What happens to the iDRAC, iLO or XClarity licence when a server changes owner.

What the licence unlocks

The management controller — iDRAC on Dell, iLO on HPE, XClarity Controller on Lenovo — is how a server is run without standing next to it. Its basic tier is included with the server. The features most people buy a managed server for, the graphical remote console and remote virtual media, sit in a paid tier on rack and tower servers:

• Dell: in Dell's licence tables for iDRAC8 and for iDRAC9 firmware 3.x, the virtual console and virtual media are not available with the Basic or Express licence on rack and tower servers. Enterprise includes them, and so does Express for Blades.
• HPE: iLO standard features come with every server. On a rack or tower server with iLO 5, a licence is needed to use the integrated remote console after the operating system has started; with iLO Standard, the console works only until the operating system starts. iLO Advanced adds the graphical remote console, multi-user collaboration and video record and playback.
• Lenovo: the XClarity Controller comes in Standard, Advanced and Enterprise levels on ThinkSystem V2 and earlier, Standard and Platinum on V3, and Standard and Premier on V4. On the first generation, Advanced adds the remote KVM and Enterprise adds the mounting of remote ISO and IMG images; Platinum and Premier include both.

Dell: the licence is bound to the Service Tag

Dell's guides for iDRAC8 and iDRAC9 say it in the same words: a perpetual licence is bound to the Service Tag and is permanent. A licence bound to another server's Service Tag will not import, and once a licence has been bound to a tag, reassigning it is a job for Dell Technical Support. iDRAC9 licences are also specific to the generation: a licence for a 16th generation server will not import into a 14th generation one.

Dell's documents describe a licence tied to a machine. Keys are kept in the Dell Digital Locker, opened with the registration code from the order confirmation and the email used for the purchase. Dell's licence guides do not say what happens to a licence when the server changes owner, so ask Dell about it as part of the ownership transfer described in how to check a hardware seller, and do not count on a licence that is not installed.

The motherboard is where that licence can be lost. Dell says to export the licence before a motherboard replacement and import it afterwards. On 14th generation servers, Easy Restore brings the Service Tag and the licence back on the new board; on 13th generation servers it exists only on boards with the Easy Restore flash memory, and not on the R930. A factory-installed licence can be exported but not imported again: the equivalent has to come from the Digital Locker or from the email sent when the licence was bought.

HPE: one licence per server, not transferable

HPE is explicit. An iLO licence is required for each server on which it is used, licences are not transferable, and a key meant for a different server type cannot be used. HPE also says the licences do not expire and are valid for the life of the server they were applied to.

The key is part of the iLO configuration stored on the system board. HPE describes moving that configuration to a replacement board from a backup, and resetting iLO to its factory defaults erases it. Only the last five digits of an installed key are displayed, and a lost key is replaced by HPE licensing against the proof of purchase. So on a used ProLiant, the question is whether iLO Advanced is installed now, on this board.

Lenovo: the key follows the machine type and serial number

Lenovo generates an XClarity Controller upgrade key for one machine type and serial number. Because keys such as the IMM Advanced Upgrade are tied to that pair, replacing a part does not need a new key, and a key lost through a hardware replacement can be retrieved again from Lenovo's Features on Demand site by searching the machine type and serial number.

After a system board replacement, the machine type and serial number have to be written back to the new board, and reinstalling the keys is, in Lenovo's words, ultimately the client's responsibility. On ThinkSystem V4, XCC3 Premier is included in configure-to-order servers by default but can be deselected, so a V4 server is not guaranteed to have it.

What to ask before you buy

Four questions settle it for any used Dell, HPE or Lenovo server:

• Which management licence is installed now, by the name the controller shows, such as iDRAC Enterprise, iLO Advanced or XClarity Controller Advanced.
• A screenshot of the controller's licence page with the Service Tag or the machine type and serial number of this machine on it — not a licence file or a key on a separate sheet.
• Whether the system board has been replaced, and if so whether the licence was restored on the new one.
• If the tier you need is not installed, a quote for it with the server, and how it will be bound to your machine.

Where to go from here

The licence is one line of the configuration; what to check before you buy refurbished lists the others, and how to check a hardware seller covers the serial numbers and Dell's ownership transfer. Which generation is that server dates a machine by its management controller, and the line pages — PowerEdge, ProLiant, ThinkSystem — list the models.