QUESTION:
Why do KAV endpoints show a different license expiration than shown in the KAV UI?
ANSWER:
The endpoints are always going to show an expiration different from the license expiration shown in KAV. There are multiple licenses and timers in play that are integrated together to coordinate the Kaseya and Kaspersky licenses for the integrated KAV product. The Kaseya license (the license by which you are billed) expires 1 year after installation to the endpoint, and is noted in the KAV module as the license expiration date for the endpoint. At the end of that year, the number of expired licenses is increased by one, the agent ID is issued an unused license, and the unused license count is decreased by one. All of this is independent of anything happening on the endpoint.
On the endpoint, we apply an initial 90 day license file at installation. As that file nears expiration, 30 day extension license files are applied via the KServer during a maintenance process. As long as the endpoint is flagged on the KServer as having a valid KAV license, it will be issued an extended Kaspersky license.
Update 2/13/2012: Starting 3/1/2012, the initial license will be reduced from a 90 day license to a 60 day license. Kaspersky sets a 120 day shelf life expiration from date of license code generation. This has caused an issue where endpoints will display a "Your license will expire in X days" in certain circumstances. This issue is resolved when the initial license key expires, as at that time a new update.key license can be applied, extending the license for an additional 30 days, but can be disconcerting to end users during the time that the message is displayed.
Background: Because of the 120 day shelf life from the time the license is generated, if the endpoint is installed near the end of the month the 120 day shelf life becomes the limiting factor on the licenses, instead of the 90 day and 30 day license term.
Example: Kaspersky licenses are generated 2/1/2012, setting shelf life expiration to 6/1/2012. An endpoint is installed on 2/25/2012, at which point the 90 day license will have an expiration of 5/25/2012 (end of 90 day term), and the 30 day license will have an expiration of 6/1/2012 (end of shelf life). This will cause the endpoint to display "License will expire in 'X' days" starting at about 5/17/2012. On 5/25/2012, when the 90 day license expires, a current 30 day license will be applied in its place, extending the endpoint license through 7/1/2012, and the expiration warning will stop.
Update 7/9/2013: Because of a recent increase in the incidence of endpoints displaying the "License will expire in 'x' days" message, an update to KAV 1.4 has been released that adds a "Fix Kaspersky Key" button to the KAV UI that will delete the currently assigned rolling Kaspersky key(s), and reapply both the initial and update key currently available on the VSA.
Contractually, we cannot completely disable the license expiration pop-up, and because of the licensing schema outlined above, the license expiration information is only available on the local endpoint, we do not have the means to gather the local endpoint license expiration for reporting to the VSA and/or KAV module.
To summarize:
Kaseya KAV license: 1 year, noted in KAV module
Kaspersky KAV license: initial 90 day 60 day, rolling 30 day extension on kserver checkin, noted on endpoint.
As long as the Kaseya KAV license is valid for the endpoint agent ID, the rolling 30 day license should be applied out automatically as the previous nears expiration. We have seen cases where the endpoint will display either a "License will expire in 'X' days" message or "License Expired" message. In these cases, open a support ticket, and a specialist will be able to investigate why the updated licenses are not being pushed to the endpoint.
APPLIES TO:
KAV 1.1
KAV 1.2
KAV 1.3
KAV 1.4