BEA products use an XML-format license file called license.bea. This license file, stored in the BEA Home directory, is used for the BEA products installed in that directory. Your BEA software checks this file at run time to determine which product components you are authorized to use.
Note:
If you have multiple BEA Home directories on your system, each BEA Home must have a license.bea file that authorizes use of the products associated with that directory.
Licenses are release specific. For example, to use WebLogic Server 9.2, you must have a 9.2 license file. To convert a pre-9.2 license.bea file to a WebLogic Server 9.2 license.bea file, see Upgrading Licenses from Previous Software Releases.
The types of license files that can be used as the license.bea file and the technical restrictions that they impose are described in the following table.
Note:
See the End User License Agreement for specific license terms and conditions.
Table 6-1 BEA Products License File Types
License Type
Description
Development
Used in a development environment where a developer is preparing an application to run on top of your BEA Products software; a production license is required for deployment.
Enables all component products provided in your product distribution.
Enables you to run your software on a single machine, even if it is running multiple instances of WebLogic Server
Permits client connections from a maximum of five IP addresses. IP addresses are tracked from the time the server is started. When you restart the server, the count is reset.
Is installed in the BEA Home directory as license.bea.
Is not tied to the IP address of a machine.
Production
Used in full-scale production environments.
May restrict functionality to the software components that you have purchased.
Enables you to run your software on a single machine, even if it is running multiple instances of WebLogic Server
Permits client connections from an unlimited number of IP addresses.
Must be purchased separately. For information about purchasing a production license, contact your sales representative or visit the BEA corporate Web site at http://www.bea.com.
Is tied to the IP address of the machine. A production license can be used only on a machine with the same IP address that is specified in the license file.
When you install your software, a non-expiring development license file (license.bea) is installed on your system. By default, your software uses the development license installed with the product so that you can start using it immediately. Subsequently, when you install additional BEA products that include a license.bea file, the installation program automatically adds the new product licenses to the license.bea file.
Note:
The license.bea file conforms to the XML grammar definition. The XML definition (<?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1"?>) must be at the very beginning of the license.bea file. There cannot be any spaces or line breaks before the XML definition.
For a description of the product offerings supported by the BEA Products license files, see the Licensing page at the following URLs:
When you install your BEA software, the installation program generates a development license.bea file for use with the software and installs it in the BEA Home directory. If you are installing your software in an existing BEA Home, the installation program automatically adds the development license included with your product distribution to the existing license.bea file.
In some cases, however, you must update the license.bea file separately, independent of the installation process. For example, you must update your license file if at least one of the following is true:
You purchase a product for production use and you receive a production license to replace your development license.
You want to upgrade production systems to a new release of the software. After installing the current release of the software, you must upgrade your license to the current version. To do so, see Upgrading Licenses from Previous Software Releases.
You purchase a new release of a product you are already using in production and you want to use both the old and the new releases in production on the same system. For example, you are currently using WebLogic Server 8.1, you purchase WebLogic Server 9.2, and you want to use both releases on the same system.
You purchase additional BEA software with production licenses, and you want to add the production licenses for the new software to the production licenses for software already in production use on your system.
You want to consolidate existing production licenses for different component products onto a single machine.
You want to transfer existing production licenses from one machine to another machine with a different IP address.
In each of these cases, you will receive a new license file from BEA, the contents of which must be included in the license.bea file in the target BEA Home directory. To facilitate the license update process, BEA provides an UpdateLicense utility that merges the new license into the existing license in the BEA Home directory, and deletes any expired or duplicate entries.
The UpdateLicense merge process is not intended to modify the license attributes for any component or feature in the license files being merged. For example:
If you merge a WebLogic Server 8.1 production license with a WebLogic Server 9.2 development license, the development and production rights associated with the different WebLogic Server license versions are retained. The merge process creates a single license file which can be used for both WebLogic Server 8.1 production and WebLogic Server 9.2 development. The merge process does not change the development and production rights associated with either the WebLogic Server 8.1 or WebLogic Server 9.2 entry. If you want to upgrade the WebLogic Server 8.1 production license to WebLogic Server 9.2, see Upgrading Licenses from Previous Software Releases.
If you merge a WebLogic Server 8.1 license for IP address A with a WebLogic Server 9.2 license for IP address B, the IP addresses for both WebLogic Server license versions are retained. The merge process creates a single license file that can be used to run WebLogic Server 8.1 on IP address A and WebLogic Server 9.2 on IP address B. The merge process does not change the IP address associated with either the WebLogic Server 8.1 or WebLogic Server 9.2 entry. If you want to change the IP address for a given license file, you must use the BEA eLicense system at http://elicense.bea.com.
Important Considerations for Updating Your license.bea File
When determining how to update your license.bea file, you should consider the following:
If you want to merge the functionality enabled by both your new license and your existing license, you must use the UpdateLicense utility. For instructions, see Updating license.bea Using the UpdateLicense Utility.
You may choose to replace an existing license.bea file with a new license.bea file, but if you do so, you run the risk of losing the product usage rights enabled by your existing license file.
Note:
Do not edit the license.bea file manually. Doing so may cause operating problems for the currently installed BEA products, or result in problems later when BEA products are installed for maintenance upgrades.
Updating license.bea Using the UpdateLicense Utility
To update your license.bea file, perform the following procedure:
Save the license update file that you received through e-mail, with a name other than license.bea, in the target BEA Home directory. For example, save the file as new_license.bea. Use this file as the license_update_file in step 4 of this procedure.
WARNING:
Do not overwrite or change the name of the existing license.bea file.
Perform the step appropriate for your platform:
On a Windows system, open an MS-DOS command window and go to the target BEA Home directory.
On a UNIX system, go to the target BEA Home directory.
If it is not already included, add the JDK to your PATH variable by entering the following commands:
On a Windows system:
set PATH=BEA_HOME\JDK\bin;%PATH%
On a UNIX system:
PATH=BEA_HOME/JDK/bin:$PATH export PATH
In this command, JDK represents the directory that contains the JDK being used for this installation, for example, jdk150_06 or jrockit90_150_06.
Merge the license update file into your existing license by entering one of the following commands:
On a Windows system:
UpdateLicense license_update_file
On a UNIX system:
sh UpdateLicense.sh license_update_file
license_update_file represents the name to which you saved the license update file in step 1.
Save a copy of your updated license.bea file in a safe place outside your BEA software and application installation directories.
Although no one else can use your license file, you should save a copy of it in a place that is protected from both malicious and innocent tampering.
Upgrading Licenses from Previous Software Releases
The format of the license.bea file changes with each release of BEA Products software. To upgrade a license.bea file from a previous release to a license for the current release, complete the following steps:
You need a BEA eLicense account to log in to this Web site. If you do not have a BEA eLicense account, click the Register link on the Customer Support site to register for one.
In the left navigation area of the Web page, click Upgrade/Downgrade and follow the instructions on the page. If the license you want to upgrade is not listed, click the Add a Missing License link. The BEA Licensing team will research the missing license for you.
Installing Licenses for Use with Promotional DVD Distributions
In some cases, BEA distributes software for promotional purposes on DVD. Such DVDs include installers that do not automatically generate a development license key. Instead, the DVD folio directs you to a BEA Web site, where you can obtain a development license file after you supply a code from the DVD folio. The license file you obtain allows you to begin using the software immediately, and entitles you to the same usage rights described for the development license in
Table 6-1, BEA Products License File Types, on page 6-2.
When you receive this license file from BEA, complete the following steps:
Save the license file using the name license.bea. Make sure that the filename does not include a suffix, such as .txt.
Copy the license.bea file into the BEA Home directory in which your BEA Products software was installed. For example, c:\bea.
