Merging licences questions

[solidu5]

Hello all

Since upgrading to 9.5 u4 i have some questions about the new licencing model,

Currently we have Veeam backup essentials for 4 hyper-v sockets, which previously was perpetual and we only just had to renew maintenance, we also had a subscription to backup 2 separate physical servers also.

Now with 9.5 u4 am i right in thinking that with merging our perpetual and subscription licenses, that our 4 socket licence is no longer perpetual and now we must renew into a subscription model to continue to backup up our VMs on our hyper-v hosts, that we thought would be licenced forever?

[wishr]

Hi Tom,

Certainly not. You can keep using our perpetual license and even renew the support. Please check our licensing policy for more info.

Thanks,
Fedor

[solidu5]

Hi Fedor

Thanks for your response, so judging by what i'm reading, the expiration date shown in the license section in the Veeam B&R console is just for maintenance? because there is also a "support expiration date", which is 31 days after the first expiration date, i'm assuming that's just the grace period for us to renew our maintenance?

[wishr]

It depends. Could you please post a screenshot of the "License Information" window? There are separate license parameters called "Expiration date" and "Support expiration date".

Thanks in advance,
F

[solidu5]

Ok i've uploaded a screenshot here: https://imgur.com/a/nxmYx9o

Thanks

[wishr]

Hi Tom,

Thanks for sharing, now it's clear.

Those are the Subscription license expiration and support Expiration dates that were taken from the subscription license during the merge process. When you merge a Perpetual license with a Subscription license (only one license can be used in B&R 9.5 Update 4) it becomes a Subscription one and should be renewed - that's logical if you'd like to keep backing up your physical servers.

Please note that for Subscription licenses the license expiration date is always the same as the Support expiration date. Since the support is about to expire, 30days of grace period have been added - that's why those dates now differ from each other.

Your perpetual license is still valid and remains available for downloading at our Licensing portal. Once the Subscription license will end (if not renewed) you can simply download your Perpetual license, install it using B&R UI, and keep using your 4 sockets.

Also, there is a good post by Gostev covering the new and legacy licensing concepts - worth checking.

Hope this helps,
F

[solidu5]

Thanks for the information, However according to our licence portal, our Veeam Agent subscription Licences for our 2 separate physical servers expire Sept. 2021 & Sept. 2023 (These are 2 separate licences with 2 support IDs) , the date shown on the screenshot i attached matches the expiry of the basic support contract we have for Veeam backup essentials.

Did i do something wrong in the merge process? because judging by your explanation it should show the exp. date of the Veeam Agent and say the expiry date is Sept. 2021? (Assuming it will show the earlier expiry date of the 2 subscriptions)

[wishr]

This is the expected behavior. During the license merge process, the earliest expiration date is taken from all merged licenses. However, even after the merged license expires, you can still download and install individual license files which are still not expired (for example, one of your remaining Agent licenses). Or, you can merge any unexpired licenses again.

[solidu5]

Good info to know! thanks very much for your help

[wishr]

You are most welcome, Tom. If any additional questions arise - just let us know!

[Gostev]

This is the expected behavior. During the license merge process, the earliest expiration date is taken from all merged licenses. However, even after the merged license expires, you can still download and install individual license files which are still not expired (for example, one of your remaining Agent licenses). Or, you can merge any unexpired licenses again.

Of course, to make life simpler for you, we recommend that you co-term all your contracts at the next renewal, so that in future they all expire on the same day. Thanks!

[paarth164]

Just wanted to make sure I have understood properly.

Perpetual License - Expires in 2030
Subscription License - Expires in 2020

For update 4, after merging these two I will get single license file with expiry date showing 2020 (the earliest one).
After expiry period of subscription license my perpetual license will still be usable up to 2030. Am I getting it right or will the perpetual license expire with subscription license?

[Vitaliy S.]

You're getting it right, you will still be able to use your perpetual license key. Please take a look at this thread for clarifications. Thanks!

[paarth164]

Thanks

[Shaveen]

Hello ,

I have a client with VBR 9.5 U4. They currently have a license for 10 VMs and they want to add 10 more VMs. The first license will expire in June 2020
Checking veeam kb2879, we found that if we the client buy another license of 10VMs( lets say expiry date January 2021) and we merge the two license together, the new merged license will have the earlier expiry date which will be June 2020.

What we want to know if what will happen after the expiration date? Will the merge license update to the other license expiry date which is January 2021 or will the merge license be expired overall?

Also if we decide to cancel the merge in June, as per we have read, we will have the two original licenses again with their respective expiry dates. Is that correct?

[Vitaliy S.]

Hello,

It will be expired overall, so you will need to split the license key (install the newest one obtained from my.veeam.com) or co-term keys (update the existing key to expire at the same data as the new one) before performing a merge operation.

Yes, you will still have two original keys in your account at veeam.com.

Thank you!