CentOS Recovery Use Case 2: License Expiry Issue

I recently published a blog entry on how one could use the CentOS distribution and Recovery process to access the Cisco UCOS root file system. As noted in the initial blog, this isn't a new revelation. I originally was going to provide a group of use cases in the "primer" but decided that it was a little too long. 

So, I am breaking the use cases out into individual entries. Who knows, over time this may become another series. For now, let's focus on one of the CentOS recovery use cases: Fixing the License Expiry Issue.

Background

I came across this issue a couple of times when doing the "Jump Upgrade" for Cisco UCM clusters. There are a couple of software defects that could bite you if you aren't paying attention:

https://tools.cisco.com/bugsearch/bug/CSCtb86875 
https://tools.cisco.com/bugsearch/bug/CSCuj10105

Originally, I ran into this issue when there was no fix. Of course, I later ran into it after there was a fix but before I knew about the fix! Which does highlight the most important lesson: it is better to RTFM then it is to CentOS your install!

Anyway, the issues arise when you are doing the Jump Upgrade and you fail to install the "refresh upgrade" (RU) COP file before doing a DRS restore of a production CUCM 7.1 system. The issue manifests itself with the extremely helpful error message: "Upgrades are prohibited during Licensing Grace Period".

If you find yourself running into this issue then you can simply delete the text file that the system is using to "detect" the license problem and go about your business. You only need to do this on the Publisher node.

Procedure

The CentOS boot process is discussed in a separate blog entry (read that first). To fix the License Expiry issue, do the following after booting into CentOS:

1. Make a copy of the license expiry file using the command:
cp /usr/local/platform/conf/licexpiry.txt licexpiry.txt.backup

2. Remove the license expiry file using the command:
rm /user/local/platform/conf/licexpiry.txt

3. Type exit at the prompt to reboot the VM.

4. Disconnect the CentOS ISO from your VM guest.

---

Thanks for reading. If you have time, post a comment!