When attempting to license Symantec Protection Engine (SPE) through the Administration GUI the license is accepted with no errors however, the product either remains unlicensed or is not displaying an expected newer expiration date.

To identify if this article applies do the following:

1. Open the license file (SLF) provided for your Symantec Protection Engine (SPE) in a text editor such as Notepad.exe.
2. Locate the following tag:  <start_date>2018-10-24</start_date>

If today's date is prior to the start date defined in the license file the condition is met.

This behavior is by design.
 

Symantec Protection Engine (SPE) does not process future dated licenses as they are not yet considered active.  Once the actual date matches or exceeds the defined <start_date> within the license (SLF) file restarting the Symantec Protection Engine (SPE) service will process the license and display the new expiration information.

If there are questions or concerns regarding why the license is future dated please contact your sales representative.