CUCM 12 - No more need for Prime License Manager, correct?

[voip7372]

We're on CUCM 11.5 now.  In the future we'll be switching to 12, but when I was looking at the details for the upgrade I see that we must convert to 'Smart' licensing.  I think we'll use the 'Direct' method for CUCM to sync licensing with the Cisco license servers.

After we upgrade to version 12 for CUCM, IM&P and Unity, I assume there's no more reasons to keep our VM of Prime License Manager (PLM) installed, correct?  Right now, the PLM virtual machine is what manages the licenses for our CUCM and Unity.  If CUCM and Unity version 12 will be syncing directly with Cisco in the future, I can't think of any reason to keep an installation of Prime License Manager.  Just looking for confirmation of my thoughts.  Thanks

[voip7372]

Well now I'm back to being confused and back to one of my previous questions about how I get my existing v11 licenses into my smart account so they can be converted to v12 and be available to CUCM when we get it upgraded and setup the 'Direct' method for the smart licensing sync.  I thought I could assign my existing PAKs to the smart account and/or convert them somehow via the product license registration page, but if I select a PAK and try to assign it to the smart account, I get this error in the attached screenshot.   

I've also seen an error that says "Please open a case for assistance with this PAK" when trying to assign one of our older PAKs to the smart account.  One the newest PAK we have, it prompts me for a PIN to validate ownership (but I didn't do it, I stopped there).  Maybe we have to check this deeper and possible open a ticket if we can't get everything moved into the smart account.

"This is not a valid request"

[R0g22]

What are the exact steps you are doing ?
On that portal, left click on the PAK > Convert to smart entitlement
A new dialog will open up and will allow you to specify how many licenses you are trying to convert. If you don’t get this option, the sku/product family cannot be converted to smart.
Alternatively, you can go under the devices tab and do the conversion.
What step are you missing or getting an error after ?

[R0g22]

To add to this, once
the conversion is done in LRP, the devices/license will
disappear.
You would need to go back to SSM and
check the inventory in your virtual account. The licenses should be visible here.

Alternatively the conversion can be done through SSM itself. It looks into LRP to see what paks/devices etc you have.

Remember, once you convert to smart they will no longer be available for traditional licensing.

[voip7372]

I've made some progress.  Apparently when you use the Product License Registration page to assign the existing licenses to a smart account, they don't show up in the smart account for an hour or so.  Anyway, I assigned my CUCM licenses to my smart account and I now see my existing CUCM licenses in the smart account.  When I go to the License Conversion page and click the Convert Licenses tab, I see all my CUCM license and they're ready to be converted.  

My question now is, is there any harm to convert them now if we're not going to upgrade to v12 for another few months?  Should I wait until we're ready to upgrade to v12 to convert these licenses?  

I think we'll be getting some more v11 licenses in the next few weeks (well before the v12 upgrade) because we'll be replacing the old phone systems at several more locations.  We will likely need to install these new v11 licenses coming in the near future due to the site upgrades.  Maybe I should just leave the existing licenses as is (don't convert them yet) until we're very close to our v12 upgrade?

[R0g22]

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@voip7372 wrote:

Maybe I should just leave the existing licenses as is (don't convert them yet) until we're very close to our v12 upgrade?

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Yes!

[Jaime Valencia]

I made a whole video on the topic and the options

Smart Licensing for Cisco UC

https://youtu.be/dUnGEk2teiQ

[voip7372]

Thanks.  I'll check that out too.

[KNYC]

Just FYI. YouTube account has been terminated. 

[Roger Kallberg]

That happened some years ago. Java knows about this already.