11 Copyright © Acronis International GmbH, 2002-2015
1.4 Licensing of Acronis Backup Advanced
Acronis License Server
Licenses of Acronis Backup Advanced are managed by Acronis License Server. You can install a license
server as a separate component (p. 38) or use the one integrated into the management server. The
functionality of the license server is similar for both types of installation.
Acronis License Server can import multiple license keys from .txt or .eml files, saving you from the
time-consuming procedure of typing in numbers.
Specifying licenses during installation
During installation of a licensed component (agent), you can either specify the license server or enter
a license key manually. When you register the machine on the management server, the manually
entered key will be imported to the server and will be seen in the list of licenses.
Installation of an agent is possible without specifying a license or a license server in the following
cases:
When installing the software in the trial mode (p. 4).
When installing the software for cloud backup only. Such backup does not require a license, but
requires a subscription for the Acronis Cloud Backup service.
When installing Agent for VMware (p. 7) (both versions). The licenses will be consumed later,
when a backup of the specified virtual machines starts. One license will be required for each host
where a virtual machine is selected for backup.
Checking licenses
An Acronis agent connects to Acronis License Server every time the agent service starts and then
every 1–5 days, as specified by the agent configuration parameters. If the agent is unable to connect
to the license server, it initiates an alert. The agent keeps working without the license server for 1–60
days (as specified by the configuration parameters). After that, the agent stops doing backups
(except for cloud backups) until a successful license check is completed.
If the agent connects to the license server but does not find the acquired license, it tries to acquire
another license. If no license is available, the agent stops doing backups (except for cloud backups)
until a license is successfully acquired.
By default, the agent tries to connect to the license server every day and keeps working without a
license server for 30 days.
1.4.1 How many licenses do I need?
Assume that your company network includes a server and five workstations running Windows. All
the machines are backed up by the administrator who prefers setting up and monitoring backups
from a single place. Therefore, you consider licenses for Acronis Backup Advanced. The cost of a
license for a workstation is less than for a server.
To protect all the machines, you need:
Five Acronis Backup Advanced for PC licenses
One Acronis Backup Advanced for Windows Server license.
