Citrix Application

Delivery Management
(ADM)
Your Implementation Guide –
Pooled Licensing in ADM Service
Citrix Application Delivery Management (ADM) Service – Pooled Licensing in ADM Service

LEGAL NOTICE

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Copyright © 2020 Citrix Systems, Inc. All rights reserved. Citrix, the Citrix logo, and other marks herein are
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Citrix Application Delivery Management (ADM) Service – Pooled Licensing in ADM Service

Table of Contents

1 Introduction ................................................................................................................................................ 4
Document Purpose .............................................................................................................................. 4
Intended Audience ............................................................................................................................... 4
Application Delivery Management Service .......................................................................................... 4
2 ADC pooled capacity ................................................................................................................................... 5
2.1 Citrix ADM as a license server .............................................................................................................. 5
2.1.1 Components and system requirements ......................................................................................... 5
3 Configuring Citrix ADC Pooled Capacity...................................................................................................... 8
3.1 Configure Citrix ADM as a license server.............................................................................................. 8
3.2 Configure Citrix ADC Pooled Capacity on MPX-Z................................................................................13
3.3 Configure Citrix ADC Pooled Capacity on a Citrix ADC VPX Instance .................................................13
3.4 Configure Citrix ADC Pooled Capacity on SDX-Z .................................................................................16
3.5 Configure Citrix ADC Pooled Capacity on a Citrix ADC CPX Instance .................................................19

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Citrix Application Delivery Management (ADM) Service – Pooled Licensing in ADM Service

1 INTRODUCTION

DOCUMENT PURPOSE
The Citrix Application Delivery Management Service Implementation Guide provides information for the
Citrix Application Delivery Management cloud service. The purpose of this document is to define the
technology components required to support this service.

This document is not intended to be a custom design based on all customer requirements.

INTENDED AUDIENCE
The intended audience for this document includes Citrix Project Coordinators, Customer Success
Managers, and Customer Success Engineers, along with engineering groups and technical stakeholders
responsible for deployment.

APPLICATION DELIVERY MANAGEMENT SERVICE

Citrix Application Delivery Management (ADM) Service, previously known as NetScaler Management and
Analytics (NMAS), is a service utilized to manage, monitor, and troubleshoot your Application Delivery
Controller (ADC) appliances (including MPX, VPX, SDX, CPX), Citrix SD-WAN, and both Citrix Gateway and
Citrix Secure Web Gateway.

Application Delivery Management (ADM) gives you a centralized location within the Citrix Cloud control
plane to execute several administrative tasks, including ADC deployment and management, as well as
upgrades, monitoring of your appliances performance and security, creating reports, data extraction,
configuring alerts, and many others.

This guide provides Administrators with instructions on how to install and configure the ADM Agent – a
component required to connect your environment with Citrix Cloud and therefore allow for telemetry
data collection.

Note that if your primary goal is Analytics for HDX, Gateway Web, or the like, you cannot use the built-in
ADM Agent on ADC, only the actual ADM Agent Virtual Machine downloaded from your tenant will work
as a collector of AppFlow statistics.

For more information on Citrix Application Delivery Management, please see the Application Delivery
Management product documentation.

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Citrix Application Delivery Management (ADM) Service – Pooled Licensing in ADM Service

2 ADC POOLED CAPACITY

Pooled licensing is a feature included in the Citrix ADM Service. It enables administrators to allocate,
distribute, and assign licenses, bandwidth, and virtual CPUs for multiple instances - even if said instances
are distributed across multiple data centers - using the ADM Service tile within the Cloud Control Plane.
(except for SDX, for which the licenses will be manageable via the SVM instance)

Citrix ADM Service pooled licensing supports multiple Agents per data center. Licensing is managed by
the ADM Service as a whole and not just one Agent. Thus, users should think of an Agent as a network
proxy to a cloud-based license server. Citrix ADM Service pooled licensing also supports license access
codes to fetch licenses from the Citrix Portal. Citrix ADM Service provides a dashboard that helps users
to manage the capacity allocation and view license usage.

2.1 CITRIX ADM AS A LICENSE SERVER

2.1.1 Components and system requirements
Pooled capacity decouples software from the underlying hardware. This approach allows a licensing
model that is transferrable from existing platforms to new platforms. Pooled capacity consists of four
components:

1. Zero-capacity hardware: is hardware that has no bandwidth, no instances, and no features

2. A pool of bandwidth with the software edition (standard, advanced, and premium): can be shared
across all Citrix ADC form factors, including MPX, SDX, VPX, and CPX
3. An instance pool: is a pool of instances shared across software/virtual Citrix ADC form factors,
including VPX running on SDX, stand-alone VPX, and CPX
4. Citrix ADM Service: is used for managing bandwidth and instance licenses. This function of Citrix
ADM comes at no extra charge to the administrators.

Zero-capacity hardware

When managed through Citrix ADC pooled capacity, SDX instances are referred to as “zero-capacity
hardware” because these instances cannot function until they check resources out of the bandwidth and
instance pools. As a result, these platforms are referred to as SDX-Z appliances.

Similarly, MPX appliances are also referred to as “zero-capacity hardware” when managed through Citrix
ADC pooled capacity because they cannot function until they check resources out of the bandwidth
pool. As a result, these platforms are referred to as MPX-Z appliances.

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Zero-capacity hardware appliances require a platform license to check out bandwidth and an instance
license from the common pool. Users must first install a platform license manually by using the
hardware serial number or the license access code.

For a complete list of the platforms and their respective versions that support zero-capacity, please refer
to the following link: https://docs.citrix.com/en-us/advanced-concepts/design-guides/pooled-
capacity.html

Supported Standalone Citrix ADC VPX instances

Citrix ADC VPX instances running Citrix ADC software release 11.1 or later on the following hypervisors
support pooled capacity:

• VMware ESX 6.0

• Citrix XenServer
• Linux KVM

Citrix ADC VPX instances running Citrix ADC software release 12.0 or later on the following hypervisors
and cloud platforms support pooled capacity:

• Microsoft Hyper-V
• Amazon AWS
• Microsoft Azure

Supported Standalone Citrix ADC CPX instances

Citrix ADC CPX instances deployed on a Docker host support pooled capacity. Unlike zero-capacity
hardware, CPX does not require a platform license. To process traffic, it must check out an instance
license from the pool.

Bandwidth pool

The bandwidth pool is the total bandwidth that can be shared by Citrix ADC - both physical and virtual.
It is comprised of separate pools for each software edition (Standard, Advanced, and Premium). A given
Citrix ADC cannot have a bandwidth from different pools checked out concurrently.

The bandwidth pool from which a Citrix ADC can check out bandwidth depends upon its software
edition for which it is licensed. When checked out from the pool, a license unlocks resources such as
CPUs/PEs, SSL cores, packets per second, and bandwidth.

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Instance pool

The instance pool defines the number of VPX instances or CPX instances that can be managed through
Citrix ADC pooled capacity or the number of VPX instances in a SDX-Z.

Note: The Management Service (SVM) instance of an SDX-Z does not consume an instance license.

Citrix ADM Service

Citrix ADC pooled capacity uses Citrix ADM Service to manage pooled capacity licenses: bandwidth pool
licenses and instance pool licenses. Users can use Citrix ADM to manage pooled capacity licenses
without an ADM license.

When checking out licenses from a bandwidth and/or instance pool, Citrix ADC form factor and
hardware model number on a zero-capacity hardware platform determine:

1) The minimum bandwidth and the number of instances that a Citrix ADC must check out before
being functional

2) The maximum bandwidth and the number of instances that a Citrix ADC can check out

3) The minimum bandwidth unit for each bandwidth check-out. The minimum bandwidth unit is the
smallest unit of bandwidth that a Citrix ADC has to check out from a pool. Any check-out must be an
integer multiple of the minimum bandwidth unit.

For a full list of the maximum bandwidth/instances, the minimum bandwidth/instances, and minimum
bandwidth unit for all supported Citrix ADC platforms, refer to the following link:
https://docs.citrix.com/en-us/advanced-concepts/design-guides/pooled-capacity.html

License requirements for different form factors

Figure 1 – License Requirements

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Citrix Application Delivery Management (ADM) Service – Pooled Licensing in ADM Service

3 CONFIGURING CITRIX ADC POOLED CAPACITY

Licenses uploaded to the ADM Service should be of the pooled license type, and they should be locked
to the cloud virtual Host-ID. The Agent should have inbound ports 27000 and 7279 opened.

If an agent goes down, the ADCs connected to it will go into grace mode. If an agent goes down, ADCs
not connected to it will not reflect any configuration changes for approximately twenty minutes. They
will continue to operate normally. Changing the license type on an ADC (or the license edition) requires
a warm reboot. A capacity change for a license does not require a reboot.

Agents and ADCs have to be made known to the Citrix ADM Service through a registration/addition
process before using any feature of the ADM Service.

3.1 CONFIGURE CITRIX ADM AS A LICENSE SERVER

You can configure Citrix ADM as a license server for the Citrix ADC pooled capacity. There are two ways
for a Citrix ADC instance to get bandwidth, or instance license, or both:

• A Citrix ADC instance can initiate the check-out request to Citrix ADM to obtain its bandwidth and
instance licenses
• The licenses can be allocated to a Citrix ADC instance through Citrix ADM

Note: Both ways work for every instance type except for VPX on SDX, as those licenses are managed
using the SVM instance instead.

To install license files on Citrix ADM:

1) Navigate to Networks > Licenses

2) In the License Files section, select one of the following options:

• Upload license files from a local computer: If a license file is already present on your local computer,
you can upload it to the Citrix ADM. To add license files, click Browse and select the license file (.lic)
that you want to add. Then click Finish.

Note: If the uploaded license files do not add the licenses in the Citrix ADC Pooled capacity, you can select
the license files and click Apply Licenses to add the licenses to the pool.

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• Use license access code: Citrix emails the License Access Code for the licenses that you purchase. To
add license files, enter the license access code in the text box and then click Get Licenses.

Figure 2 – License file section.

Note: At any time, you can add more licenses to Citrix ADM from the License Settings.

To allocate Citrix ADC Pooled Capacity licenses from Citrix ADM:

You must register the Citrix ADC instance with the Citrix ADM software. You can check out licenses from
Citrix ADM and also allocate licenses from Citrix ADM to the Citrix ADC pooled capacity-enabled
instance.

1) To register, in the Citrix ADC GUI, navigate to System > Licenses > Manage Licenses >
Add New License
2) Select Use remote licensing, and from the Remote Licensing Mode menu, select Pooled Licensing
and enter the FQDN or IP Address of your ADM Agent
3) For Username and Password, enter your corresponding Citrix ADM credentials

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Figure 3 – Remote license server parameters.

4) Click Continue. The Allocate licenses window appears

Figure 4 – Instance and bandwidth allocation.

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5) Select the license edition and the required bandwidth, click Get Licenses

Manage and Update License Allocation from Citrix ADM:

After you have registered the license server and allocated the license, you can use ADM to manage the
license and update license allocation.

1) On your ADM Service console, navigate to Networks > Licenses > Bandwidth Licenses > Pooled
Capacity. Note: If you want to allocate licenses to ADC FIPS instances, navigate to Networks >
Licenses > Bandwidth Licenses > FIPS Pooled Capacity
2) Click the license pool that you want to manage
3) Click the > button to select a Citrix ADC instance from the list of available instances

Figure 5 – License pool options.

4) If you want to change or release a license allocation, click Change allocation or Release allocation

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Figure 6 – Instance and Bandwidth change allocation tab.

5) You can also change your available license allocation by clicking on Change allocation. A pop-up
window with the available licenses in the license server appears.

Figure 7 – Instance and Bandwidth change allocation tab.

6) You can choose the bandwidth or instance allocation to the Citrix ADC instance by setting the
Allocate list. After making your selections, click Allocate.
You can also change the allocated license edition from the list in the Change License
Allocation window.

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3.2 CONFIGURE CITRIX ADC POOLED CAPACITY ON MPX-Z

MPX-Z is the Citrix ADC pooled-capacity enabled Citrix ADC MPX appliance. MPX-Z supports bandwidth
pooling for Premium, Advanced, or Standard edition licenses.

MPX-Z requires its platform licenses before it can connect to the license server. You can install the MPX-
Z platform license by either uploading the license file from a local computer or using the instance’s
hardware serial number, or the License Access Code from System > Licenses section of the Citrix ADC
Instance’s GUI. If you remove the MPX-Z platform license, the pooled-capacity feature is disabled, and
all the checked-out licenses are checked in to the license server.

You can dynamically modify the bandwidth of an MPX-Z instance without a restart. A restart is required
only if you want to change the license edition.

Note: When you restart the instance, it automatically checks out the pooled licenses required for its
configured capacity.

3.3 CONFIGURE CITRIX ADC POOLED CAPACITY ON A CITRIX ADC VPX INSTANCE

A pooled-capacity enabled Citrix ADC VPX instance can check out licenses from a bandwidth pool
(Premium/Advanced/Standard editions). You can use the Citrix ADC GUI to check out licenses from the
license server.

You can dynamically modify the bandwidth of a VPX instance without a restart. A restart is required only
if you want to change the license edition.

Note: When you restart the instance, it will automatically check out the pooled licenses required for its
configured capacity.

Allocate Pool Licenses to a Citrix ADC MPX-Z or Citrix ADC VPX Instance

1) In the Citrix ADC GUI, navigate to System > Licenses > Manage Licenses > Add New License
2) Select Use remote licensing, and from the Remote Licensing Mode dropdown menu select Pooled
Licensing**
3) Enter the details of the license server in the Server Name/IP Address field and specify the port
(27000 by default)
4) For Username and Password, enter the Citrix ADM agent credentials

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Figure 8 – Remote license server parameters.

5) Click Continue. The Allocate licenses window appears

6) Select the license edition and the required bandwidth, click Get Licenses

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Figure 9 – Instance and Bandwidth change allocation tab.

7) You can change or release the license allocation by selecting Change allocation or Release
allocation

Figure 10 – Instance and Bandwidth change allocation tab.

• If you click Change allocation, a pop-up window shows the licenses available on the license server.
You can allocate bandwidth or instances to the Citrix ADC instance from the Allocate drop-down list.
Then click Get Licenses.
• You can choose the license edition and the bandwidth required from the drop-down lists in the pop-
up window.

Note: A restart is not required if you change the bandwidth allocation, but a warm reboot is required if
you change the license edition.
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3.4 CONFIGURE CITRIX ADC POOLED CAPACITY ON SDX-Z

An SDX-Z instance is a pooled-capacity enabled instance of Citrix ADC SDX. SDX-Z supports bandwidth
pooling for Premium, Advanced, and Standard editions, and instance pooling. After you apply for the
SDX-Z platform license, the Management Service provides options for checking licenses out from and
back into the licensing server, and for allocating bandwidth capacity to the Citrix ADC instances running
on the SDX-Z platform.

Note: As mentioned previously, Citrix ADC VPX instances running on SDX-Z cannot directly check licenses
out from or into the license server. The license check-in or check-out can be done by the Management
Service in SDX.

You can install the SDX-Z platform license by either uploading the license file from the local computer or
using the instance’s hardware serial number, or the License Access Code.

If you remove the SDX-Z platform license, the pooled-capacity feature is disabled, and all the licenses
are checked back into the licensing server.

Pool Capacity on Citrix ADC SDX

Instance Pool:

An SDX appliance can provide the same number of instances that are available in the instance pool of
the SDX appliance.

Bandwidth Pool:

During Citrix ADC instance provisioning, bandwidth is allocated to the instance. You can select the
edition and required bandwidth to provision a Virtual Citrix ADC instance. The Management Service
(SVM) allows the provisioning to continue only if the instance has sufficient bandwidth for the requested
edition. You are notified if the bandwidth is insufficient. SVM does not consume a license.

Note: Bandwidth modification does not require an instance restart.

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Allocate Pool Licenses to a Citrix ADC SDX-Z Instance

To allocate your licenses:

1) In a web browser, type the IP address of your Citrix ADC SDX-Z instance (for example,
http://192.168.100.1)
2) In the User Name and Password fields, enter the administrator credentials
3) On the Configuration tab, navigate to System > Licenses, and go to Pooled Capacity

Figure 11 – Remote license server parameters.

4) Enter the details of the license server in the Server Name/IP Address field
5) If you want to manage your instance’s pool licenses through Citrix ADM, select the Register with
Citrix ADM checkbox and enter the ADM credentials
6) You can change or release the license allocation by selecting Change allocation or Release
allocation

Note: The checked-out licenses are stored in a separate pool by the ADM.

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Figure 12 – Instance and Bandwidth change allocation tab.

7) To change the license allocation for a specific VPX instance in the SDX-Z instance, select the instance
from the Instances section, and click Change allocation. A new window displays the available
licenses.

Figure 13 – VPX instance and Bandwidth allocation.

8) You can change the bandwidth edition of the instance from the Feature License drop-down menu,
and the required bandwidth in the Throughput (Mbps) field. Then click Done.

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3.5 CONFIGURE CITRIX ADC POOLED CAPACITY ON A CITRIX ADC CPX INSTANCE

While provisioning the Citrix ADC CPX instance, you can configure the Citrix ADC CPX instance to use
Citrix ADC Pooled Capacity. In the docker run command, you need to provide the Citrix ADC Licensing
Server details. The Citrix ADC CPX instance checks-out licenses from the Instance pool.

Note: By default, Citrix ADC CPX instance checks-out an instance license from the instance pool, and the
throughput is automatically set to 1000 Mbps. You cannot modify the 1000 Mbps bandwidth allocated to
the instance.

You can download Citrix ADC CPX from the Docker App Store. On the Docker host, to download Citrix
ADC CPX, run the following command:

docker pull store/citrix/netscalercpx: <version>

To configure Citrix ADC Pooled Capacity while provisioning the Citrix ADC CPX Instance:

While provisioning a Citrix ADC CPX instance, define the Citrix Licensing Server as an environmental
variable in the docker run command as shown below:

docker run -dt -P -e LS_IP=<LS_IP_ADDRESS> -e LS_PORT=<LS_PORT> --name

<container_name> --ulimit core=-1 -e EULA=yes -v <host_dir>:/cpx --cap-
add=NET_ADMIN <REPOSITORY>:<TAG>

Where:

• <LS_IPADDRESS> is the IP address of the Citrix Licensing Server

• <LS_PORT> is the port of the Citrix Licensing Server. By default, the port is 27000

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