ACE 4710 bundle license backup

Question

Hello,
Is it possible to backup ACE appliance licenses if product is bought as a bundle?
ACE-4710-BAS-SK-K9
Promo Bundle - ACE 4710 HW-1Gbps-1K SSL-100MbpsComp-5VC
Following is mentioned in the ACE documentation:
"If you need to replace the ACE, you can copy and install the license file for the license onto the replacement appliance."
But, when we try to backup licenses, we get following results:
ACE-1/Admin# sh license
ACE-1/Admin# copy licenses disk0:mylicenses.tar
Backing up license... failed: License file not found
ACE-1/Admin# sh license status
Licensed Feature Count
Compression Performance in Mbps 100
Web Optimization Concurrent Conns. 50
SSL transactions per second 1000
Virtualized contexts 5
Module bandwidth in Gbps 1.0
ACE-1/Admin# sh license usage
License Ins Lic Status Expiry Date Comments
Count
ACE-AP-C-UP1 No - Unused -
ACE-AP-C-UP2 No - Unused -
ACE-AP-C-UP3 No - Unused -
ACE-AP-01-LIC No - Unused -
ACE-AP-01-UP1 No - Unused -
ACE-AP-02-LIC No - Unused -
ACE-AP-02-UP1 No - Unused -
ACE-AP-04-LIC No - Unused -
ACE-AP-04-UP1 No - Unused -
ACE-AP-04-UP2 No - Unused -
ACE-AP-VIRT-5 No - Unused -
ACE-AP-500M-LIC No - Unused -
ACE-AP-VIRT-020 No - Unused -
ACE-AP-C-100-LIC No - Unused -
ACE-AP-C-500-LIC No - Unused -
ACE-AP-C-500-UP1 No - Unused -
ACE-AP-OPT-50-K9 No - Unused -
ACE-AP-C-1000-LIC No - Unused -
ACE-AP-C-2000-LIC No - Unused -
ACE-AP-OPT-LIC-K9 No - Unused -
ACE-AP-OPT-UP1-K9 No - Unused -
ACE-AP-SSL-05K-K9 No - Unused -
ACE-AP-SSL-07K-K9 No - Unused -
ACE-AP-SSL-100-K9 No - Unused -
ACE-AP-SSL-UP1-K9 No - Unused -
ACE-AP-SSLUP-5K-K9 No - Unused -
ACE-AP-VIRT-020-UP No - Unused -
I suppose licenses cannot be backuped because they are bundled and delivered with the bundle by default, and not installed...
Does anyone know what would be the procedure for this bundled licenses in case of ACE HW replacement needed?
Best regards,
Jasmina

Answer 1

Hi Jasmina,
License file management is quite simple for ACE.  Two methods; save original license email or copy from disk0:.
If you purchased and upgraded license, and followed procedure to generate it, you would have received your license via email.   We recommend per  documentation (License ordering section) that you:
"Step 5 Save the license key e-mail in a safe place in case you need it in the future (for example, to transfer the license to another ACE). "
Also,  to apply,  you copy the license file to disk0: on the ACE.  This *.lic file resides on disk0: thereafter.
So if you did not happen to save the original email when you obtained the license, and the license has been installed, then you can simply copy the *.lic file off the ACE from disk0: to a safe place.  Example copying file from ACE to FTP server:
Switch/Admin# copy disk0: ftp:
Enter source filename]? 1ACE2009060306445454.lic
Enter Address for the ftp server]? 10.2.3.4
Enter the destination filename]? [1ACE2009060306445454.lic]
Enter username]? anonymous
Enter the file transfer mode[bin/ascii]: [bin]
Enable Passive mode[Yes/No]: [Yes]
Password:
Passive mode on.
Hash mark printing on (1024 bytes/hash mark).
Switch/Admin#
Administrator Guide - Licenses on ACE:
http://www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/app_ntwk_services/data_center_app_services/ace_appliances/vA4_1_0/configuration/administration/guide/license.html#wp1010344
Hope this helps.
-pefrench