IP Phone 7841 displays: “Provide the migration license.”

[jacodb]

I bought a second hand Cisco IP Phone 7841 but unfortunately it was the Enterprise version. I used the Cisco Cloud upgrader to do a E2MPP firmware upgrade but now the Phone displays “Enter activation code” “Provide the migration license”. I contacted the company I bought the phone from and found out that they had a contract to remove the old Cisco phones from one of their clients and install a new non-Cisco system that they sell. They have sold all the old Cisco phones to make some cash. They do not have the original licenses and are not willing to find out from their client regarding the licenses (I am not sure if their client knows they sold the units).

Is there anything I can do to get the phone working again without buying a pricy new license? If I move the firmware back to the Enterprise version will this at least solve the migration license issue? I tried to generate an activation code with Webex but the phone does not recognise the code, is this due to the migration license issue?

At this moment it seems the only solution is to throw the unit in the trash.

[Jaime Valencia]

Did you read the migration procedure which clearly explains that a one way migration licenses is needed when migrating from MPP to Enterprise or viceversa????

The phone itself has no license (it might have a HW support contract), the licensing to use the phones would have been associated to the company who bought them, that has nothing to do with the issue you're facing.

Right now you're stuck mid migration, so you cannot register the phone or do anything with it until you complete the process.

[jacodb]

I read this and wanted to activate with Webex:

Migration licenses

The licenses are required to enable the calling services after migrating the firmware.
For Webex Calling, the licenses are generated via migration assistant tool in Cisco WebEx Control Hub, which

• automate phone migration license generation and delivery.
• auto-register your devices to Webex Calling.

So I either have to buy a license or throw it away?

[Nithin Eluvathingal]

AFAIK there is no enterprise version for 6841 phone models. if its 7841 yes it support both enterprise and MPP

With webex subscription you are entitled to do the migrations without any additional licenses.

Follow this guide.

https://help.webex.com/en-us/article/n19c71/Migrate-Your-Phone-to-Webex-Calling#task_E8FC724C27924AABFC2F581A901163A3

2.12.0.0

[jacodb]

Thank you for all the help and replies. If I understand it correctly, once I finilise the WebEx migration the phone will only be usable with Webex? If I later decide not to use it anymore, can the unit be converted back to a “normal” MPP? 

I am very new to Cisco tech so I am trying to learn as much and as quickly as possible.

[jacodb]

If I understand you correctly, I did not need to migrate to the MPP version of the firmware and that 7841 is both enterprise and MPP? The model nr is: CP-7841-K9= (V04). If I change the firmware back to the non-MPP version, will this solve the migration license issue?

[Jaime Valencia]

You mention two different phones, one in the title, 6841 and one in the body 8641 (which doesn't even exist), I assumed both were typos because:

6841 as Nithin mentioned, doesn't come in anything but MPP

7800 and 8800 come in MPP or Enterprise, and the FW for the migration is only available for those models, so seeing as you were mid-migration, it had to be one in one of those.

Now you clarify the correct model, 7841.

If you go back to Enterprise FW, the phone is meant to be used with CUCM or CME.

If you wish to use it with Webex or other 3rd party call control agents, you need MPP.

To your question, yes, if you keep it as an Enterprise phone, you can use it with CUCM or CME, if you wish to use with 3rd party call control you can, you'll need to manually provide all the configuration files the phone would expect to get from CUCM/CME properly formatted for your scenario. Enterprise FW is NOT compatible with Webex, only MPP FW.

[jacodb]

Thank you for clarifying. It was very late at night and I was tired when I did the original post. It is the 7841.

So now that the phone is mid-migration will going back to the Enterprise FW solve the migration license issue or will it also ask me to provide the migration license? 

[jacodb]

And sorry for the confustion.

[JustAnotherNetworkGuy]

For anyone else having this issue, if you're attempting to use an enterprise migrated phone that was previously used on another CH, you may have to contact Cisco support to have them correct issues on the back end. In my case, they said there was a signing issue with the license for my phone.

In my case, the phone showed Active in CH, and the display presented the external CID at the top, as well as the line appearance with an X next to it. It stated "Provide the migration license. Contact your administrator". Removing the workspace & device from CH, then going through the CSV device migration and factory reset did not resolve the issue.

[bmcnew]

Good morning.  Can you elaborate any further on this reply from October 2023?  We are trying to migrate some Cisco 8811 phones to MPP that were never used in our Call Manager environment.  We have been successful in migrating like 5 phones, but not successful in migrating 11 others.  We are seeing the Provide the migration license that you reported in your reply.  When you mention a signing issue with the license.  Did you have to open a TAC case with Cisco?  Any information that you can provide would be a huge help.  We have over 100 phones to migrate.  Thanks!