---
title: "License key"
description: "Reference for the LicenseKey resource in Calico Enterprise that activates entitled enterprise features in the cluster."
product: "Calico Enterprise"
version: "3.23 (latest)"
section: "Reference"
canonical_url: "https://docs.tigera.io/calico-enterprise/latest/reference/resources/licensekey"
---

# License key

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

In deployments that use multicluster management, a license key is required only on the management cluster.

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

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      |       |