Activate OPNsense Business Edition license

For OPNsense Firewalls, there is the possibility to activate additional features with the Business Edition. You can find out which features the OPNsense Business Edition offers in the article OPNsense Business Edition Feature Comparison. This article shows how to install a firewall with OPNsense Business Edition.

To our OPNSense Firewalls

Note about the new release schedule

Deciso has recently changed the structure of the Business Edition, it is now released as a separate image always in April and October. In 2021 this now means that it will be released as OPNsense 21.4 (adaptation of OPNsense 21.1.4) and in October (in 2021 as OPNsense 21.10, based on OPNsense 21.7.X).

Subscription packages

A subscription (Activation Key) is required to install OPNsense Business Edition. You can purchase this key at shop.opnsense.com or directly with the purchase of an OPNsense server at Thomas-Krenn:

• Subscription packages are available with 12 or 36 months duration.
• After ordering you will receive an Activation Key within 1-2 days.
• Note on OPNsense HA Cluster: Two subscriptions are required here (one subscription for each device in the cluster).

Installation OPNsense Business Edition

To install, follow the steps below:

1. Perform an installation as described in the Install OPNsense article. (Do not install any updates after installation).
2. Activate OPNsense Business Edition as described in the following steps:

Note: If you install OPNsense with the special images of the Business Edition (for example OPNsense 21.4), then the Deciso Firmware Mirror is already selected. You only have to enter your Activation Key, then you can download updates via this mirror. If you have not entered an Activation Key, you will get the following error message when trying to download updates: "Could not find the repository on the selected mirror."

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  Select System → Firmware → Settings from the left menu.

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  Select Deciso (HTTPS, NL, Commercial) from the Firmware Mirror selection menu.

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  For Flavour select (OpenSSL) in the dropdown menu.

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  For Type select Business.

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  Enter the Activation Key that you received when you ordered the Business Edition and then click on Save.

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  Switch to the tab Status and click on Check for updates.

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  Updates are searched.

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  A note about the new version (in this example) 22.4.1 appears, scroll down.

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  Click on Close.

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  Scroll down.

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  Install the required updates by clicking on Update.

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  The message Reboot required appears, click on OK.

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  The update process to the OPNsense Business Edition now begins.

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  A new kernel was installed.

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  The update is completed and a restart is performed.

References

Author: Thomas Niedermeier Thomas Niedermeier working in the product management team at Thomas-Krenn, completed his bachelor's degree in business informatics at the Deggendorf University of Applied Sciences. Since 2013 Thomas is employed at Thomas-Krenn and takes care of OPNsense firewalls, the Thomas-Krenn-Wiki and firmware security updates.