Zebra FX Series Licensing Management User Manual

FX SERIES
RFID FIXED
READER

FX Series Licensing
Management

User Guide

MN-003723-04EN Rev. A

FX SERIES LICENSING

MANAGEMENT

USER GUIDE

MN-003723-04EN

Revision A

September 2020

Copyright

ZEBRA and the stylized Zebra head are trademarks of Zebra Technologies Corporation, registered in many
jurisdictions worldwide. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
©2019-2020 Zebra Technologies Corporation and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.

COPYRIGHTS & TRADEMARKS: For complete copyright and trademark information, go to

www.zebra.com/copyright

.

WARRANTY: For complete warranty information, go to www.zebra.com/warranty

END USER LICENSE AGREEMENT: For complete EULA information, go to www.zebra.com/eula

For Australia Only

For Australia Only. This warranty is given by Zebra Technologies Asia Pacific Pte. Ltd., 71 Robinson Road, #05­02/03, Singapore 068895, Singapore. Our goods come with guarantees that cannot be excluded under the
Australia Consumer Law. You are entitled to a replacement or refund for a major failure and compensation for any
other reasonably foreseeable loss or damage. You are also entitled to have the goods repaired or replaced if the
goods fail to be of acceptable quality and the failure does not amount to a major failure.

Zebra Technologies Corporation Australia’s limited warranty above is in addition to any rights and remedies you
may have under the Australian Consumer Law. If you have any queries, please call Zebra Technologies
Corporation at [phone]. You may also visit our website: www.zebra.com for the most updated warranty
terms.

Terms of Use

•

Proprietary Statement

This manual contains proprietary information of Zebra Technologies Corporation and its subsidiaries
(“Zebra Technologies”). It is intended solely for the information and use of parties operating and
maintaining the equipment described herein. Such proprietary information may not be used, reproduced,
or disclosed to any other parties for any other purpose without the express, written permission of Zebra
Technologies.

•

Product Improvements

Continuous improvement of products is a policy of Zebra Technologies. All specifications and designs are
subject to change without notice.

•

Liability Disclaimer

Zebra Technologies takes steps to ensure that its published Engineering specifications and manuals are
correct; however, errors do occur. Zebra Technologies reserves the right to correct any such errors and
disclaims liability resulting therefrom.

•

Limitation of Liability

.

.

In no event shall Zebra Technologies or anyone else involved in the creation, production, or delivery of the
accompanying product (including hardware and software) be liable for any damages whatsoever
(including, without limitation, consequential damages including loss of business profits, business
interruption, or loss of business information) arising out of the use of, the results of use of, or inability to
use such product, even if Zebra Technologies has been advised of the possibility of such damages. Some
jurisdictions do not allow the exclusion or limitation of incidental or consequential damages, so the above
limitation or exclusion may not apply to you.

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Revision History

Changes to the original manual are listed below:

Change Date Description

-01 Rev A 9/2019 Initial release

-02EN Rev A 4/2020 Updated the guide following the FX Series Licensing Management section in

-03EN Rev A 4/2020 Updated the Procuring Licenses section.

MN000026A11EN.

-04EN Rev A 9/2020

Added:

- An important note at the FX Series Licensing Management introduction section.

- A note in the Acquiring License from Production Server (ON-Line) section.

- Licensing Error Logs.

Updated the Troubleshooting section.

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Table of Contents

Copyright ........................................................................................................................................... 3

For Australia Only ....................................................................................................................... 3

Terms of Use .................................................................................................................................... 3

Revision History ................................................................................................................................ 4

About This Guide

Introduction ....................................................................................................................................... 7

Notational Conventions ..................................................................................................................... 7

Related Documents and Software .................................................................................................... 7

Service Information ........................................................................................................................... 8

FX Series Licensing Management

Introduction ....................................................................................................................................... 9

FX Series Licensing Model ............................................................................................................... 9

Procuring Licenses .................................................................................................................... 10

Types of Licenses ................................................................................................................................... 10

Trial License ........................................................................................................................ 10

Perpetual License ............................................................................................................... 10

Enabling a License .................................................................................................................... 10

Time Tampering ........................................................................................................................ 10

FX Series Licensing Mechanism ..................................................................................................... 11

License Acquisition Modes ........................................................................................................ 11

Acquiring License from Production Server (ON-Line) ............................................................... 12

Acquiring License from UAT Server (ON-Line) ......................................................................... 13

Acquiring License from Local License Server (ON-Line) .......................................................... 14

Acquiring License by Downloading Bin File (OFF-Line) ............................................................ 15

Device ID ............................................................................................................................. 15

Activation ID ........................................................................................................................ 16

Returning a License ................................................................................................................................ 17

Setting Up and Managing the Local License Server ................................................................. 18

Downloading Capability Response from the Cloud Server ....................................................... 19

Troubleshooting

Troubleshooting for Licensing Errors .............................................................................................. 26

5

Table of Contents

Licensing Error Logs

Licensing Error Logs ....................................................................................................................... 29

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ABOUT THIS GUIDE

Introduction

This guide provides information about the licensing model and the licensing mechanism used in the FX Connect
and Network Connect features.

NOTE Screens and windows pictured in this guide are samples and may differ from actual screens.

Notational Conventions

The following conventions are used in this document:

• “RFID reader”, “reader”, or “FX Series” refers to the Zebra FX7500 and/or FX9600 RFID readers.

• Bullets (•) indicate:

• Action items

• Lists of alternatives

• Lists of required steps that are not necessarily sequential.

• Sequential lists (for example, those that describe step-by-step procedures) appear as numbered lists.

Related Documents and Software

The following documents provide more information about the reader.

• FX7500 RFID Reader Quick Start Guide, p/n MN000070Axx

• FX9600 RFID Reader Quick Start Guide, p/n MN-003087-xx

• FX Series Reader Software Interface Control Guide (describes Low Level Reader Protocol (LLRP) and

Reader Management (RM) extensions for the reader), p/n 72E-131718-xx.

For the latest version of these guides and software, visit: www.zebra.com/support

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Service Information

If you have a problem using the equipment, contact your facility's technical or systems support. If there is a
problem with the equipment, they will contact the Zebra Global Customer Support Center at:

www.zebra.com/support

When contacting Zebra support, please have the following information available:

• Serial number of the unit

• Model number or product name

• Software type and version number.

Zebra responds to calls by e-mail, telephone or fax within the time limits set forth in support agreements.

If your problem cannot be solved by Zebra support, you may need to return your equipment for servicing and will
be given specific directions. Zebra is not responsible for any damages incurred during shipment if the approved
shipping container is not used. Shipping the units improperly can possibly void the warranty.

If you purchased your business product from a Zebra business partner, contact that business partner for support.

About This Guide

.

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FX Series Licensing Management

Introduction

This chapter explains the licensing model and the licensing mechanism used in the FX Series RFID Readers. FX
Connect and Network Connect are the licensed features on the FX Series Readers. Topics covered in this guide
are as follows:

• License activation in the ON-Line and OFF-Line modes. See License Acquisition Modes on page 11.

• How to return licenses. See Returning a License on page 17.

• Setup and administration of the license server. See Setting Up and Managing the Local License Server on

page 18.

• How to download capability response from the cloud server. See Downloading Capability Response from

the Cloud Server on page 19.

See Troubleshooting for Licensing Errors on page 26 to troubleshoot errors related to licensing.

IMPORTANT: Prior to license acquisition, the FX Readers date and time must be correctly

synchronized. See Time Tampering on page 10 for more details.

Clear the Chrome/FireFox browser cache after upgrading the current firmware version

3.0.35/3.1.12 to 3.6.28 or newer because the cache is not cleared automatically. The
browser cache may cause issues to the web UI pages. You can also right-click on the
web UI page, then select Reload Frame in the menu.

NOTE: The FX7500 does not support Network Connect. The FX9600 supports both FX Connect and

Network Connect.

FX Series Licensing Model

FX Connect and Network Connect features require a valid license to be installed in the reader. The FX Connect
and Network Connect licenses purchased from Zebra determine the number of FX7500/FX9600 readers that can
use FX Connect and Network Connect features. Only the readers that successfully acquire a license from the
license server can read tags and load the RFID tag data to the designated output. Users can request a trial license
for a limited period only. The following sections explain the procedures to procure the license. After the license is
procured, the user receives an Activation ID which is used to activate or return the license on the readers.

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Administrator Console

Procuring Licenses

For the customers, partners, and distributors that require a FX Series product license for FX Connect and Network
Connect, request a trial license through your Account Manager.

Account Manager and Sales Engineers can request a trial license for FX Connect and Network Connect for
customers, partners, or distributors via SFDC Forms

.

Zebra Engineering can request a trial license for FX Connect and Network Connect via Service NOW

.

Types of Licenses

NOTE: The FX7500 does not support Network Connect (EtherNet/IP).

There are four type of licenses for FX Readers:

• FX Connect Trial License

• FX Connect Perpetual License

• Network Connect (EtherNet/IP) Trial License

• Network Connect (EtherNet/IP) Perpetual License.

Trial License

The trial license is a time bound license. Based on the procurement type, it can be valid for 30, 60 or 90 days.
When the trial period ends, the license is deactivated and the respective application is ceased from operations.
Upon expiration of the trial term, the user is required to purchase a renewal license or switch to a permanent
license.

Perpetual License

The perpetual license is a permanent license and is available for the life of the reader.

Enabling a License

To enable a license on a FX Reader, procure the appropriate license (trial or perpetual), then log in to the reader
web interface to configure and activate the license.

Time Tampering

License operations such as acquiring and returning licenses are time dependent operations. The FX Reader must
be configured with the current date and time. Failing to do so results in errors when acquiring license and releasing
licenses.

The reader time can be set automatically via the NTP server or configured manually in the Date Time windows
(see Figure 1 on page 11).

NOTE: Clock Wind Back is enabled in the firmware. Any back tracing of date or time results in a

license error.

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Figure 1 System Time Management

Administrator Console

FX Series Licensing Mechanism

License Acquisition Modes

A license for the FX Readers may be acquired in an ON-Line or OFF-Line mode.

There are three servers for the ON-Line mode, which are as follows:

NOTE: The On-Line mode license acquisition (from the Production, UAT, and Local License servers)

requires an Internet connectivity.

• Production Server (ON-Line Mode). See Acquiring License from Production Server (ON-Line) on page 12.

• UAT Server (ON-Line Mode). See Acquiring License from UAT Server (ON-Line) on page 13.

• Local License Server (ON-Line Mode). See Acquiring License from Local License Server (ON-Line) on

page 14.

See Acquiring License by Downloading Bin File (OFF-Line) on page 15 to acquire licenses in the OFF-Line mode.

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Administrator Console

Acquiring License from Production Server (ON-Line)

This method is for the external customer. This is the default license acquisition with minimal setup and
configuration. The FX Reader must have an Internet connection to acquire a license from the Production server.
The license server is hosted on the cloud and the FX Reader contacts the cloud-based license server to acquire
licenses.

NOTE: If the Install and Run application option is selected (see Figure 2) when you are installing

the EtherNet/IP license, after the license is installed, the EtherNet/IP application forces a
login to the FX Reader and the current web session is logged out. Log in again to use the
web browser.

Figure 2 Manage License - Production Server

To acquire licenses from the Production server:

1. Select the appropriate options from the drop-down boxes as shown in Figure 2.

NOTE: The Install and Run application option allows you to install the EtherNet/IP package and

starts the application. The EtherNet/IP package is built in the reader firmware. If the
EtherNet/IP stack is already installed, uncheck the Install and Run application box.

2. Enter the 32-byte Activation ID that is provided via e-mail when the license is procured.

NOTE: To circumvent a firewall while contacting the cloud-based license server, set up a proxy

server. For detailed instructions, go to:

https://supportcommunity.zebra.com/s/article/ZSL-Licensing-Server-Connectivity?language=
en_US.

3. Click Activate to acquire the license. An Available License(s) list displays (see Figure 3) and includes the

following information:

• License Index: Lists the license number.

• License Name: This is the feature name of license, such as fx-feature connect and nc-feature-ethernetip.

• License Version: Lists the license version number.

• Expiry Date: Expiration date for the trial license. For the Perpetual license, this field shows permanent.

• License Count: Lists the number of license allocated to the FX Reader.

• Host ID: A unique number for the license server to identify the device. This number has both model and

mac number of device. The example shown in Figure 3 on page 13 is FX9600_84_24_8D_EE_57_34.

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