License Compliance Center
Last revised: January 6, 2023

License Compliance is a top priority for us at Citrix and should be with all of our customers. The Citrix License Compliance Center provides relevant information regarding license compliance and the associated rules regarding the deployment and use of Citrix products.

Explore helpful information related to product license compliance

Right to audit language in end-user license agreement (EULA):

Citrix maintains an audit right with respect to your use of Citrix product licenses under the EULA.

Excess license usage will be determined based on your peak license deployment and will be billed to you at the then-current Citrix suggested retail price.

Program Terms:
For complete overview of our Citrix Support services, benefits and guidelines, please review the Worldwide Support Services Guide explained at: https://www.citrix.com/content/dam/citrix/en_us/documents/support/worldwide-support-services-guide.pdf.

You understand that Citrix License Server collects and reports limited license telemetry to Citrix for on-premises product licenses to support license compliance. For those licenses, Citrix requires that you transition to License Server Version 11.17.2 Build 40000 by March 31, 2023, and subsequent new License Server versions within 6 months of release of each new Version. License Server license collection and reporting (electronic or manual) must be active for License Server Version 11.17.2 Build 40000 and beyond. Unless you have elected manual reporting, you agree to adjust your firewalls as necessary to allow electronic license reporting. For a detailed explanation of the license telemetry functionality and reporting obligations, see the License Server product documentation. Should you have questions or concerns, contact Customer Care. Citrix may suspend or terminate your Customer Success Services for non-compliance with these requirements without liability in addition to any other remedies Citrix may have at law or equity. These requirements do not apply to the extent prohibited by law or regulation.

These Program terms will be updated periodically as noted by the "Last revised" date above.

Our wide range of product editions, licensing models and maintenance plans ensures you can find the right purchase options for your organization.

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  • It is highly recommended that you utilize the latest version of the license server (11.13 or higher) in order to improve security and maximize your server’s performance and license counting accuracy.
  • If you purchased or otherwise received replacement License Keys as part of a PRODUCT upgrade or trade-up, or a new product release with new product licenses under MAINTENANCE, you agree to destroy the original License Keys and retain no copies after installation of the new License Keys and PRODUCT.
  • Single License Server: Unless otherwise noted, each product license may be loaded on only a single license server or appliance instance, as applicable.
  • You must remove duplicate license files as a result of migration or upgrade. Total Number of licenses deployed CANNOT exceed the quantity of entitlements owned.
  • Disaster recovery can create additional license files but the total of these cannot exceed the total number of entitlements owned.

Licenses for this product must be run on a dedicated license server(s) for this product alone. All components of this product are licensed only to the same User (you may not authorize different Users for each component). Licenses for this product cannot be used or interchanged with licenses for components of this product sold as stand-alone products. 

Licenses for this product must be run on a dedicated license server(s) for this product alone. Only those consuming Concurrent licenses for Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops (formerly XenApp and XenDesktop) may be Users of the other components of this product. You may need to purchase additional User licenses for the other components to have sufficient licenses for all such Users. Licenses for this product cannot be used or interchanged with licenses for components of this product sold as stand-alone products. 

Explore the Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops (formerly XenDesktop and XenApp) licensing FAQ

How does Citrix define concurrency for Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops (formerly XenApp and XenDesktop)?

With the Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops concurrent model, users are anonymous and a license is consumed by each concurrent user to one or more apps and/or virtual desktops. A licensed concurrent user is an anonymous, floating user only licensed for the period during which access to the Citrix environment is required. Once access is terminated by the anonymous user, the license is immediately returned to the license pool and available for another anonymous user to consume.

How does Citrix define a licensed user of Citrix Virtual Desktop (formerly XenDesktop)?

With Citrix Virtual Desktop, a licensed user simply requires a unique user ID, typically an Active Directory entry, or the equivalent. There is no requirement to manage a separate or specific list of authorized users. If multiple users are sharing the same user ID, they will each require a Citrix Virtual Desktop user license. If a user connects to their desktop(s) and/or apps with multiple devices (e.g. desktop PC, laptop, netbook, smartphone and/or thin client) the user needs just one Citrix Virtual Desktop user license, even if all of the user’s devices are connected to one or more instances of Citrix Virtual Desktop simultaneously.

How does Citrix define a licensed device for Citrix Virtual Desktop (formerly XenDesktop)?

With Citrix Virtual Desktop, a licensed device simply requires a unique device ID. Under the device model, a device is any piece of equipment authorized by the customer to be used by any individual(s) to access instances of Citrix Virtual Desktop. For a shared device, like a classroom workstation, or a clinical workstation in a hospital, a single Citrix Virtual Desktop device license can support multiple users.

(Number of total users) – (number of users that only access via shared devices) + (number shared devices) = total number of licenses to buy

What happens if a licensed user of Citrix Virtual Desktop (formerly XenDesktop) exits my organization?

If an existing licensed user leaves a customer’s organization, the customer has the right to release the departing user’s license without notifying Citrix. The release of the licenses is done using the “udadmin” utility. If the administrator does not use the utility to release the license, the license server will automatically release any license after 90 days of inactivity. Customers are prohibited from using the “udadmin” utility to release all licenses, also known as “cache clearing.”

What is the license overdraft feature?

The Citrix Virtual Desktop (formerly XenDesktop) license overdraft feature is specific to user/device license model deployments ONLY and allows a limited number of additional user licenses to be provided to support temporary spikes in demand. Any overdraft licenses used must be purchased within 30 days of first use. Citrix reserves the right to remove any overdraft feature in new product releases.

How do I get overdraft licenses?

Citrix Virtual Desktop User/Device (formerly XenDesktop) customers will automatically receive 10% Citrix Virtual Desktop overdraft licenses when they allocate their Citrix Virtual Desktop User/Device licenses after purchase. Overdraft licenses are available for use when all licenses are allocated. Overdraft usage is reported within Studio.

How can I identify license overdraft?

The license overdraft count will be displayed in a separate column within the License Administration Console. Please note the installed column will display both the purchased license total plus the associated overdraft total. Overdraft usage is also visible in Studio.

What happens when a license is consumed from the overdraft feature?

A license is assigned from your installed licenses to enable access to your Citrix Virtual Desktop (formerly XenDesktop) environment. This overdraft license provides the same level of access and functionality as your other edition specific licenses.

How do I license my disaster recovery site?

The same licenses that are provided for your production environment can be used to support your disaster recovery environment. This requires your disaster recovery environment to be configured and managed independently of your production environment. Please note the license server in your disaster recovery environment must have an identical hostname to the license server in your production environment. At no time does Citrix allow customers’ usage to exceed license entitlement. Disaster recovery can create additional license files but the total of these cannot exceed the total number of entitlements owned.

Can both Production and Disaster Recovery servers run simultaneously?

No, disaster recovery servers should only be used when the production server is not in use or during disaster recovery testing.

Can you define the different configurations of Disaster Recovery sites?

Hot Site (Active/Active)

A second, active license server that mirrors the production license server in the quantity of licenses installed.

Warm Site (Active/Warm)

A second license server with Citrix Licensing, but no license files are installed or available for use and no license files are being read by the license server. Alternatively, license files can be installed with services disabled.

Cold Site (Active/Passive)

A second, passive license server that mirrors the production license server, but is powered down unless there is a disaster or test scenario

You may deploy network architectures that use hardware or software to reduce the number of Users or Devices that directly access the product server software or service. This is referred to as multiplexing or pooling. This does not reduce the number of licenses required to access or use the server software or service under either license model. A license is required for each User or Device that is connected to the multiplexing or pooling software or hardware front end. You must acquire and assign a license to each User or Device that accesses instances of the server software or service directly or indirectly, frequently or infrequently, even if the authorized User or Device is an automaton. 

NetScaler license files and editions are to be installed on the designated appliance (or virtual machine). License files or editions are prohibited from being installed anywhere other than the designated appliance or virtual machine.

With respect to an audit under the end user license terms, excess license usage will be determined based on peak license deployment and billed at the then-current Citrix suggested retail price for licenses and for maintenance on those licenses (for the lesser of the duration of the excess usage or two years). Charges for any additional findings, as well as audit fees, may apply. 

With respect to your purchase of a product trade-up or upgrade, or your implementation of a product release with new product licenses under Maintenance, you are permitted a 90 day grace period to run both your new and the old product licenses in production. This period runs from your purchase of the trade-up or upgrade, and from your download of the new release under your maintenance program. You agree to destroy the old licenses and retain no copies after the grace period. 

 

In order to receive Customer Success Services (CSS) benefits, customers must have active CSS for 100% of their licenses. This is known as the “All-in Rule."

Partial CSS coverage is not permitted. A customer is not permitted to extend the benefits of CSS to any licenses not covered by an active CSS agreement. A customer is not permitted to extend the benefits of CSS to any licenses that do not have an active CSS agreement.

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Customers should only deploy the license keys for assets that are maintained on active support.

When customers upgrade from one edition to another within the same product line, they are no longer entitled to the previous editions. An upgrade is when moving from one edition to another and a trade-up is when a customer trades in an old standalone product for a new product and/or bundle. Please refer to the rules contained in the “Grace Period” section under the "On-premise product and license models" tab. Upgrades and migrations must be completed in 90 days OF RECEIPT OF THE NEW LICENSES and any changes must be approved by Citrix Legal.

Customers are prohibited from using Proof of Concept (PoC) and/or trial licenses in a production environment or for multiple terms beyond the initial expiration of the PoC or trial licenses, unless approved in writing by Citrix. Customers are prohibited from adding partner demo, Not-For-Resale or Evaluation/Trial licenses in their production environment.

If you have general license and renewal questions, please contact Customer Service.