Product evaluation has expired. How to resolve ?

[Tigerola]

Hi all I have a server where somebody has installed an evalutaion product. Storage Foundation 5.1 for windows. The server needs to move the storage from one array to an other. And it seesm like it's not working when the license has expired... :-) Is there a way to uninstall the product and keep the data intace to use with Win? Is it possible to reinstall the evalutaion product again and get it to work? Or is it a must to get a permanent license to run?

[Marianne · Accepted solution]

The initial demo license key is normally valid for 60 days. If you can motivate the request, your local Symantec reseller should be able to provide an extension license for another 30-days.

You might also qualify for Storage Foundation Basic which is free of charge.

Extract from datasheet:
Veritas Storage Foundation™ Basic from Symantec is a free version of the industry-leading Veritas™ Storage Foundation from Symantec product designed for heterogeneous online storage management of edge-tier workloads with up to four file systems, four volumes, and two processor sockets per system.

More info: http://www.symantec.com/business/storage-foundation-basic

[Wally_Heim]

Hi Tigerola,

You can try the eval extender key as mentioned by Marianne.  The issue with the eval extender key is that it will extend the expiration date an addititional 30 days past giving you a total of 90 days from the original date of installation.  If you are already past 90 days from the original installation date then the extender key will not help you.

Since your goal is to move data from one array to another I'm going to assume that you are using mirrored dynamic volumes.  With this you should seek a permanent solution because SFW may give you access issues to SFW dynamic disk groups after the license key is expirered.  SFW basic or a permanent license key would be the way to go as a long term solution.

Thanks,
Wally

[EJameson]

Hello Tigerola,

Once you have obtained a permanent key, or simply a fresh key all together, from our Customer Care representatives, or from your Sales Representative, you can simply swap out the keys with minimal impact to production. Evaluation keys install automatically with SFW, if you do not install a permanent key during the installation process. There is not a method for uninstalling / reinstalling the software using the same evaluation key, hence the need for a new eval extension, or a permanent key.

Additionally, unless the disks containing the data were left as Basic disks, or were created as Windows Compatible Disks, then you may have a bit of trouble maintaining the data from those disks if the SFW software is uninstalled, as we place a Private Region on the end of the disks which are normally not read by Windows.

At this point, I agree with Wally that a permanent key or a Basic key may be best. Once you've obtained that, simply perform the following steps to replace the key in your production environment.

***** IMPORTANT NOTE  *****
Do not perform these steps if you have an MSCS cluster configured and working, as this will cause an outage. Additionally, using the commands below for stopping / starting Volume Manager (vxvm) may bring disk groups offline. A scheduled maintenance window would be best, if it is not possible to have less than a few moments of downtime.


1.       Browse to the \Program Files\Common Files\Veritas Shares\vrtslic\lic directory and remove any files that exist here (or back them up to a different location to be safe).

2.       Go to Add/Remove Programs > Storage Foundations for Windows (Server Components) > Change

3.       Select the 'License Management' option and add the permanent license Key.

4.       Complete the Wizard.



From the Storage Foundation for Windows (SFW) perspective, it is necessary to restart vxob (for 4.x) and vxvm (for 5.x only). After adding the new key through the above steps, the next step will be to run the following from a command prompt:



SFW/HA 4.x:

net stop vxob

net start vxob



SFW/HA 5.x

net stop vxvm

net start vxvm



When running a VCS cluster, it is safe to perform these steps without causing an outage.
If VCS cluster is being used, it is necessary to restart HAD as well as using the commands above to restart the Storage Agent. The following commands will stop the cluster while leaving the clustered application running.

hastop -local -force

hastart

I hope this helps.

Thanks,

E. Jameson