Set up licensing for BlueXP classification

Contributors netapp-tonacki netapp-bcammett

The first 1 TB of data that BlueXP classification scans in a BlueXP workspace is free for 30 days. A BYOL license from NetApp, or a subscription from your cloud provider’s marketplace, is required to continue scanning data after that point.

A few notes before you read any further:

  • If you’ve already subscribed to the BlueXP pay-as-you-go (PAYGO) subscription in your cloud provider’s marketplace, then you’re automatically subscribed to BlueXP classification as well. You won’t need to subscribe again.

  • The BlueXP classification (Data Sense) bring-your-own-license (BYOL) is a floating license that you can use across all the working environments and data sources in the workspace that you plan to scan. You’ll see an active subscription in the BlueXP digital wallet.

  • The amount of data being scanned is calculated based on logical file size; without any storage efficiencies.

Learn more about the licensing and costs related to BlueXP classification.

Use a BlueXP classification PAYGO subscription

Pay-as-you-go subscriptions from your cloud provider’s marketplace enable you to license the use of Cloud Volumes ONTAP systems and many Cloud Data Services, such as BlueXP classification.

You can subscribe at any time and you will not be charged until either the 30 day trial ends, or the amount of data exceeds 1 TB. You can always see the total amount of data that is being scanned from the BlueXP classification Governance Dashboard. And the Subscribe Now button makes it easy to subscribe when you are ready.

A screenshot showing how much data is being scanned and the Subscribe button to subscribe to the service.

Steps

These steps must be completed by a user who has the Account Admin role.

  1. In the upper right of the BlueXP console, click the Settings icon, and select Credentials.

    A screenshot of BlueXP’s top right banner where you can select the Settings icon.

  2. Find the credentials for the AWS Instance Profile, Azure Managed Service Identity, or Google Project.

    The subscription must be added to the Instance Profile, Managed Service Identity, or Google Project. Charging won’t work otherwise.

    If you already have a BlueXP subscription (shown below for AWS), then you’re all set—​there’s nothing else that you need to do.

    A screenshot from the Credentials page that shows the Instance Profile with an active subscription.

  3. If you don’t have a subscription yet, hover over the credentials, click the action menu, and click Associate Subscription.

    A screenshot of the menu in the Credentials page. It shows a button to associate a subscription to the credentials.

  4. Select an existing subscription and click Associate, or click Add Subscription and follow the steps.

    The following video shows how to associate an AWS Marketplace subscription to an AWS subscription:

    The following video shows how to associate an Azure Marketplace subscription to an Azure subscription:

    The following video shows how to associate a GCP Marketplace subscription to a GCP subscription:

Use a BlueXP classification BYOL license

Bring-your-own licenses from NetApp provide 1-, 2-, or 3-year terms. The BYOL BlueXP classification (Data Sense) license is a floating license where the total capacity is shared among all of your working environments and data sources, making initial licensing and renewal easy.

If you don’t have a BlueXP classification license, contact us to purchase one:

Optionally, if you have an unassigned node-based license for Cloud Volumes ONTAP that you won’t be using, you can convert it to a BlueXP classification license with the same dollar-equivalence and the same expiration date. Go here for details.

You use the BlueXP digital wallet page in BlueXP to manage BlueXP classification BYOL licenses. You can add new licenses and update existing licenses.

Obtain your BlueXP classification license file

After you’ve purchased your BlueXP classification (Data Sense) license, you activate the license in BlueXP by entering the BlueXP classification serial number and NSS account, or by uploading the NLF license file. The steps below show how to get the NLF license file if you plan to use that method.

If you’ve deployed BlueXP classification on a host in an on-premises site that doesn’t have internet access, you’ll need to obtain the license file from an internet-connected system. Activating the license using the serial number and NSS account is not available for dark site installations.

Before you begin

You’ll need to have the following information before you start:

  • BlueXP classification serial number

    Locate this number from your Sales Order, or contact the account team for this information.

  • BlueXP Account ID

    You can find your BlueXP Account ID by selecting the Account drop-down from the top of BlueXP, and then clicking Manage Account next to your account. Your Account ID is in the Overview tab.

Steps

  1. Sign in to the NetApp Support Site and click Systems > Software Licenses.

  2. Enter your BlueXP classification license serial number.

    A screenshot that shows a table of licenses after searching by serial number.

  3. Under the License Key column, click Get NetApp License File.

  4. Enter your Tenant ID (BlueXP Account ID) and click Submit to download the license file.

    A screenshot that shows the get license dialog box where you enter your tenant ID and then click Submit to download the license file.

Add BlueXP classification BYOL licenses to your account

After you purchase a BlueXP classification (Data Sense) license for your BlueXP account, you need to add the license to BlueXP to use the BlueXP classification service.

Steps

  1. From the BlueXP menu, click Governance > Digital wallet and then select the Data Services Licenses tab.

  2. Click Add License.

  3. In the Add License dialog, enter the license information and click Add License:

    • If you have the BlueXP classification license serial number and know your NSS account, select the Enter Serial Number option and enter that information.

      If your NetApp Support Site account isn’t available from the drop-down list, add the NSS account to BlueXP.

    • If you have the BlueXP classification license file (required when installed in a dark site), select the Upload License File option and follow the prompts to attach the file.

      A screenshot that shows the page to add the BlueXP classification BYOL license.

Result

BlueXP adds the license so that your BlueXP classification service is active.

Update a BlueXP classification BYOL license

If your licensed term is nearing the expiration date, or if your licensed capacity is reaching the limit, you’ll be notified in BlueXP classification.

A screenshot that shows an expiring license in the BlueXP classification page.

This status also appears in the BlueXP digital wallet.

A screenshot that shows an expiring license in the BlueXP digital wallet page.

You can update your BlueXP classification license before it expires so that there is no interruption in your ability to access your scanned data.

Steps

  1. Click the chat icon in the lower-right of BlueXP to request an extension to your term or additional capacity to your Cloud Data Sense license for the particular serial number. You can also send an email to request an update to your license.

    After you pay for the license and it is registered with the NetApp Support Site, BlueXP automatically updates the license in the BlueXP digital wallet and the Data Services Licenses page will reflect the change in 5 to 10 minutes.

  2. If BlueXP can’t automatically update the license (for example, when installed in a dark site), then you’ll need to manually upload the license file.

    1. You can obtain the license file from the NetApp Support Site.

    2. On the BlueXP digital wallet page in the Data Services Licenses tab, click More icon for the service serial number you are updating, and click Update License.

      A screenshot of selecting the Update License button for a particular service.

    3. In the Update License page, upload the license file and click Update License.

Result

BlueXP updates the license so that your BlueXP classification service continues to be active.

BYOL license considerations

When using a BlueXP classification (Data Sense) BYOL license, BlueXP displays a warning in the BlueXP classification UI and in the BlueXP digital wallet UI when the size of all the data you are scanning is nearing the capacity limit or nearing the license expiration date. You receive these warnings:

  • When the amount of data you are scanning has reached 80% of licensed capacity, and again when you have reached the limit

  • 30 days before a license is due to expire, and again when the license expires

Use the chat icon in the lower right of the BlueXP interface to renew your license when you see these warnings.

If your license expires or you have reached the BYOL limit, BlueXP classification continues to run, but access to the Dashboards is blocked so that you can’t view information about any of your scanned data. Only the Configuration page is available in case you want to reduce the number of volumes being scanned to potentially bring your capacity usage under the license limit.

Once you renew your BYOL license, BlueXP automatically updates the license in the BlueXP digital wallet and provides full access to all Dashboards. If BlueXP can’t access the license file over the secure internet connection (for example, when installed in a dark site), you can obtain the file yourself and manually upload it to BlueXP. For instructions, see how to update a BlueXP classification license.

Note If the account you are using has both a BYOL license and a PAYGO subscription, BlueXP classification will not shift over to the PAYGO subscription when the BYOL license expires. You must renew the BYOL license.