HashiCorp Enterprise servers will no longer start without a license. Servers require licenses to be provided from either an environment variable or file.
All customers on Consul Enterprise 1.8/1.9 must first upgrade their client and server agents to the latest patch release.
During the upgrade the license file must also be configured on client agents in an environment variable or file path, otherwise the Consul agents will fail to retrieve the license with a valid agent token.
The license changes do not impact customers with the baked-in licensed binaries. In a later release of Consul Enterprise, baked-in binaries will be deprecated.
Starting with Consul Enterprise 1.10.0, a valid license is required on-disk (auto-loading) or as an environment variable for Consul Enterprise to successfully boot-up.
The in-storage license feature will not be supported starting with Consul Enterprise 1.10.0+ent. All Consul Enterprise clusters using 1.10.0+ent must ensure that there is a valid license on-disk (auto-loaded) or as an environment variable.
Consul snapshot agents will attempt to retrieve the license from servers if certain conditions are met: ACLs are enabled, a ACL token is provided to the client agent, the client agents configuration contains `start_join/retry_join` addresses, the start/retry join addresses are addresses of the Consul servers.
## Q: Where can users get a trial license for Consul Enterprise?
Consul Enterprise binaries starting with 1.10.0+ent, will be subject to EULA check. Release 1.10.0+ent introduces the EULA check for trial licenses (non-trial licenses already go through EULA check during contractual agreement).
The agreement to a EULA happens only once (when the user gets their license), Consul Enterprise **will check for the presence of a valid license every time a node restarts**.
When a customer upgrades existing clusters to a 1.10.0+ent release, they need to have a valid license to successfully upgrade. This valid license must be auto-loaded.
When a customer deploys new clusters to a 1.10.0+ent release, they need to have a valid license to successfully upgrade. This valid license must be on-disk (auto-loaded).
## Q: What is the migration path for customers who want to migrate from their existing license-as-applied-via-the-CLI flow to the license on disk flow?
1. Run [`consul license get -signed`](/commands/license#get) to extract the license from their running cluster. Store the license in a secure location on disk.
1. Set up the necessary configuration so that when Consul Enterprise reboots it will have access to the required license. This could be via the client agent configuration file or an environment variable.
1. Visit the [Enterprise License Tutorial](https://learn.hashicorp.com/tutorials/nomad/hashicorp-enterprise-license?in=consul/enterprise) for detailed steps on how to install the license key.
1. You should already have a Consul Enterprise license set as a Kubernetes secret. If you do not, refer to [how to obtain a copy of your license](/docs/enterprise/license/faq#q-i-m-an-existing-enterprise-customer-but-don-t-have-my-license-how-can-i-get-it).
Once you have the license then create a Kubernetes secret containing the license as described in [Kubernetes - Consul Enterprise](/docs/k8s/installation/deployment-configurations/consul-enterprise).
1. Follow the [Kubernetes Upgrade Docs](/docs/k8s/upgrade) to upgrade. No changes to your `values.yaml` file are needed to enable enterprise autoloading since this support is built in to consul-helm 0.32.0 and greater.
~> **WARNING:** If you are upgrading the Helm chart but **not** upgrading the Consul version, you must set `server.enterpriseLicense.enableLicenseAutoload: false`. See [Kubernetes - Consul Enterprise](/docs/k8s/installation/deployment-configurations/consul-enterprise) for more details.
1. Acquire a valid Consul Enterprise license. If you are an existing HashiCorp enterprise customer you may contact your organization's customer success manager (CSM) or email support-softwaredelivery@hashicorp.com for information on how to get your organization's enterprise license.
1. Store the license in a secure location on disk.
1. Set up the necessary configuration so that when Consul Enterprise reboots it will have the required license. This could be via the client agent configuration file or an environment variable.
Visit the [Enterprise License Tutorial](https://learn.hashicorp.com/tutorials/nomad/hashicorp-enterprise-license?in=consul/enterprise) for detailed steps on how to install the license key.
1. Acquire a valid Consul Enterprise license. If you are an existing HashiCorp enterprise customer you may contact your organization's customer success manager (CSM) or email support-softwaredelivery@hashicorp.com for information on how to get your organization's enterprise license.
1. Set up the necessary configuration so that when Consul Enterprise reboots it will have the required license. This could be via the client agent configuration file or an environment variable.
Visit the [Enterprise License Tutorial](https://learn.hashicorp.com/tutorials/nomad/hashicorp-enterprise-license?in=consul/enterprise) for detailed steps on how to install the license key.
When downgrading to a version of Consul before 1.10.0+ent, customers will need to follow the previous process for applying an enterprise licenses to Consul Enterprise.
Assume a scenario where there are three Consul server nodes:
- Node A: v1.9.5
- Node B: v1.10.0 [Leader]
- Node C: v1.9.5
The command `consul license put` is issued from Node A. This will result in an error due to how Consul routes calls to the server node, Node B in this example.
Because Node A is a follower when the call `consul license put` is issued, the call will be redirected to Node B (leader).
This is a scenario that could occur if a customer downgrades from 1.10.0+ and the Consul leadership has not transferred back over to a node not running 1.10.0+.
This also has the potential of occurring when upgrading if scheduled license updates or autoscaling groups recoveries are in place.
If you are using a Consul Enterprise version prior to 1.10.0 and decide to upgrade the Helm chart to version 0.32.0 or newer, but not the Consul version.
