The Gigamon licensing portal is the system where purchased Gigamon licences become usable keys. A customer buys through Gigamon’s sales channels, receives one or more Entitlement IDs (EIDs) and instructions, and then generates licence keys in the Gigamon Licensing Portal. The Entitlement ID is required to generate keys.[1] The portal workflow differs by licence binding model, and in the 6.14 guide GigaVUE-FM can also talk to the portal directly (the integrated method). For a practitioner, the workflow matters because it determines what evidence of entitlement and activation exists: Entitlement IDs, activation records, licence files and the Fabric Inventory file.
Entitlements and activation
Each SKU in the portal has a remaining quantity. To generate a key, the customer selects Entitlements, clicks the number in the Remaining Qty field for the SKU, and answers the Activation Method question: “Do you use GigaVUE-FM to manage your environment?”. The answer determines the rest of the process.[1]
| Licence | Answer to the GigaVUE-FM question | Input to the portal | Output |
|---|---|---|---|
| GigaVUE-FM base or package licence | No (node-locked) | GigaVUE-FM Challenge MAC ID in the Device Locked To field | A licence key |
| Device node-locked licence (GigaVUE-OS, Module, GigaSMART) | No | Device or card serial number | A licence key |
| Floating licence | Yes | Fabric Inventory (.json) file downloaded from GigaVUE-FM, plus a quantity | A licence file (.lic) with pooled licences |
| Volume-based licence (traditional method) | Yes | Fabric Inventory file and quantity | A licence file to upload and activate in GigaVUE-FM |
The guide states that the GigaVUE-FM licence is node-locked and that answering Yes would require uploading the inventory file.[1] The Challenge MAC ID is found in GigaVUE-FM under System, Licenses, Fabric Manager, Summary. The device serial number is read from the chassis page of the node in the Inventory.[1]
Device licences can alternatively be installed from the CLI with the license install command, followed by write memory; the show license and show card commands show what is installed and which cards remain unlicensed.[1]
The Fabric Inventory file
The Fabric Inventory file is a JSON file that is downloaded from GigaVUE-FM and uploaded to the portal when activating floating or volume-based licences. The file is encrypted, though an unencrypted copy of the inventory can be obtained through a GigaVUE-FM REST endpoint. It contains:
- for GigaVUE-FM: the virtual MAC address (the primary GigaVUE-FM’s MAC address in a high-availability group), the software version, the time of report creation, the list of cards from which all keys have been revoked (for example after a hardware return) and the list of revoked GigaVUE-FM keys;
- for each connected device: serial number of the chassis, IP address, host name, model, cluster name, software version and health; and
- for each GigaSMART card: serial number, slot, type, health and, for every licence key on the card, the SKU, start date, end date and encoded key.[1]
The file is therefore the most complete customer-held record of what is installed, and it is also the input Gigamon uses to generate licence files. It includes IP addresses and host names, which the connected method described below does not send.
Renewal, replacement and deactivation
Node-locked licences are not renewed automatically: the customer creates the new licence in the portal, imports it and assigns it.[1] Floating licences support renewal in GigaVUE-FM: after the new licence file is activated, the customer selects Renewal and links the old licence to the new SKU. The guide describes the case where a licence expires one day and its successor starts the next, and the renewal action links the two to keep traffic flowing.[1]
A floating licence can be transferred from one GigaVUE-FM to another using the old GigaVUE-FM’s Challenge MAC ID, provided the new GigaVUE-FM is installed first.[1] Deactivating a floating licence requires first removing it from the cards it is assigned to, and after deactivation the licence key cannot be used for the card again.[1] Expired volume-based licences appear in a Recently Expired state on the active page and in an Expired state on the inactive page, and can be deactivated one at a time.[1]
Delete and revoke are different: a deleted GigaVUE-FM licence key can be added again, but a revoked key cannot. A revoked device key is permanently unusable and the customer must contact Gigamon technical support to generate a new key for the device.[1] Because revoked keys appear in the Fabric Inventory file, the portal knows which keys a customer has revoked, for example after a card return.[1]
Integrated (connected) licence method
In the integrated licence method, GigaVUE-FM communicates directly with the licence portal. The customer generates a token in the portal (from the GigaVUE-FM Token Generation tab, reached through the Gigamon Community Portal), registers it in GigaVUE-FM by accepting the EULA agreement and pasting the token, and from then on can view, manage and activate entitlements directly from GigaVUE-FM. Registration is a one-time activity and is valid until the customer opts out of GigaVUE-FM. For a direct connection the firewall must permit outbound connections to the licence server host on port 443.[1]
Gigamon lists these benefits: self-service management, seamless activation after a renewal appears as a new entitlement, redistribution of a licence pool between several GigaVUE-FM instances, reclaim and reuse of licences (for volume-based and floating licences, with the target GigaVUE-FM in connected mode) and traceability of renewals. The guide also states that volume-based licence usage data is captured from each GigaVUE-FM and sent to the licence portal for tracking.[1]
What a connected GigaVUE-FM sends
After registration, three settings are enabled by default: Connected GigaVUE-FM, Volume Usage Event Notification and License Expiry Event Notifications.[1] With Connected GigaVUE-FM enabled, entitlements and activations are retrieved from the licence server, and GigaVUE-FM reports volume-based licence usage and in-use hardware and software assets. It sends details of hardware, software and cloud SKUs and of GigaVUE-OS and GigaVUE-FM versions once a week during off-hours. It does not send accessories SKUs, power supply or fan information, support SKUs or virtual inventory collected for GigaVUE Cloud Suite. The guide says it shares SKU-level information without personally identifiable information, and no IP addresses, host names, usernames or passwords. If transmission fails the node retries up to three times.[1]
This sits within the contractual Transmission Data clause: Transmission Data is sent only when enabled by the customer through GigaVUE-FM, may be used for billing and account management among other purposes, and can be disabled at any time, which may limit features, Support or other services.[2]
Notifications
The Volume Usage Event Notification lets GigaVUE-FM notify when daily usage exceeds a configurable percentage threshold. The License Expiry Event Notification sends a notification when a licence is within 90 days of expiry or already expired, and sends an email to the Gigamon License Renewal team.[1] The fact that expiry notices are copied to Gigamon is relevant when a renewal conversation starts.
Air-gapped environments
If GigaVUE-FM has no network access, the Fabric Inventory file cannot be uploaded directly from it. For floating licences the guide describes exporting the inventory file, moving it to a system with network access, uploading it to the portal, generating and downloading the licence file, transferring it back and importing it in GigaVUE-FM. For volume-based licences, the guide describes creating the inventory JSON by hand with GigaVUE-FM’s virtual MAC address, the software version and a current timestamp, and then following the same route.[1]
In such environments the Fabric Manager cannot transmit usage reports. The Data Use Limits Supplement then requires the customer to generate a monthly usage report in GigaVUE-FM and email it to Gigamon at the end of each month, and to keep records for at least one year after the licence expires.[3] Offline operation therefore does not remove the reporting obligation; it changes how it is met.
What GigaVUE-FM shows
On the VBL page GigaVUE-FM lists active licences with SKU, bundle, daily allowance volume, start and end, type (commercial, trial, lab and other), Activation ID, Entitlement ID, Reference ID and status. Inactive licences show the end date, deactivation date and revocation code.[4] The Entitlement ID column is hidden by default and can be enabled in the column settings. The trial licence appears on the same page: it is deactivated automatically at expiry and moves to the Inactive tab.[5]
The guide also provides an End of Sale and End of Life view in GigaVUE-FM, where a yellow banner means a device is within one year of its End of Sale or End of Life date and a red banner means the date has passed. The details can be downloaded from the community portal and uploaded into GigaVUE-FM.[1]
Out of scope
This article does not describe the licence entitlements themselves (see GigaVUE-OS and GigaSMART licences and volume-based licensing), the contractual reporting rights (see Products Terms and support terms), or access to the portal itself, which requires a Gigamon account and is not publicly documented beyond the guide.