Catalyst 3560X/3750X RTU licensing?

[andrew.butterworth]

I haven't touched Catalyst 3560X/3750X's for a while as they came at an odd time where we had loads of customers with 3560G/3750G series switches already installed and no real reason to replace them.  We have put in quite a lot of 3650/3850 series to replace 3560G/3750G's since though (although it seems these are old-hat now with the Catalyst 9x00 series already here...).

Anyway I have come across some 3560X's & 3750X's on a customer site we are doing some work on in the next few weeks and thought I'd upgrade the IOS as part of the work.  I noticed after I had upgraded the 3560X's to the latest Universal IOS image there is a now a RTU license option?  I found this https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/switches/lan/catalyst3750x_3560x/software/release/12-2_53_se/configuration/notes/ol19813.html

I thought the 3560X/3750X only supported licensing using the old .lic files specific to each device?  Is this now not the case?  Can I enable the RTU license for IP Services and it will work without installing a license file?

Andy

[Reza Sharifi]

Legally, you should only load the license you paid for. So, if your customer has paid for IP Based license, they should not (legally) use IP Services, because IP Service license is a lot more expensive than IP Based.

HTH

[pieterh]

RTU licensing gives you the flexibility to "move" licenses from one device to another without going through a registration process.

Also in a test-environment, you can temporarily use a higher license to perform your test.

I also think you have the right to activate the license in advance of receiving it, when the order is al ready submitted.

But still if you purchased one advanced license, you should have only one device with this license active.

be aware (especially with a maintenance contract) providers may ask you to cooperate in an audit and check whether the administration of devices/licenses matches what's active.

[andrew.butterworth]

Thanks for the replies.  I guess the change in the options in the configuration from IOS 15.0(2)SE were a relaxation from Cisco?

I remember the (slight..) uproar when these switches appeared and it was node-locked licenses.