How Automatic License Update Works

To update installed licenses automatically, Veeam Backup & Replication performs the following actions:

1. After you enable automatic license update, Veeam Backup & Replication starts sending requests to the Veeam License Update Server on the web (autolk.veeam.com) and checks if a new license key is available. Requests are sent once a week. Communication with the Veeam License Update Server is performed over the HTTPS protocol.
2. Seven days before the expiration date of the current license, Veeam Backup & Replication starts sending requests once a day.
3. When a new license key becomes available on the Veeam license management portal, Veeam Backup & Replication automatically downloads it and installs on the backup server or Veeam Backup Enterprise Manager server.

The new license key differs from the previously installed license key only in the license expiration date and support expiration date. Other license data remains the same.

Automatic license update can complete with the following results:

• Operation is successful. A new license key is successfully generated, downloaded and installed on the backup server or Veeam Backup Enterprise Manager server.
• A new license is not required. The currently installed license key does not need to be updated.
• The Veeam License Update Server has failed to generate a new license. Such situation can occur due to some error on the Veeam License Update Server side.
• Veeam Backup & Replication has received an invalid answer. Such situation can occur due to connectivity issues between the Veeam License Update Server and Veeam Backup & Replication.
• Licensing by the contract has been terminated. In such situation, Veeam Backup & Replication automatically disables license automatic update on the backup server or Veeam Backup Enterprise Manager server.

Automatic Update Retries

If Veeam Backup & Replication fails to update the license, it displays a notification in the session report and sends an email notification to users specified in the global email settings (if global email settings are configured on the backup server). You can resolve the issue, while Veeam Backup & Replication will keep retrying to update the license.

Veeam Backup & Replication retries to update the license key in the following way:

• If Veeam Backup & Replication fails to establish a connection to the Veeam License Update Server, retry takes place every 60 min.
• If Veeam Backup & Replication establishes a connection but you are receiving the “General license key generation error has occurred” message, the retry takes place every 24 hours.

The retry period ends one month after the license expiration date or the support expiration date (whichever is earlier). The retry period is equal to the number of days in the month of license expiration. For example, if the license expires in January, the retry period will be 31 day; if the license expires in April, the retry period will be 30 days.

If the retry period is over but the new license has not been installed, the automatic update feature is automatically disabled.

For more information about error cases, see Appendix.