Redpanda v24.3.x License Enforcement - Self Hosted

As previously communicated through the Redpanda Community, we are making a change to how we enforce the license for the self hosted version of Redpanda, Redpanda Enterprise.

Please note there are no changes to the list of features that require an Enterprise license. Redpanda is also not changing our commitment to continue to release new source available versions of Redpanda Community Edition. The primary change we’re making is that we will begin to enforce the existing license agreement within Redpanda Enterprise, while making it easier to try Redpanda Enterprise features though both built-in and self-service trial licenses, and improving the experience of managing license keys for Redpanda and Redpanda Console. Together, these changes are designed to streamline the experience of managing your licenses while enforcing fair use of our commercial products with minimal or no disruption to existing environments or for users of Redpanda Community edition.

Starting with our next release, 24.3 on Friday November 29th, an upgrade from previous major versions (e.g. 24.2 -> 24.3 or 24.1 -> 24.3), and to all future major versions of Redpanda (e.g. 24.3 -> 25.1) will be aborted if any Enterprise features are being used but no license key or an expired license key is installed in the Redpanda cluster.

In addition we are making some changes to the use of Enterprise features enabled on an existing, unlicensed cluster. Beginning with 24.3, if a license key expires:

• You will not be able to enable Enterprise features
• Sanctions will be applied to certain non-essential Enterprise features already in use at the time of expiry

For more details on these changes and how to check if your environment is in compliance, please refer to our documentation here. More details on feature sanctions will be available before the final GA version of Redpanda 24.3 ships.

To create a more seamless experience for new users and new environments, new Redpanda 24.3 installations will ship with an embedded 30 day trial license, allowing new users to try all features of Redpanda Enterprise for 30 days. Note, this trial license does NOT apply to existing environments upgraded to 24.3 or later and is intended for short-lived test environments and for new users evaluating Redpanda for the first time. We’ve also unified the license management experience for Redpanda Console and Redpanda, allowing users to seamlessly use additional features like Console SSO and Console RBAC with a single, common license key.

To check whether your cluster(s) is in compliance, please review the definition of the Enterprise features in our documentation.The documentation shows the RPK commands to check if you have a valid license installed.

If you are using Enterprise features without a license, you have the option to disable use of these features and carry forward with the 24.3 upgrade as a Community Edition deployment, or acquire and install a license and proceed with the upgrade to move to the new release. If you are interested in acquiring a license for an unlicensed environment, please contact us through your account team or reach out here .

We’re highly motivated to make you successful using Redpanda! We continue to invest in our growing list of Enterprise features (including several new features launching with Redpanda 24.3). We’re also committed to work with you to resolve any licensing issues before the next release.