OpenVPN Access Licensing Models Overview

Subscription key

This is our most recent licensing model to unlock more connections. It is a long activation key that works on OpenVPN Access Server 2.8.1 and above, and can be shared across multiple servers and be activated multiple times. It is a more flexible model that allows changing the subscription connection amount on-the-fly and can be a monthly or yearly subscription. It requires an Internet connection to function. Subscription activation keys can for example look like this:

ThisIsAnExampleKeyVGhpcyBpcyBqdXN0IGFuIGV4YW1wbGUga2V5IGFuZCBpcyB0b3RhbGx5IGZha2UuIElmIHlvdSdyZSByZWFkaW5nIHRoaXMsIHlvdSd2ZSBqdXN0IGZvdW5kIGFuIGVhc3RlciBlZ2cgb24gdGhlIG9wZW52cG4ubmV0IHdlYnNpdGUsIGNvbmdyYXR1bGF0aW9ucy4gSSdtIHNvcnJ5LCBidXQgdGhlcmUgaXMgbm8gcHJpemUgYXR0YWNoZWQuIEhhdmUgYSBuaWNlIGRheS4=

If you want to activate or troubleshoot the subscription licensing on your Access Server, consult the troubleshooting guide for subscription licensing.

Fixed license key

A fixed license key always follows the format of 4 groups of 4 characters. This is an older and less flexible method of activating your Access Server to unlock more connections. You cannot change the licensed amount of an existing fixed license key after purchase and activation, and you can only activate the key once on an Access Server. It is also the only licensing method that works on a server that has no Internet access at all, as there is an offline activation method available for this type of software license. Fixed license keys can look like this:

#THI-SISA-NEXA-MPLE

If you want to activate or troubleshoot a fixed license key on your Access Server, consult the troubleshooting guide for fixed license keys.

AWS tiered instance

This licensing model is only available on Amazon AWS and nowhere else. On the AWS Marketplace we have a number of our OpenVPN Access Server offerings available that come prelicensed upon launch. So if you pick the one with 10 connections, and launch it on Amazon AWS, then it will have 10 connections available immediately. It requires that the instance has access to the Internet. So there are no activation keys for this, it happens automatically online.

If you want to troubleshoot software licensing for an AWS tiered instance, consult the troubleshooting guide for AWS tiered instance licensing.