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Manage your InfluxDB 3 Enterprise license

InfluxDB 3 Enterprise licenses authorize the use of the InfluxDB 3 Enterprise software and apply to a single cluster. Licenses are primarily based on the number of CPUs InfluxDB can use, but there are other limitations depending on the license type.

License feature comparison

The following InfluxDB 3 Enterprise license types are available:

  • Trial: 30-day trial license with full access to InfluxDB 3 Enterprise capabilities.
  • At-Home: For at-home hobbyist use with limited access to InfluxDB 3 Enterprise capabilities.
  • Commercial: Commercial license with full access to InfluxDB 3 Enterprise capabilities.
FeaturesTrialAt-HomeCommercial
CPU Core Limit2562Per contract
Expiration30 daysNeverPer contract
Multi-node
Commercial use

All other InfluxDB 3 Enterprise features are available to all licenses.

CPU limit

Each InfluxDB 3 Enterprise license limits the number of CPUs InfluxDB can use. The CPU limit is per cluster, not per machine. A cluster may consist of multiple nodes that share the available CPU limit.

For example, you can purchase a 32-CPU Commercial license and set up an InfluxDB 3 Enterprise cluster with the following:

  • 3 × writer nodes, each with 4 CPUs (12 total)
  • 1 × compactor node with 8 CPUs
  • 3 × query nodes, each with 4 CPUs (12 total)

With the InfluxDB 3 Enterprise Commercial license, CPU cores are purchased in batches of 8, 16, 32, 64, or 128 cores.

CPU accounting

CPU cores are determined by whatever the operating system of the host machine reports as its core count. InfluxDB 3 Enterprise does not differentiate between physical and virtual CPU cores.

If using Linux, InfluxDB uses whatever cgroup CPU accounting is active–for example: cpuset or cpu.shares.

Activate a license

Each InfluxDB 3 Enterprise license must be activated, but the process of activating the license depends on the license type:

Activate a trial or at-home license

When starting the InfluxDB 3 Enterprise server, it asks what type of license you would like to use. Select trial or home and provide your email address. The server auto-generates and stores your license.

The license file is a JWT file that contains the license information.

Use an existing trial or at-home license

When you activate a trial or at-home license, InfluxDB registers your email address with the license server. To use your existing license–for example, if you deleted your license file–provide your email address using one of the following methods:

  • Use the --license-email option with the influxdb3 serve command
  • Set the INFLUXDB3_ENTERPRISE_LICENSE_EMAIL environment variable

InfluxDB validates your email address with the license server and uses your existing license if it’s still valid.

Activate a commercial license

  1. Contact InfluxData Sales to obtain an InfluxDB 3 Enterprise Commercial license. Provide the following:

    • Cluster UUID
    • Object Store Info

    This information is provided in the output of the InfluxDB 3 Enterprise server if you try to start the server without a valid license.

    InfluxData will provide you with a commercial license file. The license file is a JWT file that contains the license information.

  2. When starting the InfluxDB 3 Enterprise server, provide the license file path using one of the following methods:

    • Use the the --license-file option with the influxdb3 serve command
    • Set the INFLUXDB3_ENTERPRISE_LICENSE_FILE environment variable.

License detection

InfluxDB 3 Enterprise checks for a license file in the following order:

  1. The license file path provided with the --license-file option

  2. The license file path provided with the INFLUXDB3_ENTERPRISE_LICENSE_FILE environment variable

  3. The default license path:

    /<OBJECT_STORE>/<CLUSTER_ID>/commercial_license
    
    • Copy
    • Fill window
  4. A trial or at-home license stored in the default location

    /<OBJECT_STORE>/<CLUSTER_ID>/trial_or_home_license
    
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    • Fill window
  5. The license email provided with the --license-email option

  6. The license email provided with the INFLUXDB3_ENTERPRISE_LICENSE_EMAIL environment variable

  7. If no license is found, the server won’t start

Example: Start the InfluxDB 3 Enterprise server with your license email:

influxdb3 serve \
--cluster-id cluster01 \
--node-id node01 \
--license-email example@email.com \
# ...
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  • Fill window
INFLUXDB3_ENTERPRISE_LICENSE_EMAIL=example@email.com

influxdb3 serve \
--cluster-id cluster01 \
--node-id node01 \
# ...
  • Copy
  • Fill window

Example: Start the InfluxDB 3 Enterprise server with your license file:

influxdb3 serve \
--cluster-id cluster01 \
--node-id node01 \
--license-file /path/to/license-file.jwt \
# ...
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  • Fill window
INFLUXDB3_ENTERPRISE_LICENSE_FILE=/path/to/license-file.jwt

influxdb3 serve \
--cluster-id cluster01 \
--node-id node01 \
# ...
  • Copy
  • Fill window

For more information about influxdb3 serve options, see the CLI reference.

Renew a license

To renew an InfluxDB 3 Enterprise Commercial license, contact InfluxData Sales.

Expiration behavior

When your InfluxDB 3 Enterprise license expires, the following occurs:

  • Write requests continue to be accepted and processed.
  • Compactions continue to optimize persisted data.
  • Query requests return an error.
  • If the InfluxDB 3 Enterprise server stops, it will not restart without a valid, non-expired license.

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InfluxDB 3 Core is an open source, high-speed, recent-data engine that collects and processes data in real-time and persists it to local disk or object storage. InfluxDB 3 Enterprise builds on Core’s foundation, adding high availability, read replicas, enhanced security, and data compaction for faster queries and optimized storage. A free tier of InfluxDB 3 Enterprise is available for non-commercial at-home or hobbyist use.

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