Add an Enterprise Edition License to Redpanda in Kubernetes

To enable enterprise features for Redpanda Self-Managed, you must have an Enterprise Edition license. This guide outlines how to apply or update an Enterprise Edition license for Redpanda Self-Managed in a Kubernetes environment.

Prerequisites

You must have an Enterprise Edition license. To get a trial license key or extend your trial period, generate a new trial license key. To purchase a license, contact Redpanda Sales.

Add a new license

Redpanda supports the following ways to apply a new license:

Use a Kubernetes Secret

You can store the license in a Kubernetes Secret and reference it in your Helm values or manifest file.

  1. Download your license file (redpanda.license) and create a Kubernetes Secret:

    kubectl create secret generic redpanda-license
--from-file=license=./redpanda.license
--namespace <namespace>
    bash

    This command creates a Kubernetes Secret named redpanda-license in the specified namespace, containing the license file.

  2. Reference the Secret:

    redpanda-cluster.yaml
    apiVersion: cluster.redpanda.com/v1alpha2
kind: Redpanda
metadata:
  name: redpanda
spec:
  chartRef: {}
  clusterSpec:
    enterprise:
      licenseSecretRef:
        name: redpanda-license
        key: license
    yaml
    kubectl apply -f redpanda-cluster.yaml --namespace <namespace>
    bash

Provide the license inline

If you prefer to provide the license string directly, you can do so as follows:

redpanda-cluster.yaml
apiVersion: cluster.redpanda.com/v1alpha2
kind: Redpanda
metadata:
  name: redpanda
spec:
  chartRef: {}
  clusterSpec:
    enterprise:
      license: <license-key>
yaml
kubectl apply -f redpanda-cluster.yaml --namespace <namespace>
bash

Use Redpanda Console

You can upload a license directly through Redpanda Console.

See Manage Enterprise Edition Licenses through Redpanda Console.

Verify a license

After adding or updating a license, you can use rpk to verify that the license was set.

kubectl exec <pod-name> --namespace <namespace> -c redpanda -- \
  rpk cluster license info
bash

This command will display the current license details, including the expiration date and whether any enterprise features are active. For example:

LICENSE INFORMATION
===================
Organization:      redpanda
Type:              enterprise
Expires:           Oct 24 2027

Redpanda blocks upgrades to new feature releases if enterprise features are active without a valid license. Ensure compliance by obtaining a license to maintain access to the latest features and updates.

Update an existing license

The process for updating a license depends on how it was originally applied:

When a new license is uploaded, enterprise features in Redpanda Self-Managed are unlocked immediately without requiring a cluster restart. However, to unlock enterprise features in Redpanda Console, you must restart the Redpanda Console instance.

Update the Kubernetes Secret

If the license is provided through a Kubernetes Secret, follow these steps to update it:

  1. Download the updated license file and overwrite the existing redpanda.license file.

  2. Delete the existing Secret:

    kubectl delete secret redpanda-license --namespace <namespace>
    bash

  3. Create a new Secret with a new name that contains the contents of the updated license:

    kubectl create secret generic redpanda-license-updated \
  --from-file=license=./redpanda.license \
  --namespace <namespace>
    bash

  4. Update the Redpanda CRD to use the new Secret.

    redpanda-cluster.yaml
    apiVersion: cluster.redpanda.com/v1alpha2
kind: Redpanda
metadata:
  name: redpanda
spec:
  chartRef: {}
  clusterSpec:
    enterprise:
      licenseSecretRef:
        name: redpanda-license-updated
        key: license
    yaml

  5. Apply the changes to the Redpanda CRD:

    kubectl apply -f redpanda-cluster.yaml --namespace <namespace>
    bash

    The Redpanda Operator updates the license without restarting the Repanda broker.

  6. Check the status of the new license to make sure it was successfully applied:

    rpk cluster license info
    bash

    The output displays the following details:

    Organization:    Organization the license was generated for.
Type:            Type of license.
Expires:         Expiration date of the license.
Version:         License schema version.

  7. If you use Redpanda Console, delete the Redpanda Console Pods to force Redpanda Console to reload the updated license:

    kubectl delete pod $(kubectl get pod --namespace <namespace> | grep redpanda-console | awk '{print $1}') --namespace <namespace>
    bash

Update the license inline

If you applied the license inline, follow these steps to update it:

  1. Modify the enterprise.license value with the new license string:

    redpanda-cluster.yaml
    apiVersion: cluster.redpanda.com/v1alpha2
kind: Redpanda
metadata:
  name: redpanda
spec:
  chartRef: {}
  clusterSpec:
    enterprise:
      license: <license-key>
    yaml
    kubectl apply -f redpanda-cluster.yaml --namespace <namespace>
    bash

  2. Check the status of new license to make sure it was successfully applied:

    rpk cluster license info
    bash

    The output displays the following details:

    Organization:    Organization the license was generated for.
Type:            Type of license:.
Expires:         Expiration date of the license.
Version:         License schema version.

  3. If you use Redpanda Console, delete the Redpanda Console Pods to force a reload of the updated license:

    kubectl delete pod $(kubectl get pod --namespace <namespace> | grep redpanda-console | awk '{print $1}') --namespace <namespace>
    bash

Next steps

Check the Status of Licenses.