big contract with a software company and we can essentially use as many licenses as we want but we take hourly snapshots or our licenses being used. Then it's reviewed every 6 months or so and if we are over what we signed up for we pay the overage.
FlexLM let's us set hard limits so we can control it but we could use as ma y as we want.
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@stacksofplates Oh cool I assume that is all automated? The snapshot and then the review at 6 months?
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@tiagom said in Concept: Automate License Acquisition:
@stacksofplates Oh cool I assume that is all automated? The snapshot and then the review at 6 months?
We have to submit the review but other than that ya it's all automatic.
