A Zimbra license is required in order to create accounts. When you purchase, renew, or change the Zimbra license, you update the Zimbra server with the new license information.
{product-name} licensing gives administrators better visibility and control into the licensed features they plan to deploy. You can monitor usages and manage the following license types.
| License limitations | To set maximum number of… |
|---|---|
Accounts limit |
Accounts you can create and the number of accounts created are shown. |
Mobile accounts limit |
Accounts you can create and the number of accounts created are shown. |
Touch client accounts limit |
Accounts that can have the touch client mobile feature enabled. |
MAPI accounts limit |
Accounts that can use Zimbra Connector for Microsoft Outlook (ZCO). |
Exchange web services (EWS) accounts limit |
Accounts that can use EWS for connecting to an Exchange server. EWS is a separately licensed add-on. |
High-fidelity document preview |
Accounts that can use the High-Fidelity document preview. LibreOffice must be installed. |
Archiving accounts limit |
New archive accounts allowable. The archive feature must be installed. |
To try out {product-name}, you can obtain trial versions free of charge. Once your system is installed in a production environment, you will need to purchase a subscription or a perpetual license.
| License Types | Purpose |
|---|---|
Trial |
Free of charge: Trial license from the Zimbra website (www.zimbra.com). The trial license allows you to create up to 50 users. It expires in 60 days. |
Trial extended |
Free of charge: Allows you to create up to 50 users and is valid for an extended period of time. Obtainable from Zimbra Sales by contacting [email protected] or calling 1-650-427-5701. |
Subscription |
Purchased: Applicable to a specific {product-name} system and encrypted with the number of Zimbra accounts (seats) you have purchased, the effective date, and expiration date of the subscription license |
Perpetual |
Purchased: This license is similar to a subscription license and is valid for a specific {product-name} system, is encrypted with the number of Zimbra accounts (seats) you have purchased, the effective date, and an expiration date of 2099-12-31. When you renew your support agreement, no new perpetual license is sent to you, but your Account records in the systems is updated with your new support end date. |
Below is a description of {product-name} accounts and if they impact your license limit.
| License Account Type | Purpose |
|---|---|
System account |
System accounts are specific accounts used by {product-name}. They include the spam filter accounts for junk mail (spam and ham), virus quarantine account for email messages with viruses, and GALsync account if you configure GAL for your domain. Do not delete these accounts! These accounts do not count against your license |
Administrator account |
Administrator and delegated administrator accounts count against your license |
User account |
User accounts count against your license account limit. When you delete an account, the license account limit reflects the change |
Alias account |
Not applicable |
Distribution list |
|
Resource account |
All network edition installations require license activation. New installations have a 10 day grace period from the license issue date before requiring activation. Your license can be activated by selecting Configure > Global Settings > License > Activate License.
Upgraded {product-name} versions require an immediate activation to maintain network feature functionality.
Licenses are automatically activated if the {product-name} server has a connection to the Internet and can communicate with the Zimbra License server. If you are unable to automatically activate your license, see Manual License Activation.
For systems that do not have external access to the Zimbra License server, you can use the Zimbra Support Portal to manually activate your license. Go to the Zimbra website at www.zimbra.com and click Support to display the Zimbra Technical Support page. Click the {product-name} Suport link to display the Zimbra Support Portal page. Enter your email and password to log in.
If you have problems accessing the Zimbra Support Portal, contact Zimbra Support at [email protected].
If you fail to install or activate your {product-name} server license, the following scenarios describe how your {product-name} server will be impacted.
| License Condition | Description/Impact |
|---|---|
Not installed |
{product-name} defaults to single user mode where all features limited by license are limited to one user. |
Not valid |
{product-name} defaults to single user mode. |
Not activated |
A license activation grace period is 10 days. If for some reason the license is never activated, {product-name} defaults to single user mode after 10 days. |
For future date |
{product-name} defaults to single user mode |
In grace period |
The license ending date has passed and is within the 30 day grace period. All features limited by license are still enabled, but administrators might see license renewal prompts. |
Expired |
The license ending date has passed and the 30 day grace period has expired. The {product-name} server defaults to the feature set of the Open Source Edition. |
On the Zimbra website, go to Downloads to obtain a trial license from the Zimbra Downloads area. Contact Zimbra sales regarding a trial extended license, or to purchase a subscription license or perpetual license, by emailing [email protected].
The subscription and perpetual license can only be installed on the {product-name} system for which it is purchased. Only one Zimbra license is required for your {product-name} environment. This license sets the number of accounts that can be created.
Current license information, including the number of accounts purchased, the number of accounts used, and the expiration date, can be viewed from Global Settings > License.
The Update License wizard from the Administration Console’s Global Settings page is used to upload and install a new license. The Activate License link on the toolbar activates the license.
Current license information, including the license ID, the issue date, expiration date, number of accounts purchased, and the number of accounts used can be viewed from Global Settings > License.
You must have a {product-name} license to create accounts. When you purchase, renew, or change the Zimbra license, you must update the Zimbra server with the new license information. The Update License Wizard from the Administration Console’s Global Settings is used to upload and install a new license. The Activate License link on the toolbar activates the license.
Current license information, including the license ID, the issue date, expiration date, number of accounts purchased, and the number of accounts used can be viewed from the Global Settings > License page.
When the number of accounts created is equal to the number of accounts purchased you will not be able to create new accounts. You can purchase additional accounts or you can delete existing accounts. Contact Zimbra sales to purchase additional accounts.
You must renew your license within 30 days of the expiration date. Starting 30 days before the license expires, when you log on to the Administration Console, a reminder notice is displayed.
When your {product-name} Network Edition License expires, a license expiration warning appears in the administrative console and web interface for all users. From the date of the license expiration, there is a 30-day grace period during which the warning message is displayed, but no features are disabled.
Upon expiration of the grace period, the server reverts to the feature set of the Open Source Edition. The following is a list of some of the major functions that are no longer available upon license expiration:
-
Backup/Restore
-
Zimbra Mobile (ActiveSync)
-
Zimbra Touch Client
-
Exchange Web Services (EWS)
-
EWS is a separately licensed add-on
-
-
High-Fidelity Document Preview
-
Zimbra Connector for Outlook
-
Zimbra Connector for Blackberry
-
S/MIME
If you maximize your licensed user limit, you are no longer able to create or delete accounts.
If you do not plan to renew your license, you can regain the ability to create or delete accounts by upgrading to {product-name} free and open source software (FOSS). You should choose the same version of FOSS that you are currently running on the {product-name} Network Edition for this transition, after which you can upgrade to the latest version of {product-name} FOSS.
When the number of accounts created is equal to the number of accounts purchased you will not be able to create new accounts. You can purchase additional accounts or you can delete existing accounts. Contact Zimbra sales to purchase additional accounts.
You must renew your license within 30 days of the expiration date. Starting 30 days before the license expires, when you log on to the Administration Console, a reminder notice is displayed.
When you renew or change the Zimbra license, you update {product-name} mailbox servers with the new license information. This operation be performed from either the Administration Console or the CLI.
zmlicenseUpdating a license:
-
Save the license on the computer you use to access the Administration Console.
-
Log on to the Administration Console, go to Global Settings > License and on the toolbar click Update License. The License Installation Wizard opens.
-
Browse to select the license file and click Next. The license file is now uploaded.
-
Click Install to install the license file.
-
Click Activate License. Upgraded {product-name} versions require an immediate activation to maintain network feature functionality.
Your license information is updated automatically. The cached account license count is automatically refreshed on each mailbox server.