Software and licensing

Manage licensing and admin accounts

Activate windows

If the Windows environment is currently not activated, you can activate it on the Product Licensing page, as follows:

1. From the left sidebar, under Software and Licensing, click Product Licensing.
2. Click the Microsoft tab.
3. By default, Windows Server License is selected.
   • If licensed, the license information is displayed.
   • If not licensed, enter a Microsoft Product Key, and then click Activate Windows.
   • If this appliance is unable to connect to the internet (for example, in an air-gap environment), you must perform the activation by phone, as follows:
     • Open an RDP connection to the appliance
     • Once connected, right-click This PC, and then click Activate Windows.
     • Follow the instructions on the screen.

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Note

If you do not activate Windows, messaging on the U-Series Appliance website indicates you are using the software in evaluation mode. The number of days remaining for the evaluation period is shown.

Key management service support

After installation and configuration, if your server does not automatically discover the Key Management Service (KMS) server, you may receive a Windows activation failed message. Specify the KMS key and IP address again.

You can replace our key with a known Volume License Key and then call into your KMS server to count against your total (number of licenses).

To activate your volume license key:

1. From the left sidebar, under Software and Licensing, click Product Licensing.
2. Click the Microsoft tab, and select the KMS (Key Management Service) option, which displays two fields to complete.
3. Enter your Volume License Key.
4. Enter the KMS (Key Management Service) that will validate and track the license. This is only valid on appliances created as volume images.
5. Click Activate Windows.

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Note

For more information, please see Why did Windows activation fail on my EC2 Windows instance?.

Manage BeyondInsight licensing

You can view the license information for the BeyondInsight products from the Product Licensing page, as follows:

1. From the left sidebar, under Software and Licensing, click Product Licensing.
2. Click the BeyondInsight tab.
3. If licensed, the license information is displayed. If not licensed yet or to apply a new license, continue with the following steps.
4. Check your firewall first. License keys are generated via the URL https://licensing.beyondtrust.com.
   • If this appliance or this browser has access to the internet, make sure the licensing URL is in its firewall allow list.
   • If this appliance or this browser does not have access to the internet, make sure you can access the licensing URL from another web browser.
5. Enter a Serial Number and click Submit Serial Number.
   • If this appliance has access to the licensing URL, when you submit the serial number, the license key is automatically retrieved and added to the BeyondInsight License Key field below.
   • If this appliance or this browser is not able to reach the licensing URL, go to https://licensing.beyondtrust.com. Follow the instructions there to get the license key and enter the BeyondInsight License Key.
6. Click Submit License Key.

View installed software

You can view the list of all software and their versions installed on the U-Series Appliance on the Installed Software page.

To view installed software:

From the left sidebar, under Software and Licensing, click Installed Software.

Change administrator password

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Important

While it is possible to change the administrator username, we recommend contacting Support and discussing the implications of this action on your systems before making any changes. The username change may affect various areas of your deployment, and require restarting services or appliances.

You can update the passwords for the following administrator credentials:

• U-Series Appliance administrator
• BeyondInsight administrator
• BeyondTrust Updater administrator.

Make sure you review the password complexity requirements for each credential type.

1. From the left sidebar, click Security and Compliance.
2. Click the Account Management card.
3. Click the down arrow to expand the section for the credential you wish to update.
4. Change the password.
5. Click Update Credentials.

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Note

If changing the U-Series Appliance administrator username or password, you must log out and log back in to the appliance.

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Note

Support for login via RADIUS has been deprecated as of the U-Series Appliance 4.1 release.

Request product updates

View software installed on BeyondTrust products and request updates.

1. From the left sidebar, under Software and Licensing, click Installed Software.
2. From the Installed Software page, you can view a list of all the software and their versions that is installed on this appliance.
3. If any of your updates failed, click the BeyondTrust Updater link above the list of products to be taken to the BT Updater site where you can retry downloading the update.

Manage security updates

BeyondTrust provides a bundle of Microsoft patches in a security update package. All updates are tested and approved by BeyondTrust to ensure that updates do not interfere with the proper operation of the U-Series Appliance. The packages are updated when new patches are available from Microsoft.

In U-Series Appliance versions 1.3 or later, a security update package installer ships with your U-Series Appliance. When a new package is copied to the update server, then those updates can be received by your U-Series Appliance.

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Note

If you are working in an air-gap environment, we recommend using BT Updater Enterprise to download update packages. Using BT Updater Enterprise gives you more flexibility in the updates you download and when. For more information, please see BT Updater Enterprise User Guide.

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Note

For more information about the updates included in the package, contact BeyondTrust Technical Support.

Security update package types

• Security Patches for Windows Server: Microsoft Windows Updates for the server operating system, screened by BeyondTrust.
• Security Patches for SQL Server: SQL Server service packs and security updates that may be released from Microsoft, screened by BeyondTrust.
• U-Series Appliance Environment: Packages created by BeyondTrust to change system settings, such as: file, registry or system changes, or updates not integrated in Windows Updates.
• U-Series Appliance Supporting Software: Packages created by BeyondTrust to deliver updates to software that may not be from BeyondTrust but are essential to the operation of the U-Series Appliance.

Apply security updates

You can create update schedules for more than one appliance at a time. You must ensure that API keys are exchanged to set up proper communication between appliances.

As best practice when setting up schedules in a multi-appliance environment, select one appliance as your console and always create schedules from that appliance.

New updates delivered to the appliance are added to the grid automatically every 15 minutes, for both the local appliance and remote appliances. A page refresh on the local appliance updates the current available packages for the local appliance only.

To apply the updates:

1. From the left sidebar, under Software and Licensing, click Security Updates.
2. To see information about updates, click the vertical ellipsis for an appliance, and then select Security Update Details from the menu. A page displays all available updates ready to apply and any update applied in the last 24 hours.
3. If you are working in a multi-appliance environment, select each appliance you want to include in the schedule. Otherwise, select a single appliance.
4. Click Schedule Security Update.
5. Select when you want to run the update:
   • Schedule Security Update: Includes the available packages in the scheduled time frame. If a new package is received before the scheduled run time starts, then the new package is not included. A new schedule must be created to include those new packages. A package that fails to update remains in the list of available updates. The update is automatically included in any new schedule created and attempts to update when that schedule runs.
   • Run Security Update Now: Runs the update immediately.
6. Select either Appliance Time Zone or Browser Time Zone to run the update.
7. Set the Date and TIme.

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Note

The browser time zone is the local time of the administrator running the U-Series Appliance management console. The schedule for both time zones is displayed regardless of the time zone selected in step 6. You can then review the scheduled times in each time zone to determine if the time is suitable to run the updates.

8. Click Create Schedule.

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Note

For more information about API keys, please see Manage U-Series Appliance Security Settings.

View update history for security updates

1. From the left sidebar, under Software and Licensing, click Security Updates.
2. Click the vertical ellipsis for an appliance, and then select Security Update History from the menu. The page displays the historical records of previously applied patches. The list is organized by the types of packages (subscriptions).

View BeyondTrust products that require updates to allow for safe removal of dependencies

Manage BeyondTrust product dependencies

Dependency management provides visibility into the underlying frameworks that support BeyondTrust's product suite. The frameworks are updated by the Security Update Product Installer (SUPI) as part of the monthly Supporting Software update, which automatically:

• removes unnecessary .NET frameworks, freeing up resources and reducing potential security risks.
• processes new additions and upgrades.
• processes removals without dependent products.

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Note

For removals with dependencies, guidance is provided on the products that must be updated to allow for the safe removal of the dependency. You can run the removal again after the dependent product is upgraded.

You can see the software dependencies when you are viewing the SUPI package details.

1. Select Software and licensing > Security Updates.
2. Select the security package, and then select Security Package Details from the menu.
3. Select View the Dependency Manager Details to see the installed dependent software.

After you run the SUPI package, go to the Dependency Management page to view if installs, upgrades, or removals successfully ran.