Solved Can't update license and system

[CosmosTV]

I have a 3CX 16.0.8.9 installed on Debian server with a recently expired Pro Perpetual license. Now I can't renew the license because it can't reach 3CX License Activation Server. I've seen reports that this may be fixed by installing Let's Encrypt Hotfix or V16 Update 8A, but I can't install any of them because maintenance is expired. Is there a way out of this situation? preferably without installing a backup on a fresh system

 

[ChrisC_3CX]

When you say renew do you mean you're trying to replace it with another one? If yes, make sure that the new License Key is not v18, attempting to replace the current key with a v18 one on a v16 Installation will not work due to version incompatibility.

Also, do you get an error message when you go to Settings >> License and click on "Refresh License Key Information", if yes what is it?

Make sure that the host can resolve activation.3cx.com using it's primary DNS and that traffic to and from that IP and TCP port 443 is allowed.

 

[CosmosTV]

No, the key is the same.

Also, do you get an error message when you go to Settings >> License and click on "Refresh License Key Information", if yes what is it?

yes, the message is "Unable to reach 3CX License Activation Server. Confirm that your Primary DNS Server is able to resolve activation.3cx.com"

activation.3cx.com is resolved by the host, I can also ping it without problems form the host.

 

[ChrisC_3CX]

It is very important that it is the primary dns of the host that can resolve the fqdn, can you try setting the primary dns to Google's DNS just to be sure (8.8.8.8)?

Also, even if the traffic to and from our activation is allowed, make sure that the firewall has no security services running on it that are affecting this traffic in any way such as DPI, packet filtering, etc as these can interfere with the connection. This is one scenario that would explain pinging to succeed but still communication with activation.3cx.com to fail.

 

[CosmosTV]

Thank you, changing the DNS server to 8.8.8.8 resolved the issue

 

[ChrisC_3CX]

Glad to see you got this sorted!

Do remember to update to at least v16 U8a to allow the instance to activate past February 2022. From there on you'll have to plan an update to v18 before November 2022.