Allocate or deallocate DPA licenses

If your DPA server uses licenses, a license must be allocated to each registered database instance that you want to monitor. DPA starts monitoring new instances immediately after licenses are allocated.

Automatic license allocation

When you register a database instance or activate a license, DPA determines if it can automatically allocate a license to each database instance.

Automatic allocation of DBSH and DBSHDS licenses (new purchase)

When you purchase and activate Database Self-Hosted (DBSH) and Database Self-Hosted DBaaS (DBSHDS) licenses, DPA automatically allocates them if there are enough activated licenses to cover all registered database instances.

Example 1:

1. You register 10 Oracle database instances.

2. You activate 15 DBSH licenses.

   Result: DPA automatically allocates 10 of the licenses to the Oracle database instances.

3. You register 5 SQL Server database instances.

   Result: DPA automatically allocates the remaining 5 DBSH licenses to the SQL Server database instances.

Automatic allocation of DBSH and DBSHDS licenses during a migration from legacy subscription license types

In DPA 2024.4 and later, when a user with legacy subscription licenses (Category 1, Category 2, VM, and Azure SQL Database) renews their subscription, the licenses are migrated to DBSH and DBSHDS licenses. If there are enough DBSH and DBSHDS licenses to replace all previously allocated legacy licenses, the new licenses are allocated automatically.

Unlike other scenarios, during migration, the ability to automatically allocate licenses depends on the number of legacy licenses that were allocated, not the number of instances registered.

Example 2:

1. In DPA 2024.2 or earlier, you allocated 5 Category 1 subscription licenses, 5 Category 2 subscription licenses, and 10 VM subscription licenses.

   

2. After upgrading to DPA 2024.4 or later, you renew your subscription. You are issued 10 DBSH licenses.

3. Because you have enough DBSH licenses to cover all existing allocations, DPA automatically allocates the DBSH licenses. They replace the Category 1, Category 2, and VM licenses.

   

Automatic allocation of Category 1, Category 2, and Azure SQL licenses

DPA automatically allocates Category 1, Category 2, and Azure SQL licenses if there are enough activated licenses to cover all of the database instances in that license category.

Example 3:

1. You register 10 Oracle Enterprise Edition database instances, which require Category 1 licenses.

2. You activate 15 Category 1 licenses.

   Result: DPA automatically allocates 10 of the licenses to the Oracle Enterprise Edition database instances.

3. You register 5 additional Oracle Enterprise Edition database instances.

   Result: DPA automatically allocates the remaining 5 Category 1 licenses.

DPA automatically allocates VM licenses if there are enough VM licenses to cover all database instances that:

• Are linked to a VM
• Have been allocated a Category 1 or 2 license

Example 4:

• The 15 Category 1 licenses from the previous example are paired with 15 VM licenses.

• 10 of the registered database instances are linked to a VM.

  Result: DPA automatically allocates 10 VM licenses to the database instances linked to a VM.

If insufficient licenses are activated, DPA does not automatically allocate any licenses

If you have not activated enough licenses to cover all instances that require that license type, DPA does not allocate any of the licenses. You must manually allocate licenses to the database instances you want to monitor.

Example 5:

1. You register 15 database instances.

2. You activate 10 DBSH licenses.

   Result: DPA does not allocate any of the licenses. You can either:

   • Manually allocate licenses to the instances you want to monitor.

     Instances without a license allocated to them remain registered with DPA, and you can view performance data that was collected in the past. You can deallocate a license from one registered instance and allocate it to another if necessary.

   • Make the number of activated licenses cover the number of registered instances. To do this, you can either activate 5 additional licenses, or unregister 5 database instances. When the number of activated licenses is sufficient to cover all registered instances, DPA automatically allocates the licenses.

For Category 1, Category 2, and Azure SQL licenses, DPA does not automatically allocate higher level licenses to instances that can be monitored with lower level licenses

If you have Category 1, Category 2, and Azure SQL licenses, database types that require a Category 2 license (such as MySQL or SQL Server) can be monitored with a Category 1 license. Azure SQL Database instances require an Azure SQL Database license, but they can be monitored with either a Category 1 or Category 2 license. However, DPA does not automatically allocate higher level licenses to instances that don't require that license type.

Example 6:

1. You register 15 MySQL database instances, which require Category 2 licenses but can also be monitored with Category 1 licenses.

2. You activate 10 Category 2 licenses and 5 Category 1 licenses.

   Result: DPA does not allocate any of the licenses. If you want to use Category 1 licenses to monitor 5 of the MySQL instances, you must manually allocate those licenses.

3. You manually allocate the 5 Category 1 licenses to 5 of the MySQL instances.

   Result: DPA automatically allocates the 10 Category 2 licenses to the remaining 10 MySQL instances.

Manually allocate licenses to database instances

Use License Allocation to configure how your licenses are allocated to database instances.

View current license allocation

1. On the DPA home page, click License Management.
2. See the current license allocations in the summary boxes near the top of the License Allocation page.

Allocate licenses to database instances

1. On the License Allocation page, find the database instance you want in the list of registered database instances.
2. Select the DBSH, DBSHDS, Cat 1, Cat 2, or Azure checkbox next to the instance.

3. Click Save.

   The license count is updated after you allocate a license.

Allocate VM licenses to VM database instances

If you are using Category 1 and Category 2 licenses to monitor database instances that run on a virtual machine (VM), you can allocate a VM license to each instance in addition to a Category 1 or 2 license. When you allocate a VM license, DPA collects performance metrics from the VMware system (vCenter Server or ESX/ESXi Host) on which the database instance runs.

If you are using DBSH licenses to monitor database instances that run on a VM, performance metrics from the VMware system are collected automatically. You do not need an additional VM license.

1. On the License Allocation page, locate a VM-hosted database instance that has a Category 1 or 2 license allocated to it.
2. Select the VM checkbox next to the instance.
3. Click Save.

If you are monitoring a database instance that runs in a virtual machine (VM) cluster, a user with at least read-only permissions is required on the hosts and VMs that will be monitored.

Deallocate licenses

You can deallocate the license from one database instance to make it available to another database instance.

1. On the DPA home page, click License Management.

2. Clear the DBSH, DBSHDS, Cat 1, Cat 2, or Azure checkbox to deallocate licenses.

If you clear a Category 1 or 2 license from an instance that also has a VM license, DPA automatically clears the VM license as well.

Learn more

For more information about licensing, see the following topics:

• Purchase and view licenses
• Activate DPA licenses
• Troubleshoot over-allocated licenses