Cisco ASR 1002-X Throughput License Upgrade - how to

Introduction

The maximum throughput (that means total bandwidth going in and out of all ports of the network device combined) of Cisco ASR 1002-X routers are limited in software by Cisco, and to increase the throughput to new heights you need to purchase a performance license for your router. The base throughput of an ASR 1002-X is 5 Gbps, but it can be upgraded to 10, 20, or even 36 Gbps.

View fullsize

Image source: Cisco.com

The Cisco ASR 1002-X has, by default, 6 Gigabit Ethernet ports built-in in the form of SFP ports, but you may find yourself upgrading the router with additional line cards to add ports capable of going beyond Gigabit speeds and in that case, a performance license will be a certain purchase.

I had tried installing throughput licenses on two different ASR routers with different IOS-XE/IOS-versions and the procedure was the same, but if you have an older or newer version than the ones below then you might need to take other actions to install your performance licenses.

One of my routers is running the software IOS-XE 03.12.00 / IOS 15.4(2), while the other router is running the software IOS-XE 03.16.10 / IOS 15.5(3).

Check your current maximum throughput

First off we need to find out what throughput your router is currently licensed to operate at. Use the command show platform hardware throughput level to see what is your maximum bandwidth.

ASR-INET01# show platform hardware throughput level

The current throughput level is 5000000 kb/s

As you can see, we are currently operating at a base level, which is 5 Gigabit per second of throughput.

Buy the license to fit your needs

Now that we know the current licensing level of our router, we need to buy a license from Cisco based on how much throughput we think we are going to need. You can upgrade from any throughput level to any other throughput level so there is no need to buy multiple licenses or do the upgrade in several steps, you only need to buy one license. As you can see in the image below, the licenses are quite expensive, but they could save you from needing to buy completely new equipment.

View fullsize

Image source: itprice.com

Configuring the new throughput level

Here’s the kicker: you actually don’t need to install the license itself onto the router. ASR 1002-X routers follow the “Right-to-Use” licensing model or RTU. This means you yourself can set any license level you want and by accepting an end-user license agreement, or EULA, and Cisco will trust you to only activate up to the license level you have paid for. While you do receive the usual license PDF containing a PAK code from Cisco, you will not need to use this to upgrade the throughput of your router. Do store the license PDF in a safe place where you know where it is, should you ever have to “prove” you have paid for the license.

In my case, we have bought the license called L-FLSA1-2X-5-10G, which allows me to upgrade from my base level of 5 Gbps to 10 Gbps. I will run the command platform hardware throughput level <bandwidth in kbps> in global configuration mode to raise the maximum bandwidth of the router.

ASR-INET01(config)# platform hardware throughput level 10000000

After running the command, I will be presented with the EULA that has to be accepted by typing “yes”.

PLEASE  READ THE  FOLLOWING TERMS  CAREFULLY. INSTALLING THE LICENSE OR LICENSE  KEY  PROVIDED FOR  ANY CISCO  PRODUCT  FEATURE  OR  USING SUCH PRODUCT  FEATURE  CONSTITUTES  YOUR  FULL ACCEPTANCE  OF  THE FOLLOWING TERMS. 

YOU MUST NOT PROCEED FURTHER IF YOU ARE NOT WILLING TO  BE BOUND BY ALL THE TERMS SET FORTH HEREIN.   Use of this product feature requires  an additional license from Cisco, together with an additional  payment.  You may use this product feature on an evaluation basis, without payment to Cisco, for 60 days. Your use of the  product,  including  during the 60 day  evaluation  period,  is subject to the Cisco end user license agreement http://www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/general/warranty/English/EU1KEN_.htmlOUTPUT SHORTENED

Activation  of the  software command line interface will be evidence of your acceptance of this agreement.

ACCEPT? (yes/[no]): yes

After accepting the EULA you will be told that the changes only take effect after rebooting the device. Save your configuration with write memory and issue the reload command at a suitable time to reboot the router.

ASR-INET01(config)# do write memory

Building configuration…

[OK]

ASR-INET01(config)# do reload

Proceed with reload? [confirm] 

Confirming the license level

When the ASR-router is up and running again you can use several commands to check the licensing status. Like at the beginning of this article, you can use the show platform hardware throughput level command to directly see what capacity the router is now operating at.

ASR-INET01# show platform hardware throughput level

The current throughput level is 10000000 kb/s

You can also use some of the more detailed show commands to see how the device is doing license-wise. For example, the show license feature command will show the status of all licenses of your router, not only the ones related to the actual throughput level. The output is quite long so I will keep it short by only including rows relevant to throughput levels.

ASR-INET01# show license feature | include Feature|throughput

Feature name         Enforcement  Evaluation  Subscription Enabled RightToUse

throughput_10g              yes        yes         no        yes        yes

throughput_10g_to_20g       yes        no         no        no        yes

throughput_10g_to_36g       yes        no         no        no        yes

throughput_20g              yes        yes         no        no        yes

throughput_20g_to_36g       yes        no         no        no        yes

throughput_36g              yes        yes         no        no        yes