Get started with License Usage Insights
Supported Citrix products
The License Usage Insights service provides usage information for the following Citrix products:
- Virtual Apps and Desktops (on-premises) product usage
- Citrix DaaS Premium (formerly Virtual Apps Premium and Virtual Apps and Desktops Premium services)
- Citrix DaaS Standard for Azure (formerly Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops Standard for Azure)
- NetScaler Console VPX allocations
Requirements
To capture license and usage information for Citrix on-premises products, Citrix License Server 11.16.3.0 or later is required. Only Windows-based and VPX-based license servers are supported.
Citrix License Server 11.16.3.0 and later contains key features that are important for Citrix Service Provider (CSP) partners:
- Optimized usage collection: License Server contains new functionality that optimizes licensing behavior and tracking to better support CSPs.
- Call home: License Server includes Call Home features that automate product usage collection for CSP partners. These features are exclusive to CSP partners and will only be activated when a CSP license is detected on the license server.
Step 1: Update Citrix License Server
If you’re running license servers older than Version 11.16.3.0, you must upgrade your license servers before using License Usage Insights. Upgrading in-place is simple and fast. Complete the following tasks:
- Download the latest license server. For more information about the latest version of Citrix License Server, refer to the Citrix Licensing documentation.
- Upgrade your current license server.
- Repeat the upgrade process for each of your license servers.
Step 2: Sign in to Citrix Cloud with My Citrix credentials
Before signing in, you’ll need to sign up for a Citrix Cloud account. Follow the steps described in Sign up for Citrix Cloud.
When creating your account, use the same My Citrix credentials that you use to allocate and download Citrix licenses from citrix.com. Citrix Cloud sends you an email at the address associated with your My Citrix credentials to confirm the account.
When your Citrix Cloud account is ready to use, sign in at https://citrix.cloud.com using your email address and password.
Step 3 (optional): Anonymize usernames through the license server
By default, usernames associated with Virtual Apps and Desktops or Citrix DaaS license checkouts are securely phoned home to Citrix.
Usernames are phoned home so CSP partners can take full advantage of License Usage Insights features and the CSP licensing program which supports free users for trial, test, and administrative product use.
User information is limited to a single user@domain entry; no additional personal identifiable data is phoned home. Citrix does not share this information.
Partners sensitive to uploading username information can enable username anonymization. When active, username anonymization converts readable usernames into unique strings using a secure and irreversible algorithm prior to upload.
License Usage Insights uses these unique identifiers to track product usage instead of the actual usernames. This approach allows service providers to take advantage of month-to-month insights without visibility into the actual usernames in the cloud service user interface.
To configure username anonymization
- On the license server, open the configuration file in a text editor. Typically, the configuration file is located at C:\Program Files\Citrix\Licensing\WebServicesForLicensing\SimpleLicenseServiceConfig.xml.
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In the Configurations section, add the UsageBasedBillingScramble setting as follows:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?> <Configurations> <EncoreConfiguration> <SamplingPeriod>15</SamplingPeriod> <RetentionTime>180</RetentionTime> <Enabled>true</Enabled> </EncoreConfiguration> <SARenewalConfigOptions>Notify</SARenewalConfigOptions> <UsageBasedBillingScramble>1</UsageBasedBillingScramble> </Configurations> <!--NeedCopy--> - Save the file.
Step 4: Use the License Usage Insights service
From the Citrix Cloud console, locate the License Usage Insights service and click Manage. For an overview of the service’s key features, see Manage product usage, license servers, and notifications.
Additional details
When using Citrix License Server with License Usage Insights, consider the following items:
- It might take up to 24 hours for a newly updated license server to appear in the License Usage Insights management console.
- When usage data is uploaded from a license server, it’s processed and stored in a secure fashion so License Usage Insights can access it at a later date. This process might take up to 24 hours to complete.
- By default, usernames associated with Virtual Apps and Desktops or Citrix DaaS license checkouts are securely phoned home to Citrix.
- Usernames are phoned home so CSP partners can take full advantage of License Usage Insights features and the CSP licensing program which supports free users for trial, test, and administrative product use.
- User information is limited to a single user@domain entry; no additional personal identifiable data is phoned home. Citrix will never share this information.
Help and support
If you need assistance with License Usage Insights, open a support ticket on the My Support portal. To access My Support from Citrix Cloud:
- Sign in to Citrix Cloud.
- Click the Help icon near the top-right of the screen.
- Select Open a ticket.
- Select Go to My Support and sign in with your My Citrix credentials.
- Complete and submit the form.
A member of Citrix Technical Support will follow up and assist you.
Frequently Asked Questions
- What information is being phoned home? Can I view the information my license servers are sending to Citrix? Yes, you can view a copy of the information that’s phoned home to Citrix. For details, see License server information included in uploads.
- Is License Usage Insights available to Citrix customers or partners that are not Citrix Service Providers? No. License Usage Insights is only available to Citrix Service Provider partners with an active partner agreement.
- Can I disable Call Home on the license server? No. Under the Citrix Service Provider license agreement, all license servers are required to phone home product usage. Partners sensitive to the phone home use case can use the username anonymization feature. For details, see Anonymize usernames through the license server.
- Will I be billed based on the product usage shown in License Usage Insights? No. License Usage Insights helps partners understand their product usage so they can report it quickly and accurately to their Citrix distributor. CSP partners will continue to be billed based on the product usage they report to their Citrix distributor. Citrix distributors will continue to own the billing relationship with CSP partners.
In this article
- Supported Citrix products
- Requirements
- Step 1: Update Citrix License Server
- Step 2: Sign in to Citrix Cloud with My Citrix credentials
- Step 3 (optional): Anonymize usernames through the license server
- Step 4: Use the License Usage Insights service
- Additional details
- Help and support
- Frequently Asked Questions