Cisco Identity Services Engine: Ordering Guide

Ordering Guide
Cisco Identity Services Engine

Ordering Guide
February 2019
© 2019 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. This document is Cisco Public Information. Page 1 of 16
Contents
1. Introduction .......................................................................................................................................................... 3
2. Cisco Identity Services Engine ........................................................................................................................... 3
3. Cisco ISE appliances ........................................................................................................................................... 3
3.1 Appliance ordering information ....................................................................................................................... 3
4. Cisco ISE licenses ............................................................................................................................................... 4
4.1 License consumption ...................................................................................................................................... 5
4.2 License enforcement ....................................................................................................................................... 7
5. Ordering information ........................................................................................................................................... 7
5.1 Cisco ISE Device Administration license ......................................................................................................... 8
5.2 Cisco ISE Base licenses ................................................................................................................................. 8
5.3 Cisco ISE Plus licenses .................................................................................................................................. 9
5.4 Cisco ISE Apex licenses ............................................................................................................................... 10
5.5 Cisco ISE IPsec license ................................................................................................................................ 11
6. Frequently Asked Questions ............................................................................................................................ 11
7. Service offerings ................................................................................................................................................ 16
8. License management ........................................................................................................................................ 16
1. Introduction
®
Purpose: This document describes the packaging structure and ordering information for the Cisco Identity
Services Engine (ISE).
Audience: This guide is for Cisco sales, partners, distributors, and customers.
Scope: This ordering guide covers the following products:
● Cisco ISE appliances

● Cisco ISE licenses
Find more detailed information on Cisco ISE here.
2. Cisco Identity Services Engine

The functional components required for Cisco ISE deployments include appliances as well as licenses. The Cisco
ISE licenses are designed to offer choices that better align with common enterprise use cases, minimize the
number of orderable licenses, and right-size service adoption to increase value.
3. Cisco ISE appliances

Cisco ISE supports both physical and virtual appliances. You can find more details on Cisco ISE appliances here.
Cisco ISE virtual appliances are supported VMware ESXi 5.x and 6.x, KVM on Red Hat 7.x, and Microsoft Hyper-V
on Microsoft Windows Server 2012R2 and later. Virtual appliances should be run on hardware that equals or
exceeds the configurations of the physical platforms listed in the Cisco ISE data sheet. Cisco ISE Policy Service
Node (PSN) persona requires the virtual target to have at least 16 GB of memory and at least 200 GB of hard drive
space available.
3.1 Appliance ordering information

Table 1 lists ordering information for the Cisco Secure Network Servers as well as Cisco ISE virtual appliances.
For both physical and virtual appliances, make sure to select the appropriate support contract desired for each
®
appliance: Cisco Smart Net Total Care service for physical appliances and Software Support Service (SWSS) for
virtual appliances. Please note that ISE appliances always ship with the latest version of software but the software
version can be changed manually. This would be in the form of a fresh installation. Please refer to the release
notes and administrator guide of the ISE release you plan to install.
Table 1. Product ordering information
Server Part Number Product Description Comments
SNS-3515-K9 Small Secure Network Server for ISE Applications Customer must choose software option
SNS-3595-K9 Large Secure Server for ISE Applications Customer must choose software option
SNS-3615-K9 Small Secure Network Server for ISE Applications Customer must choose software option
SNS-3655-K9 Medium Secure Network Server for ISE Applications Customer must choose software option
SNS-3695-K9 Large Secure Network Server for ISE Applications Customer must choose software option
R-ISE-VMS-K9= Cisco ISE Virtual Machine Small At least 12 CPU and 16 GB RAM
R-ISE-VMM-K9= Cisco ISE Virtual Machine Medium At least 16 CPU and 64 GB RAM
R-ISE-VML-K9= Cisco ISE Virtual Machine Large At least 16 CPU and 256 GB RAM
A deployment can use a higher level license and still be compliant. For example, you may choose to configure your
ISE node as a small VM and have installed a medium VM license.
Table 2 lists the Secure Network Server component spares that can be used as Field-Replaceable Units (FRUs).
Table 2. Spare components for the Cisco Secure Network Server
Secure Network Server Component Part Component Description

Number
3515/3595 UCS-HD600G10K12G 600-GB 12-Gb SAS 10K RPM SFF hard disk; hot pluggable; drive sled
mounted
3615/3655/3695 UCS-HD600G10K12N 600-GB 12-Gb SAS 10K RPM SFF hard disk; hot pluggable; drive sled
mounted
3515/3595/3615/3655/3695 UCSC-PSU1-770W= 770W power supply
3515/3595/3615/3655/3695 N20-BKVM= KVM cable
3515/3595/3615/3655/3695 UCSC-RAILB-M4= Rail kit
4. Cisco ISE licenses

Below is a list of ISE licenses offered.
Table 3. Cisco ISE licenses
Cisco ISE License Focus Perpetual or Subscription Notes

Package (Terms Available)
Evaluation Limited use of Cisco ISE product for Temporary (90 days) Full Cisco ISE functionality (Device
presales customer trials/evaluations Admin, Base, Plus and Apex) is
provided for 100 sessions. See license
details below. Included in the Cisco ISE
software
Device Administration Enables Device Administration/TACACS+ Perpetual Needs a minimum of 100 Base licenses
support for networking devices
Base Provides highly secure endpoint and user Perpetual -

access
Plus Provides context about sessions for more Subscription (1, 3, or 5 years) Does not include Base services; Base
detailed access policies licenses are required to install Plus
licenses
Apex Provides compliance details about Subscription (1, 3, or 5 years) Does not include Base or Plus services;
sessions for more detailed access policies Base licenses are required to install
Apex licenses. Please note that Cisco
AnyConnect® Apex user licenses are
required in addition to Cisco ISE Apex
licenses when making use of Cisco
AnyConnect posture services across
wired, wireless, and VPN
All licenses are available as traditional PAK-based licenses and can be converted to Smart licenses.
Understanding Cisco ISE service and license relationships is important for license ordering and deployment.
Table 4 provides a cross-reference for Cisco ISE features and services and the licenses where these features and
services are found.
Table 4. Cisco ISE services, licenses, and software
Cisco ISE Feature or Service License
Base Device Plus Apex

Admin
Basic RADIUS authentication, authorization, and accounting, including Yes No No No

802.1x, MAC Authentication Bypass
Web authentication (local, central, device registration) Yes No No No
MACsec (all) Yes No No No
SSO, SAML, ODBC–based authentication Yes No No No
Cisco ISE Feature or Service License
Base Device Plus Apex

Admin
Guest portal and sponsor services Yes No No No
Representational state transfer (monitoring) APIs Yes No No No
External RESTful services (CRUD)-capable APIs Yes No No No

®
Security group tagging (Cisco TrustSec SGT) Yes No No No
PassiveID (Cisco Subscribers) Yes No No No
PassiveID (Non Cisco Subscribers) No No Yes No
Profiling No No Yes No
Profiler feed service No No Yes No
Device registration (My Devices portal) and provisioning for Bring Your Own No No Yes No
Device (BYOD) with built-in Certificate Authority (CA)
Context sharing pxGrid No No Yes No
Endpoint Protection Services (EPS) No No Yes No
Cisco TrustSec and ACI integration No No Yes No
Location-based integration using Cisco Connected Mobile Experiences (CMX) No No Yes No

or Cisco Mobility Services Engine (MSE)
Rapid Threat Containment (RTC) (using Adaptive Network Control and No No Yes No
pxGrid)
Posture (endpoint compliance and remediation) No No No Yes
Enterprise Mobility Management and Mobile Device Management (EMM and No No No Yes
MDM) integration
Threat Centric NAC No No No Yes
Cisco AnyConnect Unified Agent (requires Cisco AnyConnect Apex license; No No No Yes
see “Ordering information” section)
Wired access control Yes No Yes Yes

Device Administration (TACACS+) No Yes No No
®
For deployments looking to use Cisco AnyConnect technology for posture across wired, wireless, and VPN, Cisco
AnyConnect Apex licenses should be ordered in addition to Cisco ISE Base, Plus, and Apex licenses. See the
“Ordering information” section for more details.
4.1 License consumption

The consumption of Cisco ISE licenses depends on sessions and the conditions related to network sessions. Cisco
ISE licenses are not permanently assigned to an endpoint, so they can be continually consumed and released.
Cisco ISE uses RADIUS accounting “start” and “stop” messages to determine when network sessions begin and
end (see Table 5). There are a number of Cisco ISE features that do not result in license consumption recorded in
the ISE user interface. These are also listed for completeness (see Table 6).
Table 5. Relationships between services and license consumption
Cisco ISE Service Cisco ISE When the License Is Consumed When the License Is Released
License
Authentication Base A Base license is consumed when an endpoint establishes an active The session ends
(RADIUS/AAA) network session
Authentication Mobility A Mobility license is consumed when a wireless or VPN endpoint The session ends
(RADIUS/AAA) establishes an active network session
Authentication Mobility A Mobility Upgrade license is consumed when a wired endpoint The session ends
(RADIUS/AAA) Upgrade establishes an active network session
Cisco ISE Service Cisco ISE When the License Is Consumed When the License Is Released
License
Profiling Plus A Plus license is consumed when an endpoint with an active session The session ends
uses profiling classification in an authorization policy
BYOD client Plus A Plus license is consumed when an endpoint with an active session The session ends
provisioning and uses its registration status in an authorization policy
enablement
MDM (partner) checks Apex An Apex license is consumed when an endpoint uses an MDM The session ends
attribute in an authorization policy
Threat Centric NAC Apex An Apex license is consumed when an endpoint uses or triggers The session ends
threat based information or action as part of the authorization policy
Posture Apex An Apex license is consumed when an endpoint with an active The session ends or the endpoint
session receives an authorization based on a posture status other reauthenticates to a session that
than “Not applicable” (for example, Compliant, Not compliant, does not require posture
Pending, or Unknown)
Table 6 shows the subset of Cisco ISE features that do not result in license consumption recorded in the ISE user
interface.
Table 6. Cisco licensed features not involving consumption
Cisco ISE Service Description Associated License

Security group tags Use of SGTs as part of authorization Service is enabled with a valid Base license
(SGTs) policy
Profiler feed service Dynamic downloading of endpoint Service is enabled with a valid Plus license
classification rules
Context sharing User and endpoint contextual attribute Service is enabled with a valid Plus license. Requires a 1:1 Plus to Base
(who, what, where, when, etc.) data license sessions. See table 7 for more details
exchange between Cisco ISE and third-
party system through pxGrid
My Devices portal* Self-service web portal for users to add Service is enabled with a valid Plus license
and NSP and manage their sessions with automatic
Network Supplicant Provisioning (NSP)
Endpoint Protection APIs for delivering dynamic network Service is enabled with a valid Plus license
Services controls of active network sessions
Cisco AnyConnect Use of Cisco AnyConnect for posture Service is enabled with a valid Cisco ISE Apex license and Cisco
Unified Agent services across wired, wireless, and VPN AnyConnect Apex licenses. Please note that Cisco AnyConnect Apex
licenses are needed for every unique user that will make use of Cisco
AnyConnect services (posture, VPN, etc.). This includes standalone nodes
(e.g. sensors) or multiuser shared computing platforms
PassiveID Gathering, collating, and caching Cisco Only Subscribers: Service is enabled with a valid Base license
authentication data (username, IP address Non Cisco Subscribers: Service is enabled with a valid Plus license.
and MAC) from other servers in the data Requires a 1:1 Plus to Base license sessions
center and distributing the authentication
data to subscribing systems through
pxGrid
Device Support for IT enterprise administrators Service is enabled with a valid Device Administration license
Administration accessing switches, wireless controller,
(TACACS+) routers, etc., to comply with device
administration policies defined in ISE
before any configuration changes can
occur
The My Devices portal is enabled when a Plus license is installed and by itself does NOT consume any licenses.
When a device registered through My Devices Portal connects to the network, a Plus license is consumed.
Advanced Cisco TrustSec and ACI integration, multiple matrixes, and Rapid Threat Containment require 1:1 Plus-
to-Base license sessions.
Table 7. Context exchange licensing requirements
Authentication Mechanism Context Shared With License Requirement
Cisco ISE Cisco platforms Plus 1:1 Base
Cisco ISE Third-party platforms Plus 1:1 Base

Non-ISE Authentication (e.g., AD) Cisco platforms Base
Non-ISE Authentication (e.g., AD) Third-party platforms Plus 1:1 Base
4.2 License enforcement

Starting with version 2.2, ISE will enforce licenses when they are out of compliance for 45 days out of 60
consecutive days. A license is out of compliance when (a) term licenses have expired; or (b) more sessions are
authorized to establish network sessions or use services than are entitled.
For term licenses, alerts will be provided 30 days prior to expiry on a daily basis to the administrator. When the
term licenses expire, they are considered to be out of compliance. ISE will provide a grace period of 45
consecutive days, after which enforcement will begin.
When 25 percent more sessions are authorized than are entitled by the license, the license is considered out of
compliance (the 25 percent overage is provided to account for a temporary burst). If the license is out of
compliance for 45 consecutive days, enforcement will kick in.
Alerts will be provided every day that a license is out of compliance. When enforcement kicks in, there will be no
impact to end users. However, visibility and management of the features associated with an out-of-compliance
license will be affected.
Enforcement will be for Plus and Apex licenses. These enforcement actions and impacts on licenses may change
in the future.
Note: The term of a Cisco ISE subscription license (Plus, Apex, Mobility, Mobility Upgrade) begins when the
PAK is dispatched; this generally occurs 24 hours after the sales order is processed.
5. Ordering information
All Cisco ISE licenses are orderable in the Cisco Commerce Workspace (CCW) and are listed on the Global Price
List (GPL).
Cisco ISE endpoint session-based licenses can be ordered in any quantity starting with 100 sessions.
Subscription licenses can be ordered with 1-, 3-, or 5-year terms. Please note that support contracts on all the
Cisco ISE appliances (physical or virtual) in a deployment are a prerequisite to purchasing and using ISE
term-based licenses.
By default, subscription licenses begin immediately and are for 3 years. The subscription licenses can also be
ordered with specific start and end dates. The start date can be up to 60 days out from the current date. The term
can be between 12 and 60 months, allowing the licenses to be co-termed.
To order a Cisco ISE Device Administration perpetual license, select the ISE Device Administration license as
separate optional add-on license. Please note that one ISE Device Administration license is needed per ISE node.
When selecting Cisco ISE Apex licenses with the intent of using AnyConnect for posture, please add Cisco
AnyConnect Apex licenses. The Cisco AnyConnect Apex licenses have to be ordered as a separate line item with
a count equal to the total number of possible users that will make use of Cisco AnyConnect services within the
Cisco ISE deployment. Please note that Cisco AnyConnect Plus and Apex licenses will work with Cisco ISE Base,
Plus, or Apex for basic VPN authentication. If endpoint contextual data collection with Cisco ISE is required in
addition to basic VPN authentication, then Cisco AnyConnect Plus and Cisco ISE Plus licenses have to be
ordered. If endpoint posture and consistent access policy enforcement across wired and wireless is needed in
addition to basic VPN authentication, then Cisco AnyConnect Apex and Cisco ISE Apex have to be ordered.
The number of Cisco AnyConnect licenses needed is based on all the possible unique users that would use any
Cisco AnyConnect service. The exact number of Cisco AnyConnect Plus or Apex licenses should be based on the
total number of unique users that require the specific services associated with each license type. Please see the
Cisco AnyConnect Ordering Guide for additional information regarding AnyConnect licenses. Similar to Cisco ISE
subscription licenses, a SWSS service contract is included with Cisco AnyConnect Apex licenses for the duration
of the subscription term.
To order Cisco AnyConnect Plus or Apex licenses from a Cisco partner, please refer to their Cisco AnyConnect
specific SKU structures for Plus license (AC-PLS…) and Apex license (AC-APX…).
5.1 Cisco ISE Device Administration license

A Cisco ISE Device Administration license is an optional add-on license that allows ISE to support Device
Administration (TACACS+) for managing administrative access to network devices. Please note that at least 100
ISE Base session licenses are needed in the deployment prior to adding an ISE Device Administration license.
One ISE Device Administration license is required per Policy Service Node that operates on Device Administration
transactions.
Table 8. Cisco ISE Device Administration license
Part Number (SKU) Description
L-ISE-TACACS-ND= Cisco ISE Device Admin Node License
5.2 Cisco ISE Base licenses

A Cisco ISE Base license is required in every Cisco ISE deployment. Technical support for Cisco ISE Base license
functionality is covered by the Cisco ISE appliances support contract. The Cisco ISE Base license options are
listed in Table 9. Start by choosing L-ISE-BSE-PLIC=. From here choose one of the following SKUs that fits your
quantity requirement.
Table 9. Cisco ISE Base licenses
L-ISE-BSE-P1 Cisco ISE Base License - Sessions 100 to 249

L-ISE-BSE-P11 Cisco ISE Base License - Sessions 250000 and above
5.3 Cisco ISE Plus licenses

Cisco ISE Plus licenses are term-based licenses that are added on top of Cisco ISE Base licenses and cannot
exceed the number of Base sessions. ISE Plus licenses can also be deployed with ISE Apex licenses. The Cisco
ISE Plus license options are listed in the tables below. Start by choosing L-ISE-PLS-LIC= and click on Select
Service. From here enter the sessions count to pick the subscription SKU that fits your quantity and duration
requirement.
Table 10. Cisco ISE Plus 5-year subscription licenses
Term Subscription Description
L-ISE-PLS-5Y-S1 Cisco ISE Plus License, 5Y, 100 - 249 Sessions



L-ISE-PLS-5Y-S11 Cisco ISE Plus License, 5Y, 250000+ Sessions
Table 11. Cisco ISE Plus 3-year subscription licenses

Table 12. Cisco ISE Plus 1-Year subscription licenses
5.4 Cisco ISE Apex licenses

Cisco ISE Apex licenses are term-based licenses that are added on top of Cisco ISE Base licenses and cannot
exceed the number of Base sessions. ISE Apex licenses can also be deployed with ISE Plus licenses. The Cisco
ISE Apex license options are listed in the tables below. Start by choosing L-ISE-APX-LIC= and click on Select
Service. From here enter the sessions count to pick the subscription SKU that fits your quantity and duration
requirement.
Table 13. Cisco ISE Apex 5-year subscription licenses
L-ISE-APX-5Y-S1 Cisco ISE Apex License, 5Y, 100 - 249 Sessions

L-ISE-APX-5Y-S11 Cisco ISE Apex License, 5Y, 250000+ Sessions




5.5 Cisco ISE IPsec license

The Cisco ISE IPsec licenses support VPN communication between Cisco ISE Policy Services Nodes (PSNs) and
Cisco Network Access Devices (NADs). One Cisco ISE IPsec license is required for every Policy Services Node
used for IPsec VPN communication to the NADs. There is a maximum of 150 IPsec tunnels per Policy Services
Node.
Table 16. Cisco ISE IPsec licenses
L-ISE-IPSEC Cisco Identity Services Engine IPsec License
6. Frequently Asked Questions

Q. What are the perpetual vs subscription feature offers within ISE?
A. The perpetual license based features in ISE are Base and Device Admin as well as the ISE virtual machine
licenses. The subscription license based features in ISE are Plus and Apex.
Q. We purchased VM previously and it had no PAK or license key associated. We are planning to upgrade to 2.4
now. What do I need?
A. Upon upgrade to 2.4, you would be prompted to install VM licenses keys. But if you purchased ISE VM
previously with no PAK or license key associated, please reach out to ise-vm-license@cisco.com with the
Sales Order (SO) number reflecting the VM purchases.
Note: 2.4 only provides license warning for the VM licenses. The ISE deployment continues to operate without
disruption.
Q. We purchased Device Admin previously. Do I need to buy more licenses if I upgrade to 2.4?
A. If you purchased Device Admin as a deployment-wide license, you can continue to utilize all nodes in the
deployment for TACACS+ transactions. This means the license entitles your deployment to the maximum
number of nodes supported by ISE for the deployment.
Q. Can I mix appliance types in my ISE deployment?

A. Yes. You can use different appliance types in your environment, but all appliances need to be on the same
software versions.
Q. What license do I need with pxGrid?
A. There is no single license associated with pxGrid. Cisco licenses features that may or may not leverage pxGrid
to communicate between systems. A session using these features will consume a license, though context
sharing itself will not. See the section titled “Cisco ISE licenses” for details about the various features that
might make use of pxGrid and the appropriate license for each.
Q. How do I use pxGrid with Plus licenses?

A. This question is unclear because it does not ask about a specific licensed feature. Context sharing is
assumed. pxGrid is used to share context collected by ISE with both Cisco and third-party products. For a list
of supported integrations, please see our Technical Alliance page. And for details on licensing behavior for
both scenarios, refer to Table 4. A Plus license is required to enable pxGrid functionality. There is no session-
count decrement when context for a session is shared. However, because context shared is across the entire
number of sessions in ISE, to use pxGrid, the number of Plus sessions licensed must be equal to the number
of Base sessions licensed.
Q. Can I mix separate Base, Plus, and Apex licenses with Mobility licenses in a Cisco ISE deployment?
A. No. A Cisco ISE deployment cannot mix Base, Plus, and Apex licenses with the Mobility or Wireless licenses
in the same deployment.
Q. Can I add an ISE Device Administration license on top of Mobility licenses?

A. Yes.
Q. Can an ISE deployment operate with just the ISE Device Administration license?
A. No, an ISE deployment requires at least 100 ISE Base session licenses in order to operate. The ISE Device
Administration should be added to the deployment after the ISE Base licenses.
Q. Can a single endpoint consume more than one license?

A. Yes, but not more than one license of each type. For example, a single endpoint could consume both a Base
and a Plus license. However, a single endpoint cannot consume two Base licenses, or two Plus licenses, and
so on.
Q. Do I need to enable RADIUS accounting on my network access devices?

A. Yes. Properly configured RADIUS accounting is essential for accurate Cisco ISE license consumption metrics
and endpoint session monitoring.
Q. Does an endpoint with a session authorized by MAC Authentication Bypass (MAB) consume a license?
A. Yes. A Base license will be consumed by an endpoint that receives MAB to access the network.
Q. What happens to an existing customer with Plus, Advanced, or Wireless licenses when they upgrade to Cisco
ISE 2.0 or later releases?
A. Cisco ISE 2.0 has no impact on existing licenses in terms of services, count, and term. Existing customers with
Wireless licenses that migrate to 2.0 or later releases will see a Wireless to Mobility name change in the
administrative console, but they will have exactly the same functionality, plus the ability to provide VPN access
control. Existing Plus customers will continue to function as they do in Cisco ISE 1.2. Existing Advanced
customers that migrate to Cisco ISE 2.0 or a later release will see the Advanced name decomposed into Plus
and Apex in the administrative console, but they too will have same functionality.
Q. What is the status of the advanced license in Cisco ISE 2.0 and later releases?
A. An Advanced license can still be consumed in ISE 2.0 or a later release deployment, but customers should
find that separate Plus and Apex licenses are more cost effective allowing a la carte consumption.
Q. How will this impact advanced renewals?

A. Any Advanced customer looking to renew can now “right-size” license consumption based on
enterprise-specific use cases. For example, an advanced customer that has been using Advanced only for
profiling functionality can now renew at the Plus level.
Q. Can the older (non-“S”) Advanced, Wireless, or Wireless Upgrade licenses be co-termed or renewed?
A. No.
Q. Can a deployment include a mix of Plus with Apex licenses on top of Base licenses?
Yes. This configuration would be useful in a number of environments. One example: a deployment of 7500
sessions that requires profiling for 5000 sessions and posture for 2500 sessions. In this case the configuration
would be 7500 Base, 5000 Plus, and 2500 Apex, and AnyConnect Apex based on number of users.
Q. Can I order ISE licenses as optional items when selecting appliances?

A. No ISE licenses are defined as spares and must be ordered as individual line items.
Q. Can a Cisco ISE deployment have just Base and Apex licenses?
A. Yes. ISE Base, Plus, and Apex licenses can be consumed a la carte. Valid license choices are Base only;
Base and Plus; Base and Apex; Base, Plus and Apex; or Base, Plus, Apex and Cisco AnyConnect Apex.
Q. Is there an equivalent of the Base license for Mobility use cases (wireless and VPN)?
A. No. The Base license supports wired, wireless, and VPN sessions with the features described above in this
ordering guide. The Mobility license enables all the features offered by the Base, Plus, and Apex described
above in this ordering guide, but for wireless and VPN sessions only.
Q. Can the Plus or Apex or the sum of Plus and Apex licenses count be greater than the total Base count?
A. No.
Q. Is a Cisco AnyConnect Plus license required with a Cisco ISE Plus license?
A. No. However, using a Cisco AnyConnect Plus license with Cisco ISE Plus enables the collecting and sharing
of endpoint context for VPN uses cases. Please note that the Cisco AnyConnect Plus license will work with the
Cisco ISE Base license, but the detailed endpoint information will not be collected. For additional information
on AnyConnect Plus, please refer to the Cisco AnyConnect Ordering Guide.
Q. What are the different services enabled by Cisco ISE Apex as opposed to Cisco ISE Apex with Cisco
AnyConnect Apex?
A. Cisco ISE Apex is the license tier to enable compliance context collection and the use of that information as
authorization attributes within ISE policies. For example, using a third-party MDM/EMM platform to detect and
control access based on “PIN lock status” and “jailbreak status” requires a Cisco ISE Apex license. The Cisco
ISE Apex license count required in this use case is the maximum number of potential concurrent MDM/EMM
enrolled mobile sessions active on the network and controlled by Cisco ISE, and not every MDM/EMM
enrolled endpoint. Cisco ISE Apex with AnyConnect Apex enables AnyConnect as the unified agent for PC
compliance along with all the additional value-add Cisco AnyConnect services such as “always on,” trusted
network detection, etc.
As in the previous example, the Cisco ISE Apex license count would be for the maximum number of
concurrent sessions where Cisco AnyConnect acts as the unified agent in the Cisco ISE deployment for
posture, etc., and not, necessarily, every endpoint that will be running AnyConnect. The number of Cisco
AnyConnect Apex licenses needed is based on all the possible unique users that may use Cisco AnyConnect
Apex services and not each and every device running Cisco AnyConnect. Please note that AnyConnect Plus
and Apex fall under a separate user-based license structure, which is different from the Cisco ISE endpoint
session-based license structure. For additional Cisco AnyConnect information, please review the Cisco
AnyConnect content on Cisco.com.
Q. Are there specific renewal license SKUs to order when renewing a license, and is there a built-in
renewal discount?
A. No, there is no specific Cisco ISE license SKU for renewals. Customers must reorder or renew the general
licenses. There is no built-in renewal discount, but a nonstandard discount might be arranged through your
Cisco Certified Partner or Cisco sales team.
Q. Does endpoint registration consume a Plus or Apex license?

A. No. Endpoint registration (e.g., for BYOD) is the process of an endpoint being registered with the My Devices
portal and, when appropriate, being supported by native supplicant provisioning. Neither of these operations
consumes a Plus or Apex license. However, making use of z registration status or endpoint profile during
authorization will, in fact, consume a Plus license. For example, a student could add a gaming platform
manually through the My Devices portal, but it would not use a Cisco ISE Plus license until that gaming
platform is connected and authorized to connect to the network through Cisco ISE.
After that gaming system is turned off, the Cisco ISE license count is returned and made available for
another device. Note that having a Plus license is required to enable the My Devices portal and native
supplicant provisioning.
Q. If I have both Plus and Apex licenses, and I am using endpoint profiling within an authorization rule as well as
posture information, which license type gets used?
A. Both a Plus and an Apex license session will be consumed in this use case.
Q. If I deploy Cisco ISE with primary and secondary Administration nodes, can I have the licenses registered to
both nodes?
A. Yes. The Cisco PAK registration page allows a PAK and the associated license file to be registered to the
Unique Device Identifiers (UDIs) of the primary and secondary Administration nodes. The registration of the
PAK to the primary Administration node is mandatory; the registration of the secondary Administration node
is optional.
Q. If I upload a license file only to the primary Administration node, will it propagate license information to the
other Cisco ISE nodes on the network?
A. All nodes in a Cisco ISE deployment use the license applied to the primary Administration node. If the primary
node fails, the secondary Administration node is promoted and uses the licenses acquired from the primary
Administration node.
Q. What is a UDI?
A. A UDI is the unique device identifier of each Cisco ISE appliance. The UDI comprises three values: the
Product ID (PID), the Version ID (VID), and the serial number.
Q. I need to change or upgrade my Administration node. Do I need to buy new licenses?
A. No. Valid ISE licenses can be rehosted to the UDI of a new node (see
https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/products/security/identity-services-engine/index.html for more information).
Q. I want to extend support on my ISE virtual appliances but I bought the non “R-” SKUs. Do I need to buy new
appliances?
A. No. Please apply for a PAK according to the ISE release notes. Once a PAK is received, the installed base
record is updated so you can continue with ISE under service as a medium VM.
Q. If I installed 5-year Mobility licenses and have 3 years remaining in the term before they expire, and I want to
install Mobility Upgrade licenses, what license term should I select?
A. The Mobility Upgrade license is no longer available. Customers who purchased wireless or mobility licenses
will need to maintain their current configurations until expiration.
Q. What does “co-term” mean?

A. When a license is purchased with an adjusted term duration to co-terminate along with another license, the
two licenses are considered co-termed. Refer to the question above for an example to show how co-term
works.
Q. When does the term begin for a Cisco Identity Services Engine license?
A. Consistent with Cisco policy, the Identity Services Engine license term starts 24 hours after dispatch. All
Identity Services Engine licenses are electronically delivered and are typically dispatched within 48 hours after
order processing.
Q. What happens when a Cisco ISE term-based license expires?

A. When a Plus or Apex license expires, the Plus-level (profiling, BYOD, etc.) or Apex-level services (posture,
third-party MDM, etc.) are no longer available in the Policy menu. Base licenses are unaffected by Plus or
Apex license expiration. When a Mobility license expires, the user is redirected to the License Import page so
that a new license can be installed.
Q. Will I receive an alert before license expires?

A. Yes. An alert will be generated 30 days before the date of expiration and will be sent hourly. Additionally, the
licensing homepage (Main Menu: Administration > Licensing) displays the date at which each license expires.
Q. Can I extend the term of my Cisco ISE evaluation license?

A. Yes. To extend the term of your evaluation license, please contact your Cisco sales team or partner. Additional
details are available here.
Q. How is a license renewal placed?

A. The Cisco Commerce Workspace (CCW) and Cisco Service Contract Center (CSCC) tools support license
renewal quotes and orders. Contact your regional Cisco Content Renewals team to obtain the appropriate
quote and deal ID.
Q. When is the earliest that a license renewal can be quoted and placed?
A. In accordance with Cisco policy, Cisco ISE license renewals can be quoted 6 months in advance of the license
expiring and placed 60 days prior to the license expiring.
Q. When is the latest that a license can be renewed?

A. Licenses can be renewed up to 30 days past the license expiration date. After 30 days, the license can’t be
renewed and a new license order will need to be placed.
Q. Whom should I contact for additional information?
A. Please contact your local Cisco sales representative or Cisco Certified Partner.
Q. What is the difference between the Cisco Temporal Agent and NAC Web Agent?
A. The Cisco Temporal Agent is replacement solution for the NAC Web Agent. Like the NAC Web Agent, the
Cisco Temporal Agent is designed to address posture use cases where a persistent agent is unworkable
(e.g., guest). But unlike the NAC Web Agent, the Cisco Temporal Agent supports both Windows and macOS
and does not rely on the endpoint’s browser for embedded launch.
Q. Which license do I need to purchase to make use of the Cisco Temporal Agent?
A. You will need to purchase one Cisco ISE Apex license in addition to one Cisco Base license for each active
session making use of the Cisco Temporal Agent.
7. Service offerings
SWSS support is included for the duration of the all Cisco ISE subscription licenses.
Please note that Smart Net Total Care or SWSS support contracts for Cisco ISE physical and virtual appliances
must be purchased separately and are required to consume any ISE subscription licenses. Smart Net Total Care
and SWSS support contracts for Cisco ISE physical and virtual appliances cover Base and Device Administration
deployments as well. Please also note that Cisco does not offer stand-alone ISE software upgrade services SKUs
or separate support SKUs for subscription licenses.
8. License management
Cisco offers a variety of license management tools at the License Registration Portal. A valid Cisco.com user name
and a password are required to access the portal. Key features of the Cisco License Registration portal include:
● Simplified asset management: identifies PAKs registered to a customer and the devices with
installed licenses
● Automated software activation: quickly processes PAK registration and license file distribution
● License transfers: rehosts existing licenses to new Cisco ISE Administration nodes
● Replacement of devices: uses the “return materials authorization” to request replacement PAKs
and licenses
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Cisco Identity Services Engine: Ordering Guide

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Ordering Guide

Cisco Identity Services Engine

Scope: This ordering guide covers the following products:

● Cisco ISE appliances

2. Cisco Identity Services Engine

3. Cisco ISE appliances

3.1 Appliance ordering information

Table 1. Product ordering information

Server Part Number Product Description Comments

Table 2. Spare components for the Cisco Secure Network Server

Secure Network Server Component Part Component Description

3515/3595/3615/3655/3695 N20-BKVM= KVM cable

3515/3595/3615/3655/3695 UCSC-RAILB-M4= Rail kit

4. Cisco ISE licenses

Table 3. Cisco ISE licenses

Cisco ISE License Focus Perpetual or Subscription Notes

Base Provides highly secure endpoint and user Perpetual -

Table 4. Cisco ISE services, licenses, and software

Cisco ISE Feature or Service License

Base Device Plus Apex

Basic RADIUS authentication, authorization, and accounting, including Yes No No No

Web authentication (local, central, device registration) Yes No No No

MACsec (all) Yes No No No

SSO, SAML, ODBC–based authentication Yes No No No

Base Device Plus Apex

Guest portal and sponsor services Yes No No No

Representational state transfer (monitoring) APIs Yes No No No

External RESTful services (CRUD)-capable APIs Yes No No No

PassiveID (Cisco Subscribers) Yes No No No

PassiveID (Non Cisco Subscribers) No No Yes No

Profiler feed service No No Yes No

Context sharing pxGrid No No Yes No

Endpoint Protection Services (EPS) No No Yes No

Cisco TrustSec and ACI integration No No Yes No

Location-based integration using Cisco Connected Mobile Experiences (CMX) No No Yes No

Posture (endpoint compliance and remediation) No No No Yes

Threat Centric NAC No No No Yes

Wired access control Yes No Yes Yes

4.1 License consumption

Table 5. Relationships between services and license consumption

Table 6. Cisco licensed features not involving consumption

Cisco ISE Service Description Associated License

Authentication Mechanism Context Shared With License Requirement

Cisco ISE Cisco platforms Plus 1:1 Base

Cisco ISE Third-party platforms Plus 1:1 Base

Non-ISE Authentication (e.g., AD) Third-party platforms Plus 1:1 Base

4.2 License enforcement

5.1 Cisco ISE Device Administration license

Table 8. Cisco ISE Device Administration license

Part Number (SKU) Description

L-ISE-TACACS-ND= Cisco ISE Device Admin Node License

5.2 Cisco ISE Base licenses

Table 9. Cisco ISE Base licenses

Part Number (SKU) Description

L-ISE-BSE-P1 Cisco ISE Base License - Sessions 100 to 249

L-ISE-BSE-P2 Cisco ISE Base License - Sessions 250 to 499

L-ISE-BSE-P3 Cisco ISE Base License - Sessions 500 to 999

L-ISE-BSE-P4 Cisco ISE Base License - Sessions 1000 to 2499

L-ISE-BSE-P5 Cisco ISE Base License - Sessions 2500 to 4999