A BIG-IP Administrator receives an RMA replacement for a failed F5 device.

When restoring a UCS file to replacement hardware (RMA device), the license from the original device is not valid on the new system. If the UCS restore attempts to load the old license, BIG-IP reports license errors such as “License is not operational”, which can prevent traffic objects (including pools and virtual servers) from loading correctly.

To avoid this issue, F5 documentation recommends restoring the UCS without the license, using the following command:

tmsh load /sys ucs no-license

This approach:

Restores all configuration objects (LTM, networking, certificates, keys, etc.)

Excludes the invalid license tied to the old hardware

Allows the administrator to activate a new license separately on the replacement device

Why the other options are incorrect:

A. Remove the license information from the UCS archiveNot supported or recommended; UCS files should not be manually modified.

B. Revoke the license prior to restoringLicense revocation does not prevent the UCS from attempting to load license data.

D. Reactivate the license on the new device using the manual activation methodThis must be done after restoring the UCS and does not prevent the restore failure itself.

Therefore, the correct and supported method to avoid this error is C.

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