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Install an Enterprise License on On-Premises Mule Runtime Engine

Mule Enterprise Edition is the Mule runtime engine (Mule) distribution you download as mule-enterprise-standalone-*.zip. See Download, Install, Configure, and Upgrade On-Premises Mule Runtime Engine. An Enterprise license is a separate license.lic file from your MuleSoft subscription. You install that file on a Mule Enterprise Edition instance with mule -installLicense. Mule stores it as muleLicenseKey.lic in $MULE_HOME/conf. Production use, clustering, and premium connectors require a valid Enterprise license. Mule Kernel (mule-standalone-*.zip) doesn’t accept an Enterprise license and doesn’t include clustering.

This is the License stage in On-Premises Runtimes Overview. Stop the runtime before you install the license. After it installs, configure the Java Service Wrapper, then start the instance and deploy Mule applications.

An on-premises runtime with an expired Enterprise license doesn’t restart. Install a valid Enterprise license before you start the runtime in production.

The Enterprise license isn’t the Java Service Wrapper (Tanuki) license. A Tanuki license error means the wrapper key is missing or invalid, not that mule -installLicense failed.

MuleSoft provides a trial of Mule Enterprise Edition for evaluation. The trial license limits usage of Mule and isn’t appropriate for production.

Install a non-trial Enterprise license before you use Mule Enterprise Edition in production. If you already have a subscription, you can also download the license key from the MuleSoft Support portal.

  1. Contact your MuleSoft account representative or the MuleSoft sales team to acquire an Enterprise license. Depending on your subscription, the license is provided either as:

    1. A single license.lic file

    2. A .zip file that contains one or more license files:

      • For Government Cloud customers, the .zip file includes both a license-fips.lic (FIPS), and a license.lic (non-FIPS) license.

      • For non-Government Cloud customers, the .zip file usually contains only one license file in the form of a license.lic file.

  2. Before installing, it’s recommended to remove the previous license from your $MULE_HOME directory:

    1. Navigate to $MULE_HOME/conf/

    2. Delete the existing muleLicenseKey.lic file.

  3. If you’re installing your license on multiple platforms, back up your new license.lic file in another location before proceeding.

  4. Make sure that the Mule Server is stopped (not running) and then open the terminal or command line on your system.

  5. Set the JAVA_HOME environment variable before running the mule -installLicense command.

    1. On Mac/Unix/Linux, if JAVA_HOME isn’t detected automatically, set it to avoid any issues.

    2. On Windows, if JAVA_HOME isn’t set, the license installation fails.

  6. If your license was provided as a .zip file, extract it and select the correct file for your environment.

  7. Run the license installation command:

    1. On Mac/Unix/Linux, from the $MULE_HOME/bin directory, run mule -installLicense ~/license.lic.

    2. On Windows, copy the license.lic file to the \bin folder, and then run mule.bat -installLicense license.lic from the command line.

  8. In the $MULE_HOME/conf directory, Mule saves a new file called muleLicenseKey.lic. This shows that the license has been installed.

  9. Start your Mule Server again, by the usual means.

Verify or Remove an Enterprise License

Make sure that the Mule Server is stopped and then open the terminal or command line on your system.

  • To verify that Mule has successfully installed your Enterprise license, run:

    mule -verifyLicense

    The command outputs:

    License information Evaluation = false, Expiration Date = Tue May 19 00:00:00 UTC 2025, Contact Name = John Doe, Contact Email Address = john.doe@company.com, Contact Telephone = 00000000, Contact Company = Local Global Ltd, Contact Country = US, Entitlements = clustering,api-gateway

  • To uninstall a previously installed license, run:

    mule -unInstallLicense

    Sometimes the license installation fails and it might be necessary to manually delete $MULE_HOME/conf/muleLicenseKey.lic.

  • To verify the license before installing it, run:

    mule -verifyLicenseDetails [path_to_license]

    The command outputs the same information as in mule -verifyLicense.

Download Your License Key

  1. Log in to the MuleSoft Support portal at https://help.mulesoft.com using your credentials. If you don’t have login information, contact your Customer Success Manager.

  2. Click on the Support tab located on the navigation menu of the Mulesoft Help Center home page.

  3. Click on the Subscriptions tab located halfway through the page.

  4. Click on the Subscription Name of the subscription you would like a license key for. Please note that you must click on the Subscription Name (second column on the right) or you won’t be forwarded to the correct page.

  5. Click on the License ID number located at the end of the page on the right.

  6. Click on the License Key file located in the Notes & Attachments section at the beginning of the page on the right to download your license key.

    1. Some subscriptions provide a direct license.lic file.

    2. Others provide a .zip file that contains one or more license files. Extract the .zip file and use the correct license previously described.

If you download a FIPS license, see FIPS 140-2 Compliance Support to configure your Mule runtime to run in FIPS mode.

Install an Enterprise License on Embedded Mule Runtime Engine

Though not recommended for production, you can install an Enterprise license on the Mule that comes bundled with Anypoint Studio. That path isn’t the on-premises runtime setup in On-Premises Runtimes Overview. Don’t download a separate on-premises runtime only to license Studio.

  1. Download and install Mule Enterprise Edition.

  2. Contact your account representative or the MuleSoft sales team to acquire an Enterprise license. Depending on your subscription, the license is provided either as a direct license.lic file or inside a .zip file.

  3. Complete the steps previously outlined to install the new license on the Mule Enterprise Edition from the first step.

  4. From the $MULE_HOME/conf directory, copy the new license file that Mule stored: muleLicenseKey.lic.

  5. Paste the muleLicenseKey.lic file into the classpath of your embedded application in Mule bundled with Studio.

Install Product Licenses

To use the SAP Connector or other premium connectors, you must first acquire, then install a product license. Contact your account representative or the MuleSoft sales team to acquire a license for one of the previously mentioned products.

The MuleSoft Enterprise Maven customer repository allows you to access Mule Enterprise modules, connectors, and other components not included in the trial or community versions. See About the Mule Maven Plugin for details.

Troubleshoot Common Error Messages

java.io.FileNotFoundException: muleLicenseKey.lic (Permission denied)

The process that runs mule -installLicense cannot write $MULE_HOME/conf/muleLicenseKey.lic. Stop the runtime, confirm the OS user owns $MULE_HOME, and retry. Don’t copy-paste the install command if paste inserts hidden characters; type the command.

The License Key was found but failed to be validated

This message comes from the Java Service Wrapper (Tanuki), not from the Mule Enterprise license. Fix the wrapper license. Then use mule -verifyLicense to confirm muleLicenseKey.lic.

See Also