Avaya Aura and contact center licensing covers the on-premise Avaya Aura unified communications platform and the contact center applications that run on it. Avaya Aura’s call control is Communication Manager. The platform also includes Session Manager, System Manager, Messaging and Presence Services, and the contact center side includes Call Center Elite and Avaya Aura Contact Center (AACC).[1][5] All are licensed under the Avaya Global Software License Terms and its licence types.[9] What sets this product family apart is enforcement. Entitlements are activated in the Product Licensing and Delivery System (PLDS) into license files. The files are locked to the host ID of a WebLM license server, and each application checks them continuously.[1][2]
Editions
Suite licensing. Avaya Aura is sold as Core Suite or Power Suite user licences. Avaya simplified its earlier three packages (Foundation, Mobility and Collaboration Suites) into these two. The Core Suite combines the Foundation Suite with mobility applications. The Power Suite adds enhanced messaging applications and Avaya Aura Conferencing. Customers can mix Core and Power licences in any quantity per site or enterprise-wide, and can still buy individual applications separately.[4] The current Communication Manager specification confirms that Avaya Aura “is available under Core or Power Suite Licenses” and that customers “might mix Core and Power licenses on a single system”.[1] Catalog proof: Core and Power Suite licences may be mixed on one Avaya Aura system.
Components and licence types. Appendix A of the Avaya Subscription Licensing Supplement lists the components inside each suite and the licence types each uses.[5] The same components appear in perpetual orders.
| Component | Licence types listed | Included in |
|---|---|---|
| Core Suite / Power Suite licence | NU, CU, SR | Core, Power |
| Enhanced IPT/Analog licence | NU, CU, SR | Basic |
| Messaging | NU | Basic (basic), Core and Power (advanced) |
| Presence Services | NU | Basic, Core, Power |
| Session Manager | DS, NU, SR | all |
| Session Border Controller | CU, DS | all |
| Avaya Aura Media Server | DS, CU | all |
| Call Center Elite | CU | customer experience packages |
| Call Management System | CU, DS, SR | customer experience packages |
| Application Enablement Services (TSAPI, DMCC) | CU, DS | CTI add-on |
Contact center. Avaya Aura Contact Center licenses Contact Center Manager Server (CCMS), Contact Center Manager Administration (CCMA), Communication Control Toolkit (CCT) and Contact Center Multimedia (CCMM) features through a component called Contact Center License Manager.[6]
Metrics
The metrics are the Avaya licence types: Named User (NU) for suite users, messaging mailboxes and presence users, and Concurrent User (CU) for agents, ports and CTI sessions. Designated System (DS) covers servers and Instances, and Shrinkwrap (SR) covers components under their own licence.[5] Under the Subscription model each bundle is counted in Subscription License Units.[5] Communication Manager itself “is available with a single-user licensing fee”.[1]
For contact center, License Manager distributes licence keys per feature (for example Voice Agent licences). It records, per 15-minute interval, the maximum number of licences allocated to each server, which supports analysis of concurrent licence usage.[6]
Counting / floors
PLDS and license files
PLDS delivers entitlements as License Activation Codes (LACs). Activation assigns entitlement quantities to a specific License Host, company and user, and generates the license file.[2] Activation needs the LACs and the host ID of the computer where the licences will be installed. For a WebLM server the host ID is its MAC address.[2] PLDS then issues an Activation Record showing the activated quantities and host ID, together with the license file to install on WebLM.[2] Partial activation is allowed, so the entitlement in PLDS can exceed what is deployed on any one host. A software asset manager reconciles three figures: the PLDS entitlement, the activated license files, and usage reported by WebLM. Catalog proof: PLDS activation needs License Activation Codes and the license host ID.
To avoid outages, partners and Avaya associates can generate a troubleshooting licence file in PLDS. It expires up to 30 days after creation and “cannot be converted to permanent”. Its content does not add automatically to permanent licences for the same product family.[3] Catalog proof: PLDS troubleshooting licences last up to 30 days and cannot become permanent.
Communication Manager
License file required. Communication Manager needs a valid license file. Without one it enters License Error mode, with a 30-day grace period.[1] What happens when the grace period expires depends on the release:[1]
| Release | After the 30-day grace period |
|---|---|
| Before R10.1.3.6 | License Restricted mode blocks only system administration |
| R10.1.3.6 and R10.2.1.1 onwards (main server) | License Restricted mode blocks call processing, including emergency calls, and system administration |
| Enterprise Survivable Server, Local Survivable Processor | Only system administration is blocked |
Catalog proof: Communication Manager runs 30 days in License Error mode without a valid licence file.
Expiry. From R10.1.3.6, alarms LIC-EXP90 and LIC-EXP60 warn 90 and 60 days before a licence expires, and Communication Manager then enters a 30-day grace period. The expiry date used is the earliest expiry of any feature in the license file. If the Elite licence expires before the Communication Manager licence, the Elite date counts.[1] This matters for subscription and term licences whose components are on different end dates. Catalog proof: Communication Manager uses the earliest feature expiry date as the licence expiry.
Support End Date. The license file contains the Support End Date (SED). Communication Manager compares it with the publication date of each service pack or dot release and refuses any published after the SED. Avaya calls this Service Pack and Dot Release Guardian.[1] A perpetual licence with lapsed support therefore keeps running but cannot be patched until support is restored. This mirrors the contractual rule that upgrades require a valid licence and payment of the applicable fee.[9] Catalog proof: Service packs published after the Support End Date are blocked.
One license file per server. In a network of Communication Manager systems each server or software-duplication pair needs a separate license file. With Centralized Licensing, up to 600 Communication Manager license files can be installed on one System Manager WebLM server, and each main server is linked to its file.[1] Catalog proof: Each Communication Manager server or duplicated pair needs its own licence file.
Other components. Application Enablement Services also moves to a license-error mode with a 30-day grace period when it cannot reach its WebLM server. Avaya knowledge article logs show “grace period: 2592000 secs”, which is 30 days.[11]
Avaya Aura Contact Center
Licence types. Contact Center License Manager supports four licence types:[6]
- Nodal Enterprise: one license file for a single installation of CCMS, CCMA, CCT and CCMM, served by WebLM or a PLIC license file.
- Corporate Enterprise: several contact center servers share one licence pool. In Avaya’s example, 100 Voice Agent licences serve agents in two time zones in turn.
- Nodal NCC: licences distributed from a Network Control Center to the components of one node.
- Corporate NCC: licences pooled on a Network Control Center across several nodes.
Corporate licensing is supported only by the PLIC mechanism and only in Avaya Communication Server 1000 based solutions. Avaya Aura UC-based (SIP) solutions do not support Corporate Enterprise licensing, so each AACC node on Avaya Aura is licensed on its own.[6] Catalog proof: Corporate (pooled) contact center licensing needs PLIC and CS1000.
WebLM behaviour. In SIP-enabled Avaya Aura deployments, License Manager takes WebLM licence keys, converts them into local PLIC keys and distributes them to the contact center applications. It also pushes keys to the configured Avaya Aura Media Servers.[7] When it requests licences from a WebLM server, License Manager reserves all the Contact Center licences on that server. Only the PLDS standard license file (SLF) type is therefore supported, not the WebLM Enterprise model.[7] High Availability needs a second WebLM server and a license file built on the host IDs of both, installed on both.[7] WebLM can run locally inside AACC or as a separate WebLM virtual appliance. In virtualized deployments the host ID is derived from the IP address and the VMware UUID.[8] Catalog proof: Contact Center License Manager reserves all contact center licences on its WebLM server.
Grace period and emergency licences. If CCMS, CCT or CCMM cannot reach License Manager, they keep running for a 30-day grace period. When the connection returns, the grace period is gradually restored to 30 days. If it expires they shut down and are locked until reset with a lock code returned to Avaya. Avaya Aura Media Server does not support the grace period.[6] If the connection cannot be fixed in time, Avaya may activate an emergency license file. It expires after 30 days and generates a daily Windows event counting down.[6] Catalog proof: Avaya Aura Contact Center shuts down when the 30-day licensing grace period expires.
Floors
None of the retrieved Avaya Aura or AACC documents publishes a minimum purchase quantity. Quantities are those on the order and in the license file, with a default of one per licence.[9]
Virtualization & partitioning
Avaya Aura applications on VMware each use a WebLM instance for their license file. The WebLM inside System Manager is the first and preferred instance, and standalone WebLM virtual appliances are an alternative.[1] Because license files are locked to a host ID (a MAC address or a virtual identifier), rebuilding or moving a virtual machine can change the host ID and invalidate the file until it is re-hosted in PLDS.[2][8] The contractual rule is in the Global Software License Terms: virtualized use only as authorized, counted in Instances.[9] See Avaya software license types and portability.
Cloud / BYOL
No BYOL right to run perpetual Avaya Aura licences on a public cloud is published. Avaya offers Avaya Aura as a hosted Private Cloud service with station-based metering instead. See Avaya subscription and cloud licensing.
Programs
Portability. PLDS lets licences move between Communication Manager servers “if the support offer and the move policy are followed”.[1] The Global License Portability Policy lists the minimum eligible releases for international moves. They include Communication Manager 6.0, Session Manager 6.0, System Manager 6.0, Avaya Aura Contact Center 6.0 and Call Center Elite 6.0.[10] See Global License Portability.
Subscription conversion. Avaya Aura R6.3.118 Load 141, R7, R8 and R10 perpetual licences may be converted to Avaya Subscription. The feature entitlements and 20% overage are limited to those of the generally available release.[5] Conversions with Investment Protection Program credits surrender the perpetual licences. Perpetual and subscription licences of the same type cannot share a System, meaning the applications connected to one WebLM.[5] Catalog proof: Perpetual and subscription licences cannot be mixed in one System; Converted perpetual licences are surrendered and their rights end.
Out of scope
Avaya Communication Server 1000 and other Heritage Nortel products, Avaya Aura Private Cloud metering, IP Office branch deployments, hardware (gateways, Avaya Solutions Platform servers) and pricing are not covered here.