Jan 17, 2017
License re-activation process
Hello!
One of those nitty gritty questions if I may?
If a system requires reactivating the license or not is determined by the data for the specific version being downloaded or the expiration dat...
For instance, in ASM, you can install signature updates if your last license re-activation was less than 18 months (1.5 years) ago. You don't need to re-activate if this criteria is met. This also concludes that for 1.5 years, after your service contract has expired, you still have access to signature updates.
So in case of ASM signature updates, the formula is
if (Today <= Service Check Date + X) = you may proceed
where X = 1.5 Years. Let's call X "mercy period"
I suspect there's a similar "mercy period" involved in case of BigIP major software upgrades. Highly doubt it to be as high as 1.5 years, but your TMSH output strongly suggests that the true formula has more to it. Alternatively, the date documented in K7727 for 12.1.2 could be incorrect. Ask the MVP chat for a quick reply from F5 rep 🙂