The TP-Link Omada controller provides centralized management of gateways, switches, and access points from our Software Defined Networking (SDN) platform.

Licenses are required to manage devices with the Omada Cloud-Based Controller, Omada Pro Cloud-Based Controller, and Omada Pro Software Controller. This guide will introduce how to obtain and assign licenses to your devices.

1 License Categories

CBC License: The Cloud-Based Controller supports all basic functions. You need to purchase licenses to activate devices before managing them. The licenses of this category can only be used in the Cloud-Based Controller. The licenses are divided into 1 year, 2 years, 3 years, 4 years, 5 years, and trial (expiring in 1 month) based on the validity period.

CBC Pro License: The Cloud-Based Pro Controller supports all the basic functions of the Cloud-Based Controller, and adds some advanced functions, such as Health, Abnormal, Audit Logs, SAML SSO (single sign-on), etc. The licenses of this category can only be used in the Cloud-Based Controller Pro. The licenses are divided into 1 year, 3 years, 5 years, and trial (expiring in 1 month) based on the validity period; and divided into Pro AP, Pro L2 Switch, Pro L3 Switch, and Pro Gateway based on the device type.

Pro Software Controller License: The Pro Software Controller can only manage Pro devices in a pro site. You need to purchase Pro licenses to activate Pro devices before configurations can be delivered to them. The licenses are divided into permanent and trial (expiring in one month) based on the validity period; and divided into Pro AP, Pro L2 Switch, Pro L3 Switch, and Pro Gateway based on the device type.

2 Purchase License​​s

For management and configurations on the Cloud-Based Controller and Omada Pro Software Controller, each device should be bound with an activated license. Before binding licenses to devices, you need to purchase licenses.

2.1 Omada Cloud-Based Controller

2.1.1 Fill in the Billing Information

Before purchasing licenses online, please log into the Omada cloud and fill in the billing information. The steps are as follows.

1. Visit https://omada.tplinkcloud.com and log in with your TP-Link ID.

Note:

If you don’t have a TP-Link ID, sign up for free and activate one.

2. Go to Settings > Billing Information and fill in the Billing Account.

3. Click Add New Credit Card and fill in the payment information.

2.1.2 Purchase license​s

1. Go to License > Omada Cloud-Based Controller. Click Purchase License and you will be redirected to the Choose License page.

Note:​

If the Purchase License button is not displayed on the page, contact the sales staff to purchase licenses for cloud services. The licenses will be assigned to your TP-Link account.

2. Currently two types of licenses are provided: Free Trial and Cloud-Based Controller. The Cloud-Based Controller card lists the functions supported by the Cloud-Based Controller.

Note :​​

Users who have never purchased any licenses can apply for 10 one-month trial licenses, which will be activated immediately after successful application. Users who have purchased licenses do not meet the conditions for applying for the trial license.

3. Click Get Started to enter the license purchase page. The page displays the license type, quantity, price of a single license, and total price.

4. Click Next to enter the order details page. Confirm the order details and payment account, then click Submit to submit the order.

5. The purchase is successful.

An email will be sent to you to inform of the order details. The email content includes information such as the purchased license type, license duration, license quantity, payment time, payment method, order number, etc.

2.1.3 View License Order Information

1. Visit https://omada.tplinkcloud.com and log in with your TP-Link ID.

2. Go to License > Omada Cloud-Based Controller. Click Orders and you will be redirected to the Orders list, which displays the order number, license type, purchase time, license duration, quantity, payment amount, and invoice.

3. Click the ​ icon to view order details.

2.2 Omada Pro Software Controller

Before using the Omada Pro Software Controller to manage Pro devices at a pro site, please purchase Pro licenses to activate them. When adding Omada Pro Software Controller licenses, you will need an Activation Code. Please contact the sales staff to purchase it.

2.2.1 Adding Licenses Online

1. Lauch the controller, then go to Settings > Cloud Access. Bind Cloud Access and keep Cloud Access online.

2. Go to the License page and click Add License Online.

3. Enter the Activation Code and click Obtain Licenses. The page will display the information of available licenses.

4. Click Confirm to successfully obtain the licenses.

2.2.2 Adding Licenses Offline

Follow the steps below:

1. Launch the Omada Pro Software Controller and go to the License page. Click Add License Offline, then copy to save the Request Code.

2. Visit https://omada.tplinkcloud.com and log in with your TP-Link ID. Go to License > Omada Pro Local Controller. Click Generate License File and fill in the Activation Code and Request Code of the Controller.

3. Click Verify to view the information of available licenses, fill in the required license quantity, and click Generate to generate the license file.

4. Launch the Omada Pro Software Controller, go to the License page, click Add License Offline, and import the license file generated in Step 3. You can view the information of available licenses.

5. Click Confirm to obtain the licenses.

2.2.3 License Migration​​

To migrate the licenses from Controller A to Controller B, follow the steps below:

1. Launch Controller A and go to Licenses > Export all. Click Export and the browser will automatically download the license file for Controller A.

Note:

Supports up to 5 exports of Licenses.

2. Launch Controller B and go to the License page. Click Add License Offline, and copy the Request Code of controller B in the pop-up window.

3. Visit https://omada.tplinkcloud.com​​​​​​​​​, and Log in with your TP-Link ID. Go to License > Omada Pro Local Controller > Migrate Local Licenses. Enter the Request Code of Controller B, import the License file of Controller A, and click Generate to generate a new license file.

4. Launch Controller B, go to the License page, and click Add License Offline.

5. Import the license file generated in Step 3, and click Confirm to obtain the licenses.

3 License Usage Management

Note:

-One license can be bound with only one device at a time.

-If a device with license bound is removed from the controller, the license will be unbound automatically and can be bound to another device if needed.

3.1 Omada Cloud-Based Controller

3.1.1 Assign Licenses to the Cloud-Based Controller

1. Visit https://omada.tplinkcloud.com and log in with your TP-Link ID.

2. Go to License > Omada Cloud-Based Controller. Click Assign Licenses to Controller at the upper right corner.

3. Check your remaining licenses, select the controller, and specify the quantity of licenses to assign.

4. Click Confirm. The licenses will be assigned to the controller.

3.1.2 Revoke Licenses from the Cloud-Based Controller

After license assignment, you can revoke licenses if the controller no longer needs them.

1. Visit https://omada.tplinkcloud.com and log in with your TP-Link ID.

2. Go to License > Omada Cloud-Based Controller. Click Revoke Licenses at the upper right corner.

3. Select the controller and specify the quantity of licenses to revoke.

4. Click Confirm. The licenses will be revoked and can be assign to another controller if needed.

3.1.3 Assign and Manage Licenses for MSP Customers

3.1.3.1 Assign Licenses to Customers

If you have enabled MSP (Managed Service Provider) mode, follow the steps below to assign license to your customers:

1. Launch your controller.

2. In MSP View, go to License > License Assignment. Click Assign Licenses at the upper right corner.

3. Check your remaining licenses, select the customer, and specify the quantity of licenses to assign.

4. Click Confirm. The licenses will be assigned to the customer.

3.1.3.2 Revoke Licenses from Customers

After license assignment, you can revoke licenses if the customer no longer needs them.

1. Launch your controller.

2. In MSP View, go to License > License Assignment. Click Revoke Licenses at the upper right corner.

3. Select the customer and specify the quantity of licenses to revoke.

4. Click Confirm. The licenses will be revoked and can be assign to another customer if needed.

3.1.4 Assign and Manage Licenses for Devices

3.1.4.1 Auto-Active and Auto-Rollover

For the controller in Global View:

1. Launch your controller.

2. Go to the License page. Enable Auto-Active and enable Auto-Rollover for sites.

Auto-Active	Auto-Active will automatically apply device license to a device as soon as it is adopted by your customer.
Auto-Rollover	Enable this option for a site, then the controller will automatically reassign new licenses to active devices on the site when their existing licenses expire.

For the Controller in MSP View:

1. Launch your controller.

2. Go to the License page. Enable Auto-Active and enable Auto-Rollover for customers.

Auto-Active	Auto-Active will automatically apply device license to a device as soon as it is adopted by your controller. After Auto-Active is enabled on the controller, all its customers will enable Auto-Active by default.
Auto-Rollover	Enable this option for a customer, then the controller will automatically reassign new licenses to active devices on the customer when their existing licenses expire.

Reminder for insufficient licenses

When Auto-Active is turned on for the Cloud-Based Controller, if a license is about to expire and the number of available licenses is insufficient, the system will send a notification email to the email address of the Omada Cloud account. The notification email contains the license key, license type, device bound to the license, site and controller where the device is located, and expiration time.

Reminder for license expiration

When the license of the Cloud-Based Controller is about to expire, the system will send a notification email to the email address of the Omada Cloud account. The notification email contains the email license key, license type, device bound to the license, site and controller where the device is located, and expiration time.

3.1.4.2 Manual Renewal

1. After a license expires, an active option will appear in the Activity column of the device list.

2. Click Active to jump to the license details of the device page, where you can manually select the license.

3.1.4.3 Manual Binding/Unbinding

If you don’t want the controller to automatically assign device licenses, you can manually bind and unbind device licenses.

1. Launch your controller.

2. Go to the Devices page.

3. Bind or unbind device licenses according to your needs.

• To bind a device license:

Locate an unactivated device and click Activate. In the License Status section, choose an appropriate license to bind. You can bind a new license or a used license (such as the one last bound). If you have many used licenses, you can search by license key or MAC.

• To unbind a device license:

Click an activated device to open the Properties window. In the License Status section, click Unbind. The license will be unbound and can be bound to another device if needed.

Note:

-When the reassignment times remaining is 0, the license will be unable to be bound to other devices except the current device.

-Reassignment Times is calculated according to license year multiplying 10. If the license duration is 1 year, the Reassignment Times after the device is first activated is 10.

3.1.5 Transfer the license between two accounts

Transfer the license from account A to account B.

1. Use account B to create a CBC.

2. Launch CBC, create a new role on the account page and modify the license permission according to the red line in the figure.

3. Invite the account A through the cloud invitation function and select the role permission.

4. Sign in to account A at Omada cloud to accept cloud invitations.

5. Click Assign Licenses to Controller to assign licenses to the CBC.

6. Sign in to account B at Omada cloud，click Revoke Licenses button to revoke licenses to from CBC.

3.2 Omada Pro Software Controller

3.2.1 Assign and Manage Licenses for MSP Customers

3.2.1.1 Assign Licenses to Customers

If you have enabled MSP (Managed Service Provider) mode, follow the steps below to assign license to your customers:

1. Launch your controller.

2. In MSP View, go to License > License Assignment. Click Assign Licenses at the upper right corner.

3. Check your remaining licenses, select the customer, and specify the quantity of licenses to assign.

4. Click Confirm. The licenses will be assigned to the customer.

3.2.1.2 Revoke Licenses from Customers

After license assignment, you can revoke licenses if the customer no longer needs them.

1. Launch your controller.

2. In MSP View, go to License > License Assignment. Click Revoke Licenses at the upper right corner.

Select the customer and specify the quantity of licenses to revoke.

3. Click Confirm. The licenses will be revoked and can be assign to another customer if needed.

3.2.2 Assign and Manage Licenses for Devices

3.2.2.1 Auto-Active license

For the Controller in Global View

1. Launch your controller.

2. Go to the License page. Enable Auto-Active for sites.

Auto-Active

Auto-Active will automatically apply device license to a device as soon as it is adopted by your controller. After Auto-Active is enabled on the controller, all its customers will enable Auto-Active by default. This function applies only to Pro Site. Devices in Basic Site do not need to be activated.

For the Controller in MSP View

1. Launch your controller.

2. Go to the License page. Enable Auto-Active for customers.

Auto-Active

Auto-Active will automatically apply device license to a device as soon as it is adopted by your customer.

3.2.2.2 Manual Binding/Unbinding

If you don’t want the controller to automatically assign device licenses, you can manually bind and unbind device licenses.

1. Launch your controller.

2. Go to the Devices page.

3. Bind or unbind device licenses according to your needs.

• To bind a device license:

Locate an unactivated device and click Activate. In the License Status section, choose an appropriate license to bind.

• To unbind a device license:

Click an activated device to open the Properties window. In the License Status section, click Unbind. The license will be unbound and can be bound to another device if needed.

Get to know more details of each function and configuration please go to Download Center to download the manual of your product.