Install a license

In order to use the Splunk App for Microsoft Exchange, you need to have a valid license. When you install the Splunk App for Microsoft Exchange, it automatically installs a 60-day, one-time, trial license. This is in addition to the license you need to have to use Splunk Enterprise.

Your Splunk Sales contact can help you determine the correct license quota based on the number of servers you have in your environment and what data you want to index. The license works for both local and remote license master configurations.

Remote license master information

In a remote license master configuration, the license expiration page collects the credentials for the remote license master in order to apply the license. Splunk Enterprise applies the remote license asynchronously when the next license check (scheduled every 3 minutes) runs.

When you deploy the license for the app in a remote license master configuration, it takes time for the license to propagate on the remote end points and for those results to return to the local server. Depending on your network layout, it might take up to 30 minutes for licenses to propagate across the network.

License hosting

The Splunk Enterprise server that hosts your Splunk licenses (also known as the license master) depends on how you have configured the central Splunk App for Microsoft Exchange instance.

In many cases, Splunk Enterprise holds licenses on the server that performs indexing for the Splunk App for Microsoft Exchange. Depending on how you configured the central Splunk App for Microsoft Exchange instance, the master license server might be on a different Splunk Enterprise instance within the deployment.

License expiration and renewal

When the license expires, and no valid license is present, the Splunk App for Microsoft Exchange disables pages in the Exchange module, and displays a message to install a valid license.

Example

If you violate your Splunk App for Microsoft Exchange license, the app gives you a warning that you have exceeded your daily indexing limit. This also happens if the Splunk App for Microsoft Exchange cannot find a valid license. If you continue to violate your license within a 30-day period, you might be prevented from viewing your Exchange data. If that happens, you need to contact Splunk Support for assistance in lifting the restriction. The Splunk App for Microsoft Exchange does not increase or decrease the amount of indexing capacity on your Splunk Enterprise servers.

To address this problem, follow these steps:

1. Contact Splunk Sales. Tell them how much data per day you plan to use with the Splunk App for Microsoft Exchange.
2. Once you have been provided an invoice, pay the designated amount. Splunk will send you a license key.
3. Once you receive the license key, install the license into the Splunk Enterprise server that hosts your licenses.
4. Restart your license master and all license clients that host your Splunk App for Microsoft Exchange deployment for these changes to take effect.

Note: You can install the paid license at any time during the 60 day trial period but you must install it to have access to the Exchange module after the trial license expires.

What's next?

You have installed a license for the Splunk App for Microsoft Exchange. Now you will install the Splunk App for Microsoft Exchange itself.