End of Life for Citrix File-Based Licensing

Citrix have announced that file-based licensing has been marked End of Life and is due to be replaced with a new cloud-based licensing system (the License Activation Service – LAS).

The new licensing system will remove the need to update license files following annual renewals and will allow for future improvements into licensing insights that will allow customers to maximize their investment in Citrix licensing.

Details
The new system will require connectivity between the License Server and Citrix Cloud to download and update entitlements every 12-24 hours. To protect against network outage, caching mechanisms are built in to allow operation for up to 30 days if the License Server becomes disconnected from LAS, or up to 15 days if the product becomes disconnected from the License Server.

The timeline for the transition to LAS is as follows:

• 8 September 2025: End of Life for file-based licensing is announced
  • Newly issued file-based licenses will expire on 15 April 2026 – this includes the re-issuing of existing license files
  • Customers must begin transitioning to cloud-based (LAS) licensing
• 15 April 2026: File-based licensing will cease to function
  • Customers who have not yet transitioned to cloud-based licensing may see disruptions in service

Full details regarding the announcement can be found at https://support.citrix.com/support-home/kbsearch/article?articleNumber=CTX695107

What To Do
All Customers must upgrade to Citrix Licensing version 11.17.2 Build 53100 or later. Additionally, customers must ensure that they are using a compatible software version and are using a compatible licensing method:

• Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops (CVAD) & Provisioning (PVS)
  • CVAD 2203 LTSR CU7
  • CVAD 2402 LTSR CU3
  • CVAD 2507 LTSR
  • CVAD 2411
• XenServer
  • XenServer 8.4
    • Early Access updates after 21 August 2025
    • Normal channel/offline updates after 28 August 2025
  • NetScaler
    • NetScaler ADCs : 14.1 51.x, 13.1 60.x, 13.1 37.x (FIPS)
    • NetScaler SVM: 14.1 51.x, 13.1 60.x
    • NetScaler Service: Early September 2025
    • LAS supports NetScaler Flexed licenses (CPL/UHMC), legacy NetScaler Pooled licenses, and NetScaler Fixed term Bandwidth licenses
      • All other forms of legacy NetScaler licenses such as Pooled vCPU, CICO, perpetual are not supported with LAS and must be transitioned to a compatible licensing scheme
    • Unicon Scout
      • Scout 15 2508 LTSR (available from August 29, 2025) or later
    • XenMobile
      • NB: Support for LAS with XenMobile is in development and will be available in an upcoming release
        
        

Next Steps
Customers are encouraged to perform the required updates as soon as possible and transition to LAS once they are ready.

Please reach out if you would like Helient Technologies’ highly experienced engineers to assist with the planning or deployment of these updates and licensing changes.