Check Point's licensing is designed to be scalable and modular. To this end, Check Point offers both predefined packages as well as the ability to custom build a solution tailored to the needs of the Network Administrator. This is accomplished by the use of of the following license components:
Software Blades
Container
Like a physical server, the Software Blade would equate to a physical blade server, and the container would equate to a physical server chassis. And like the physical server, each Software Blade must be attached to a container just as the blade server must be attached to the chassis. When a predefined package is purchased (e.g. CPSM-PU007), the blades included with the package are attached automatically by Check Point. These "predefined" Software Blades cannot then be detached.
When a Software Blade is purchased separately from a package, we refer to the blade as an "a la carte" blade. These types of Software Blades are then attached to the respective containers by the Account Administrator. For more information about how to attach a la carte blades, see sk44503.
License Activation
Once the necessary blades are attached, either by Check Point or by the Account Administrator, the license for the Check Point server is ready to be activated. Check Point offers two methods of activating a license:
Online activation: this method of activation is available for Check Point manufactured appliances. These appliances should be configured to have internet connectivity during the completion of the First Time Configuration Wizard for software version R77 and below. Customers using R80 and higher will be able to use this feature during or after the completion of the First Time Configuration Wizard.
Offline activation: this method of activation is available for all Check Point installations regardless of software version. An Account Administrator or Licenser will generate a license file via our website, and then apply the license via SmartUpdate, which is part of the SmartConsole.
Additionally the following videos demonstrate how to generate and activate a license using offline activation. This information is also documented in sk22564 and sk81200.
Notes:
The AccountServices@CheckPoint.com email address mentioned in the video is no longer valid. Up-to-date contact details can be found here.
For Maestro setups, an individual license is required for each appliance in the Security Group.
The below video demonstrates how to license your Check Point security products within the Product Center.
The purpose of below video is to demonstrate how to install your Check Point security license within SmartUpdate.
Note: Maestro setups do not support:
installation with SmartUpdate
central license installation.
Service Contract File
Following the activation of the license, a Service Contract File should be installed. This file contains important information about all subscriptions purchased for a specific device and is installed via SmartUpdate. A detailed explanation of the Service Contract File can be found in sk33089.
The following video demonstrates how to update your Service Contract file within SmartUpdate.
License Information Tool
After successful activation of the licenses, an Account Administrator needs to be able to manage the license estate. To meet this need, Check Point has developed the License Info Tool. This tool allows the Security Management server to collect information about a customer's deployment and upload that information to the Product Center and it is available for Gaia / SecurePlatform / Linux Security Management and Multi-Domain Security servers.
The License Info Tool:
enables the user better visibility on the devices that are presented in the UserCenter/PartnerMAP. The additional information is extracted from the device by a script and facilitates the management of the products.
enables presentation of the Device name next to each product name on the Products page
The tool is available in Check Point UserCenter -> Assets/INFO -> Tools -> Sync License Information Tool
