Splunk 3.4 updating to 4.3 license

[jyanga]

We currently have Splunk 3.4.6 and we are planning to update to 4.3. We understand that we will need to update to 4.0.x in the process before going to 4.3.

My question is that we currently have a free license for v3.4.6. In you documentation, it mentions that this will be converted to a 60-day Enterprise trial license. There was mention of a perpetual free license after the 60-days but I cannot find how to acquire this.

How do I get the perpetual free license after the 60-day Enterprise trial license expires?

[Drainy · Accepted solution]

It is included in the package when you update/install. Through the manager you can choose to switch to the free license as and when you want to within the trial period.
Within the Enterprise trial you just get added extras such as alerting and real time searching etc.

For detail on the differences;
http://www.splunk.com/view/free-vs-enterprise/SP-CAAAE8W

And if you just wanted to go to free once upgraded;
http://docs.splunk.com/Documentation/Splunk/latest/Admin/MoreaboutSplunkFree#How_do_I_switch_to_Splu...

Take care with the upgrade, I recall reading somewhere that there may need to be some manual steps taken in an upgrade of that magnitude.

EDIT: Thought I'd find the bits on the upgrade if you hadn't seen this;

Upgrading from Splunk 3.x
Migrating directly to Splunk 4.3 from versions older than 4.0 is not officially supported. Splunk 4.0 and later are built on a completely new architecture, and migration from 3.4.x to 4.0 is a significant undertaking. Read What to expect when upgrading to 4.0 before proceeding. Depending on the complexity of your deployment, you may want to perform a manual migration.

Upgrading from Splunk 4.0.x
Splunk supports a direct upgrade from versions 4.0 and later to version 4.3. Read about upgrading in the Installation Manual before you begin your installation.