Important: NGINX Plus R33 requires NGINX Instance Manager 2.18 or later
To ensure uninterrupted traffic processing, upgrade to NGINX Instance Manager 2.18 or later if your NGINX data plane instances are running NGINX Plus R33. This upgrade is necessary to support usage reporting.

NGINX Plus R33 instances must send usage data to the F5 licensing endpoint or NGINX Instance Manager. If they don’t, they will stop processing traffic.

For more information about usage reporting and enforcement, see About solution licenses.

Add license

Overview

To unlock all of the features in NGINX Instance Manager, you’ll need to add a JSON Web Token (JWT) license from MyF5. This guide shows you how to set up your network for reporting, download the license file, and apply it to NGINX Instance Manager. If needed, you can also cancel the license at any time.

Before you begin

Set up your network for entitlement and usage reporting

NGINX Instance Manager can automatically report subscription entitlement and usage data to F5 if internet access is available. Ensure port 443 is open for these URLs:

Download the license from MyF5

To download the JSON Web Token license from MyF5:

  1. Log in to MyF5.
  2. Go to My Products & Plans > Subscriptions to see your active subscriptions.
  3. Find your NGINX products or services subscription, and select the Subscription ID for details.
  4. Download the JSON Web Token from the subscription page.

Add the license to NGINX Instance Manager

To add the license to NGINX Instance Manager:

  1. Go to the FQDN of your NGINX Instance Manager host and log in.
  2. Select the Settings (gear) icon. The Licenses > Overview opens at https://<NIM_FQDN>/ui/settings/license.
  3. Select Get Started.
  4. Upload your license file by selecting Browse or dragging the file into the form.
  5. Select Add.

NGINX Instance Manager will connect to F5’s servers to retrieve your entitlements. Once completed, your entitlements and usage details appear on the Licenses page.

(Optional) To automatically report license entitlement and usage data to F5, select Enable Continuous Connection. Make sure your network is configured for reporting.

Canceling a license

To cancel a license:

  1. Go to the Licenses > Overview page (https://<NIM_FQDN>/ui/settings/license).
  2. Select Terminate, and confirm the action.