License enforcement and usage reporting

F5 AI Gateway requires a license to run. AI Gateway periodically reports usage data to a F5 service over the internet.

Get the license

Download the license from MyF5. A license is a JSON Web token (JWT).

Use the license

Use the license according to the instructions in Run on Kubernetes documentation.

How enforcement and reporting works

  1. Initialization:

    1. Upon startup, AI Gateway reads the license from the F5_LICENSE env variable.

    2. If the license is invalid or not provided, AI Gateway will fail to start.

  2. Periodic checks – every hour, AI Gateway performs the following actions:

    1. License expiration check:

      1. Checks the expiration of the license.

      2. Logs a warning if the license is nearing expiration and an error if it is expired.

    2. Connect to the F5 service to report the usage data and verify the license:

      1. AI Gateway sends usage data along with the license.

      2. If AI Gateway can’t connect the F5 service, or the F5 service fails to verify the license:

        • AI Gateway logs an error immediately.

        • If the problem persists for seven days, it logs an error message every minute.

        • If the problem persists for thirty days, it continues logging an error message every minute and stops accepting new client requests.