Activating a license on the OpenVPN Access Server

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OpenVPN Access Server Subscriptions

Starting with OpenVPN Access Server version 2.8 and above, you can now upgrade from a fixed license to the new, flexible subscription billing system. Our new system has evolved to support the Elastic Computing model of IaaS Cloud operations. We continue to retain our economical and meaningful model of charging based on the needed number of simultaneous VPN connections.

While other’s business VPNs may charge based on the number of CPU cores of the bandwidth of the server, our model focuses on actual VPN connections consumed. Subscriptions are cloud friendly, streamlined, support automated renewals, and maximize your VPN usage.

Make sure that you're running at least version 2.8.1 of Access Server. Then, follow these steps to purchase and activate a subscription:

  1. Login (or create an account) to openvpn.net and click on subscriptions.
  2. Choose the number of VPN connections to purchase, select your automatic renewal of monthly or yearly, then click on Purchase.
  3. Go through the purchase and checkout process to pay for the subscription, then click on Copy Key from your subscription details.
  4. Go to your Admin Web UI in a web browser. (It is accessible at the IP address or DNS address of your server. For example, if your server’s IP address is 192.168.70.222, then your Admin Web UI will be https://192.168.70.222/admin.)
  5. Login as an administrative user (the default user is openvpn).
  6. Once logged in, click on Configuration > Activation.
  7. Paste your key into the ‘Enter Activation here’ field and click on Activate. Wait momentarily for the subscription to load. You should then receive the message, “Subscription is active and operating normally”.

OpenVPN Access Server Fixed Licenses

We improved the security of our fixed licenses with version 2.6.1. If you prefer to continue using fixed licenses, you can continue to do so with your license key. We do encourage you to keep your Access Server updated. Running on the latest version is good security etiquette.

If you try to activate a new license key or a renewal license key on an outdated and unpatched OpenVPN Access Server, you will see an error message. To resolve that, follow the instructions to either upgrade your Access Server to the latest version, or apply a licensing patch.

See this security advisory for more information about the licensing system changes:

When you activate a license key, you do not keep the two free connections you start with. Upon activation, the stated connections from your license become the supported amount. For example if you are testing the Access Server without a license key, and you are allowed to connect two devices simultaneously to it, and you then activate a purchased license key for ten connections, then you can then connect ten devices to the Access Server, not 12.

Also please note that when you activate a fixed license key, it then becomes non-refundable as per our license agreement you accepted upon purchase and installation. Make sure to take every opportunity to test your Access Server prior to purchasing and activating a key.

Activate a license key using the admin web interface

It’s simple to activate a key using the Admin Web UI:

  1. Go to your Admin Web UI in a web browser. (It is accessible at the IP address or DNS address of your server. For example, if your server’s IP address is 192.168.70.222, then your Admin Web UI will be https://192.168.70.222/admin.)
  2. Login as an administrative user (the default user is openvpn).
  3. Once logged in, click on Configuration > Activation.
  4. Enter your license key into the field, ‘Enter Activation Key here’ then click on Activate.
  5. Your license key should now be activated.

Activating a fixed license key on the command line

It’s also possible to activate a license key on the command line. To do so make sure you are logged on to your OpenVPN Access Server’s operating system on the console or through SSH, and that you have root permissions. Then follow these commands to do the desired tasks. As always for command line interaction with Access Server we assume you are logged on as root user and that you are in the /usr/local/openvpn_as/scripts/ folder where the CLI tools for Access Server are located.

Activating a new license key:

./liman Activate "LICE-NSEK-EYIN-HERE"

Show the current licensing state, and any possible problems with license keys:

./liman info

Troubleshooting fixed license problems

If you have any problems with activating a license key, we advise that you consult the licensing troubleshooting page, as most problems are addressed there.