This article recommends that for vSRX 3.0, you use a vCPU core based license from Junos OS Release 21.1R1 onward.
If you still have a previous type of license (bandwidth based or an older type), you can use the Juniper Agile Licensing Portal to revoke your current vSRX licenses and generate the newer type licenses to be used instead. After the Junos OS upgrade or new deployment, you can apply the new license on your vSRX instances that are running Junos OS Release 21.1R1 or later.
From Junos OS Release 21.1R1 onward, vSRX 3.0 will check for a vCPU core based license to be present on the device.
The previous types of vSRX licenses will still work on vSRX 3.0 with Junos OS Release 21.1R1 or later. However, without a vCPU core based license, vSRX 3.0 will periodically report the following error messages in Junos OS Release 21.1R1 or later:
Aug 2 17:36:57 CHASSISD_VCPU_SCALE_LICENSE_ERROR: (WARNING) VCPU Scale License is not installed Aug 2 17:38:45 Virtual Appliance License is valid Aug 2 17:38:45 VCPU Scale License is not installed
To avoid the above mentioned error messages, it is recommended that you obtain a vCPU core based license for your vSRX before upgrading or newly deploying vSRX 3.0 with Junos OS 21.1R1 or later releases.
Or, after upgrade or new deployment with Junos OS Release 21.1R1 or later, you can confirm the need for the new license type by using the following CLI command:
user@vSRX> show system license detail Licenses Licenses Licenses Licenses Expiry Feature name used installed needed available ... VCPU Scale 2 0 2 0 invalid <<<<<
As an existing customer who is upgrading vSRX, you can replace your older license-key with an equivalent new vCPU core based license-key. To do so, you can go to the Juniper Agile Licensing Portal , under "My Activations" search for the license that you would like to replace, and use the "Upgrade" button to revoke the license-key:
After clicking the upgrade button, select vSRX 3.0 - 21.1 and up, enter any notes you would like to add and enter the email address that you would like to send the key to.
If you encounter any issues, open a Juniper Support Admin Case (Customer Care).
After vSRX Junos OS upgrade or new deployment of vSRX, apply the vCPU based license key on the vSRX. For instructions on how to install Agile licenses on vSRX 3.0, see Managing vSRX Licenses Using Standalone Mode .
2022-01-25: Added an internal note from the FAQs about how the bandwidth SKU to vCPU SKU mapping is done by default.
2022-03-12: Updated instructions on how customers can change the license
2025-08-07: Updated the instructions to reflect the availability of the upgrade button, which was not available earlier.