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Your BEA software requires a valid product license to run. The following sections explain how to acquire, install, and update your product license:
BEA products use an XML-format license file called license.bea, which is installed in the BEA Home directory. Your BEA software checks this file at run time to determine which product components you are authorized to use.
Licenses are release specific. For example, to use WLS-VE 9.2, you must have a WLS-VE 9.2 license file.
BEA licenses the number of WLS-VE instances that you can run concurrently in your organization. Unlike WebLogic Server licensing, WLS-VE licensing neither restricts the IP address nor limits the number of CPUs of the host machine. For example, if you purchase a license for a single instance of WLS-VE, you can run a WLS Administration Server and deploy your applications onto the Administration Server. You can run this WLS-VE instance on a machine with any IP address and with any number of CPUs. You can shut down this instance and restart it on another machine with a different IP address and a different number of CPUs. If you purchase a license for 10 instances, you can run a WLS Administration Server and up to 9 Managed Servers concurrently.
The types of license files that can be used as the license.bea file and the technical restrictions that they impose are described in the following table.
| Note: | See the End User License Agreement for specific license terms and conditions. |
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When you install your software, an evaluation license file (license.bea) is installed on your system. The evaluation license expires in 60 days. By default, your software uses the evaluation license installed with the product so that you can start using it immediately. Subsequently, when you install additional BEA products that include a license.bea file, the installation program automatically adds the new product licenses to the license.bea file.
| Note: | The license.bea file conforms to the XML grammar definition. The XML definition (<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>) must be at the very beginning of the license.bea file. There cannot be any spaces or line breaks before the XML definition. |
For a description of the product offerings supported by the BEA Products license files, see the Licensing page at the following URLs:
When you install your BEA software, the installation program generates an evaluation license.bea file for use with the software and installs it in the BEA Home directory. If you are installing your software in an existing BEA Home, the installation program automatically adds the evaluation license included with your product distribution to the existing license.bea file.
In some cases, however, you must update the license.bea file separately, independent of the installation process. For example, you must update your license file if at least one of the following is true:
In each of these cases, you will receive a new license file from BEA, the contents of which must be included in the license.bea file in the target BEA Home directory. To facilitate the license update process, BEA provides an UpdateLicense utility that merges the new license into the existing license in the BEA Home directory, and deletes any expired or duplicate entries.
The UpdateLicense merge process is not intended to modify the license attributes for any component or feature in the license files being merged.
Important Considerations for Updating Your license.bea File
When determining how to update your license.bea file, you should consider the following:
UpdateLicense utility. For instructions, see Updating license.bea Using the UpdateLicense Utility.license.bea file with a new license.bea file, but if you do so, you run the risk of losing the product usage rights enabled by your existing license file. | Note: | Do not edit the license.bea file manually. Doing so may cause operating problems for the currently installed BEA products, or result in problems later when BEA products are installed for maintenance upgrades. |
To update your license.bea file, perform the following procedure:
license.bea, in the target BEA Home directory. For example, save the file as new_license.bea. Use this file as the license_update_file in step 4 of this procedure.| WARNING: | Do not overwrite or change the name of the existing license.bea file. |
PATH variable so that it contains the JDK that the WLS-VE installer installed. For example:license.bea file in a safe place outside your BEA software and application installation directories.Although no one else can use your license file, you should save a copy of it in a place that is protected from both malicious and innocent tampering.
The format of the license.bea file changes with each release of BEA Products software. To upgrade a license.bea file from a previous release to a license for the current release, complete the following steps:
http://elicense.bea.com.| Note: | You need a BEA eLicense account to log in to this Web site. If you do not have a BEA eLicense account, click the Register link on the Customer Support site to register for one. |
You will receive an upgraded license file through e-mail. To update the license.bea file on your system, see Updating license.bea Using the UpdateLicense Utility.
In some cases, BEA distributes software for promotional purposes on DVD. Such DVDs include installers that do not automatically generate an evaluation license key. Instead, the DVD folio directs you to a BEA Web site, where you can obtain an evaluation license file after you supply a code from the DVD folio. The license file you obtain allows you to begin using the software immediately, and entitles you to the same usage rights described for the evaluation license in Table 8-1, BEA Products License File Types, on page 8-2.
When you receive this license file from BEA, complete the following steps:
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