How to apply ACS 5.5 Upgrade License

[hujian]

We bought ACS 5.5 upgrade license (R-CSACS-55VMUP-K9=). I read below migration steps from 4.x to 5.5, I didn't find anywhere it requires any license. Is it really needed?

Actually I plan to re-configure everything on ACS 5.5 from the scratch. Can I still use the license? or we have to buy standard license to upload to ACS 5.5?

Since we already bought the upgrade license, can I "pretend" to migrate a 4.x ACS and wipe off it and re-do the configuration, just to use the Upgrade License?

What's the best approach to get the license work with decent cost?

Thanks,

Migration Guide for Cisco Secure Access Control System 5.5 
Using the Migration Utility to Migrate Data from ACS 4.x to ACS 5.5 

http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/net_mgmt/cisco_secure_access_control_system/5-5/migration/guide/migration_guide/Migration_data.html

[nspasov · Accepted solution]

Hello Hujian. The "migration license" is the same as the "standard" one. The only difference is that you got discount on it since you already had ACS 4.x. If you were purchasing ACS 5.x today and you did not previously own ACS then you would have not qualified for the migration license. 

With that being said, there really isn't a direct migration from 4.x to 5.x since the whole system was re-written. For instance, as you know 4.x ran on Windows and did not require a license vs 5.x runs on Linux and does require a license. You can use the "migration utility" to help you migrate some of the configurations but it does not migrate everything. I personally never liked using it and always did what you are planning to do which is build the new server from scratch :)

I hope this helps!

Thank you for rating helpful posts!

[hujian]

Thanks for explanation!

It means I will have to download the license. I will have to follow up with the reseller. because I didn't see any migration license at eDelivery or any PAK in order notification email.

[nspasov · Accepted solution]

Yes, you will have to contact your reseller for that but you will definitely need a license file in 5.x

If your issue is resolved, please mark your thread as "answered" :)

[hujian]

Thanks for help!

It turned out that Cisco issued PAK of CSACS-5-BASE-LIC instead of R-CSACS-55VMUP-K9= which is not a real license that can be uploaded to ACS5.5.