We run 9904's in prod on 6.4.2 and 6.9.2 without smart licensing enabled and no problems with the same cards you referenced below. [cid:42b38caf-cdea-4d91-bf4c-ff2d874d2058] Evan S. Weiner Managing Member , Hosted Backbone, LLC d: (804) 549-4899<tel:(804)%20549-4899> | m: (804) 677-9544<tel:(804)%20677-9544> e: eweiner@hostedbackbone.net<mailto:eweiner@hostedbackbone.net> | w: www.hostedbackbone.net<https://www.hostedbackbone.net/> ________________________________ From: andy--- via NANOG <nanog@lists.nanog.org> Sent: Sunday, June 14, 2026 12:14 PM To: nanog@lists.nanog.org <nanog@lists.nanog.org> Cc: andy@chillercity.net <andy@chillercity.net> Subject: Cisco ASR 9004 Chassis and Licensing. I am currently running an ASR-9010 and already own a pair of with a pair of A9K-RSP440-TR route processors along with an A9K-24X10GE-TR line card and some others, including an A9K-MPA-2X40GE. I'm thinking about adding some 100G capability, although I don't really need it yet. I also have a couple spare RSP880s and a spare A9K-24X10GE-TR. I have recently seen ASR-9904 chassis and A99-8X100GE-TR line cards for sale on the secondary market at reasonable prices, and I am considering building a lab router using: * ASR-9904 chassis * Dual A9K-RSP880-TR * A9K-24X10GE-TR * A99-8X100GE-TR I know there is also the A9K-8X100GE-TR, which would work in my existing 9010 chassis, but those cards seem to be both expensive and hard to find. My question is mostly about licensing. If I assemble this system from used components, will I encounter any licensing issues that would prevent the router or the 100GE interfaces from operating? I'm not asking about advanced features such as EVPN, HQoS, MACsec, or large-scale VRF deployments. My primary interest is basic IPv4/IPv6 routing, BGP, and operation of the 10GE and 100GE interfaces. Has anyone actually deployed or labbed a 9904 with an A99-8X100GE-TR and RSP880s using equipment acquired on the secondary market? Specifically: * Do the A99-8X100GE-TR ports come up and pass traffic without additional licensing? * Are there any Smart Licensing requirements that would prevent normal operation? * Are there any known limitations when using these cards in a standalone lab environment without an active Cisco support contract? I have tried contacting Cisco and a few resellers, but I have not been able to get a clear answer on whether any licensing is enforced for basic operation of the A99-8X100GE-TR. I am hoping someone with real-world experience can clarify what actually happens in practice. I am also not sure how I would go about obtaining any required licenses if I eventually decided to move the system into production. Cisco Smart Licensing makes my head hurt. _______________________________________________ NANOG mailing list https://lists.nanog.org/archives/list/nanog@lists.nanog.org/message/PMMZEO26...