Zyxel H Series — License Behavior in Device HA Mode

High Availability (HA) deployment on Zyxel H Series devices provides redundancy and service continuity by pairing two firewalls in an active/passive architecture. When HA is enabled, license handling between the primary (master) and secondary (slave) devices may change depending on the deployment workflow, re-pairing process, and license type.

Standard License Behavior

During a standard HA deployment on Zyxel H Series devices, all supported licenses assigned to the passive device are automatically transferred to the active (master) device and merged with the existing licenses already assigned to the active firewall.

If the active device does not currently have any licenses assigned, the supported licenses from the passive device will still be transferred to the active unit during HA deployment.

Before enabling HA

Before deploying HA on Zyxel H Series devices, it is strongly recommended to review all licenses assigned to both firewalls and plan the license behavior in advance. This is important because, during HA deployment, supported licenses from the passive device are automatically transferred to the active (master) device and merged together.

1. Verify all active licenses assigned to both devices.

2. If the passive device contains licenses, regardless of license type, such as:

   • Gold Security Pack (GSP),
   • Nebula Pro Pack,
   • Nebula Plus Pack,
   • or other supported subscriptions,

   These licenses will automatically transfer from the passive device to the active (master) device during HA deployment and will be merged to extend the subscription duration.

Important:

If the passive or active device contains standalone licenses (non boundel), administrators may transfer those licenses to another device before configuring HA if they do not want the licenses to merge.

• Gold Security Pack licenses can only be transferred to the same device model.
• Nebula licenses (Pro/Plus Pack) can be transferred to any supported device within the same organization.

If you are no longer using HA and want to revert the licenses back, In some cases, you can do it yourself, but in most cases you need to contact technical support, especially if the licenses were merged or if it is a bundle license.

• If licenses need to be separated again in the future, Zyxel Technical Support assistance will be required.
• During license separation, the total remaining subscription duration is typically redistributed between the separated licenses based on the remaining days. However, depending on the case, the licenses may also be split back into their original durations — for example, a combined license could potentially be separated again into 2-year and 1-year licenses, adjusted according to the remaining subscription period.
• For bundled licenses, the separated license will be returned to the original device from which it was initially transferred during HA deployment.

Example (combining and separating):

After HA merge:

After separation:

Important:

Original individual subscription durations cannot be restored after license separation.

Important Note About Pro/Plus Organization Status

If your organization previously had Pro/Plus status and, after HA deployment, all Pro/Plus licenses from the passive device were transferred to the active device, the passive HA firewall may temporarily remain without a Pro/Plus license.

In this situation:

• the organization may enter a 15-day grace period,
• and all paid Nebula services will continue working during this time.

To avoid service interruption, a Pro/Plus license must be assigned to the passive HA device.

Please contact Zyxel Technical Support for assistance.
If all devices in your organization already have valid Pro/Plus subscriptions, Zyxel can provide a Pro/Plus license for the passive HA device free of charge.

Important Note About Future HA Re-Deployment

If HA needs to be re-deployed in the future, administrators should be aware that the license behavior will be the same as during the initial HA deployment.

During HA re-deployment:

• all supported licenses from the passive device will again transfer to the active device,
• and the licenses will merge automatically.

As a result:

• the passive device may again lose its assigned license,
• while the active device subscription duration will be extended.

This behavior is expected and not considered a licensing issue.

If this occurs, please contact Zyxel Technical Support and we will assist with:

• separating the merged licenses,
• and reassigning the required license back to the passive HA device.