AVC Licensing and Feature Activation

This chapter addresses Cisco AVC feature licensing and includes the following topic(s):

Overview

Activating full AVC functionality requires feature licensing. License and activation details vary according to the platform and OS.

Table 3-1 Licensing Information

 

Device
See...

Devices using Cisco IOS XE Gibraltar 16.10.1

AVC and Cisco Smart Licensing

Devices using Cisco IOS XE releases earlier than IOS XE Gibraltar 16.10.1

Legacy: AVC Licensing and Feature Activation

Devices using Cisco IOS

Legacy: AVC Licensing and Feature Activation

AVC and Cisco Smart Licensing

Beginning with Cisco IOS XE Gibraltar 16.10.1, the feature licensing model for Cisco routers moved to Cisco Smart Software Licensing (SL). For information about activating Cisco Smart Software Licensing, see Cisco Smart Licensing Client.

Smart Software Licensing offers a simple, flexible approach to feature licensing. The following table summarizes the typical license requirements for Cisco AVC functionality, before and after the IOS XE Gibraltar 16.10.1 release.

Table 3-2 Before and After Smart Software Licensing

 

Required OS Image
Image License
Required Feature License

Before Smart Software Licensing
(pre-16.10.1)

Universal

Standard/Base,
Advanced (AIS/AES),
Premium

Application Experience (AppX)

Smart Software Licensing
(16.10.1 and later)

Universal

Standard/Base

Not Recommended.

No support for advanced NBAR or AVC features, or for Cisco SD-AVC.

Universal

Advanced (AIS/AES),
Premium

Smart Software Licensing

Supports advanced NBAR and AVC features, and supports Cisco SD-AVC.

Upgrading to Cisco IOS XE Gibraltar 16.10.1 or Later

If you are planning to upgrade a device that operates with AVC, from a pre- Cisco IOS XE 16.10.1 release to 16.10.1 or later, check the table above for license requirements. Obtain the required licenses to support AVC functionality.

note.gif

Noteblank.gif Because of the specific license requirements for devices using IOS XE Gibraltar 16.10.1, upgrading to 16.10.1 or later without the correct license can cause problems with AVC functionality.


Licensing Requirements for Cisco SD-AVC

Cisco SD-AVC system requirements are different for:

  • The device hosting the SD-AVC network service component
  • The SD-AVC agent components operating on devices in the network

For devices operating with IOS XE Gibraltar 16.10.1 or later, the following table shows license requirements for SD-AVC components,

Table 3-3 SD-AVC License Requirements, IOS XE 16.10.1 or Later

 

Device
Image License
Feature License

Device hosting the SD-AVC network service

No license requirements

No license requirements

Network devices running the SD-AVC agent

Advanced (AIS/AES)
or
Premium

Smart Software Licensing