topic Re: Pix 501 licensing in Network Security

Pix 501 licensing

mikentosh — Mon, 11 Mar 2019 17:43:40 GMT

Anyone know if (and how) licenses between 2 identical Pix devices can be transferred to just one of them. My problem is that I have 2 Pix 501s.... one has VPN-3DES-AES enabled, but only 10 inside hosts allowed. The other has Unlimited inside hosts, but VPN-3DES-AES disabled. I'm learning the license details the hard way as I bought the second Pix (unlimited users) because 10 users was insufficient. I guess I did a bad thing and assumed that the 3DES license was included in the second one. Is there a way to combine the licenses? I have no purchase order or "official" Cisco documentation (both were purchased used), but I am trying to find a legitimate solution to the licensing problem here. Thanks for any help!

Jorge, thanks for the earlier advice. As you can see I did purchase another Pix off ebay, but neglected to consider the 3DES factor. I will upgrade in the future to the ASA 5505 or 5510 model, when funding allows. Would the ASA model allow traffic to move any faster than the Pix?

Re: Pix 501 licensing

Jennifer Halim — Tue, 11 May 2010 12:22:26 GMT

You can download the 3DES-AES license from the following:

https://tools.cisco.com/SWIFT/Licensing/PrivateRegistrationServlet?DemoKeys=Y

(Choose: Cisco PIX Security Appliance 3DES/AES License)

Compared PIX and ASA firewall, PIX is older technology and it's getting EOL:

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/prod/collateral/vpndevc/ps5708/ps5709/ps2030/ps2031/prod_eol_notice0900aecd80731dec.html

The replacement for PIX firewall is ASA, and here is the different models for your reference:

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/ps6120/prod_models_comparison.html

Re: Pix 501 licensing

mikentosh — Tue, 11 May 2010 12:41:54 GMT

Thanks hilijenn! Do you know if there is a chance that this will in any way mess up the current licensing (unlimited users)? I don't want to lose that...

I've downloaded the license, but never applied a license before. Any tricks or traps to avoid? Also, is there an expiration on this (demo)?

Re: Pix 501 licensing

Jennifer Halim — Tue, 11 May 2010 12:46:02 GMT

No, it shouldn't mess up the licensing for unlimited user. But you might want to backup the current activation key (should be at the bottom of show version). So just in case you mess it up, you can just reapply the current activation key.

The 3DES license is not a demo license. There is no expiry for it.

Re: Pix 501 licensing

mikentosh — Tue, 11 May 2010 12:59:37 GMT

Well, it applied the 3DES, but did in fact change the insides hosts to 10. I re-applied the old key and it reverted back to 3DES disbaled and unlimited inside hosts. Any ideas how to apply both of them?? Am i doing something wrong?

Re: Pix 501 licensing

Jennifer Halim — Tue, 11 May 2010 13:04:41 GMT

Unfortunately the only option is to get the Cisco Licensing team (licensing@cisco.com) to cut the activation key for you with both the 3DES and unlimited user license. You would need to provide a copy of "show version" and the serial# of the PIX as well as advising that you need both 3DES and unlimited user license.

Re: Pix 501 licensing

mikentosh — Tue, 11 May 2010 13:07:59 GMT

Thanks! I'll give that a shot. I'll let you how it turns out whenever they get back to me... Thanks for your help!

Regards,

Mike

Re: Pix 501 licensing

mikentosh — Wed, 12 May 2010 10:28:08 GMT

Halijenn, Cisco was quick (less than a day) to provide the activation key for 3DES and unlimited users after providing them with the details of my situation and Pix serial number. Don't have the Pix in hand today to try it out. I installed it at the office last night and it works great! Will apply the key tonight. Thanks for your help!

Re: Pix 501 licensing

Jennifer Halim — Wed, 12 May 2010 11:42:10 GMT

Great to hear, and thanks for the update.