---
title: "License key"
description: "Reference for the LicenseKey resource in Calico Cloud connected clusters that activates entitled features."
product: "Calico Cloud"
version: "v23.0.1"
section: "Reference"
canonical_url: "https://docs.tigera.io/calico-cloud/reference/resources/licensekey"
---

# License key

A License Key resource (`LicenseKey`) represents a user's license to use Calico Cloud. Keys are provided by Tigera support, and must be applied to the cluster to enable Calico Cloud features.

For `kubectl` commands, the following case-insensitive aliases may be used to specify the resource type on the CLI: `licensekey.projectcalico.org`, `licensekeys.projectcalico.org` as well as abbreviations such as `licensekey.p` and `licensekeys.p`.

## Working with license keys

### Applying or updating a license key

When you add Calico Cloud to an existing Kubernetes cluster or create a new OpenShift cluster, you must apply your license key to complete the installation and gain access to the full set of Calico Cloud features.

When your license key expires, you must update it to continue using Calico Cloud.

To apply or update a license key use the following command, replacing `<customer-name>` with the customer name in the file sent to you by Tigera.

**Command**

```bash
kubectl apply -f <customer-name>-license.yaml
```

**Example**

```bash
kubectl apply -f awesome-corp-license.yaml
```

### Viewing information about your license key

To view the number of licensed nodes and the license key expiry, use:

```bash
kubectl get licensekeys.p -o custom-columns='Name:.metadata.name,MaxNodes:.status.maxnodes,Expiry:.status.expiry,PackageType:.status.package'
```

This is an example of the output of above command.

```text
Name      MaxNodes   Expiry                 Package
default   100        2021-10-01T23:59:59Z   Enterprise
```

## Sample YAML

```yaml
apiVersion: projectcalico.org/v3
kind: LicenseKey
metadata:
  creationTimestamp: null
  name: default
spec:
  certificate: |
    -----BEGIN CERTIFICATE-----
    MII...n5
    -----END CERTIFICATE-----
  token: eyJ...zaQ
status:
  expiry: '2021-10-01T23:59:59Z'
  maxnodes: 100
  package: Enterprise
```

The data fields in the license key resource may change without warning. The license key resource is currently a singleton: the only valid name is `default`.

## Supported operations

| Datastore type        | Create | Delete | Update | Get/List | Notes |
| --------------------- | ------ | ------ | ------ | -------- | ----- |
| Kubernetes API server | Yes    | No     | Yes    | Yes      |       |