Remaining days(valud) of Enterprise license is useless after upgrading to Advanced Security

[mrparker0]

Hi, recently I tried to 'upgrade' MX Enterprise license (ENT) to Advanced Security (SEC).  We have only one MX device.

In my understanding, the remaining value of the Enterprise license will be converted to Advanced Security and will be added on the new Advanced Security license.  If the remaining days of ENT is 2 years, it will be converted to 1 year of SEC. I purchased 3 years SEC so that our MX should get 4 years SEC license duration.

However, it did not happen.

The current situation is that two SEC licenses are attached to one MX.  The first license will expire in 1 year (coverted from ENT).  The second license will expire in 3 years.  In short, the MX has only 3 years license duration instead of 4 years.

I already opened the case with Meraki but the support agent is not helpful.  The agent just repeats the current situation and does not show any solution.

Is there anyone who had similar expericence and/or know how to solve this?

Thanks.

[cmr]

You need to add the new license as a renewal, was it done in the last 30 days?   If so you can remove it and re-add it. 

[mrparker0]

Thank you. But I don't see any options to add the new license as renewal.  Probably that is because our licensing is per-device model.

[MyHomeNWLab]

The Co-Term licensing method offers two options.

* License more devices
  Select 'License more devices' if you will be connecting more devices to the Meraki cloud.

* Renew my Dashboard license
  Select 'Renew my Dashboard license' if you wish to extend your current expiration date without adding more devices. NOTE: selecting this option will replace your Organization's license limit to match the applied license key.

The "License more devices" option is selected when more devices are to be added.

If the number of devices is the same as the number of licenses purchased for upgrade purpose (Enteprise => Advansed Security), you should select the "Renew my Dashboard license" option.

However, since you are a PDL (Per-Device Licensing) method, this does not apply to you.

[MyHomeNWLab · Accepted solution]

Unfortunately, in the case of the PDL, the value of an existing license cannot be converted to a new license.
In effect, existing licenses are wasted.
Therefore, it is important to plan for the purchase of licenses.

[cmr]

@MyHomeNWLab I definitely wasn't aware of that, are you certain as that doesn't seem at all good... 

[MyHomeNWLab]

I have experience upgrading from Enteprise to Advansed Security License using the Co-Term licensing method.
When I selected "Renew my Dashboard license" the existing Enterprise License value appeared to be converted.

Perhaps, with the Co-Term licensing method, the license expiration date is unified throughout the Organization regardless of license type, so the value of the existing license remains.

[Related document]
Meraki Co-Termination Licensing Overview - Cisco Meraki
https://documentation.meraki.com/General_Administration/Licensing/Meraki_Co-Termination_Licensing_Ov...

> Renewing Your Dashboard Licensing
> When a license key is applied using the Renew my Dashboard license operation, the organization’s licensing state updates to exactly match the device count of that license key, and any remaining time from previous licenses is kept and added to the new co-term date. For example, if an organization with licensing for 5x APs were to have a 2x AP, three-year license applied as a renewal, that organization would only be licensed for 2x APs for three years, plus the remaining time from prior to the renewal. In this instance, the organization would be 3x APs over the license limit, and therefore out of compliance.
>
> Note: The recommended practice for applying a renewal is to purchase a single license key that covers all devices currently in the organization for X number of years. Applying that license key as a renewal will then extend the organization’s co-term date by that many years while keeping the same license limit for devices.

In the case of PDL, the purchased license is simply added to the Organization.

For example, I have separate Advanced Security License and Secure SD-WAN Plus License for MX67W.

The license value is not converted.

The license expiration date is also independent.

[MyHomeNWLab]

I sometimes wonder if my interpretation is correct.
It is difficult to confirm the operation of the license registration, so it would be better to check with Meraki sales.
Hoping there is another better way.

[mrparker0]

Thank you for your response and the following comment with the screen shot.

That does not sound good but it explains the current license situation.