Content Pack Lifecycle
Subscribe to paid Marketplace content packs, using Marketplace
points. Cortex XSOAR subscription trial subscribe unsubscribe contribution
points grace
Cortex XSOAR Marketplace includes both free and premium
(paid-for content) packs. When you purchase a premium pack, you subscribe to the pack on
a monthly basis, or for a defined term length (via Private Offer)
by using points that
you buy upfront and that are available in your Cortex XSOAR account.
When you subscribe to premium packs, you receive all content and
updates for the pack on a regular basis.
To install a premium
pack you need access to the Marketplace and
to have sufficient points in your account. Premium packs come with a 30-day free trial.
You can restrict who can install content when defining
or editing a role. You can also restrict who can spend points in
the Customer Support portal.
Trial Period
Premium packs come with a free 30-day trial period,
during which you can evaluate the pack without commitment. After
installing the premium pack, you see initially how many days remain
for the trial, after which you see the date the trial ends.
If you want to continue using the premium pack after the trial
period ends, you need to subscribe to
the pack or request a Private Offerduring
the trial period.
If you do not subscribe during the trial period, the premium
pack is deleted together with any customized content. You cannot
take another trial period until 1 year has elapsed from the date
the trial ends. If you initially subscribe, but the premium pack
is deleted (for example, you decide no longer to subscribe), you cannot
take another trial until 6 months have elapsed from the date of
deletion.
Subscription
When you subscribe to the premium pack during or after
the trial period, you receive all content items and any updates.
Payment is based on a points system
and the Marketplace supports two subscription models:
- Monthly: Points are deducted immediately from account upon subscription and automatically renewed on the 1st of every month thereafter.
- Term(available through Private Offer): Points are deducted upfront for the approved custom contract length.
To receive support for community-supported content packs, post
a comment in the Cortex XSOAR Live Community.
After installing a premium pack, you cannot copy the playbook, and
view the integration and automation code.
Premium packs are automatically renewed every month. Once you
subscribe to a premium pack, you can install on different environments.
For example, if you have a test and production environment, you
can install the premium pack on a test environment and when finished
testing, install on a production environment.
There are no refunds for subscribed premium packs.
Points Bank
You buy premium packs using points, which
are purchased through your sales representative. Cortex XSOAR sends
you a monthly report of all transactions. You can view your total
points, monthly obligations, and when the next payment is due.
1 point = $100 USD.
When subscribing to premium packs, note the following:
- You need to have sufficient points in your account to subscribe to the pack on an ongoing basis. In other words, if installing a free content pack that depends on a premium pack, the cost includes the total sum of the free content pack and each dependent premium pack.
- If you do not have enough points, you cannot subscribe to the premium pack. However if you are already a subscriber to the pack and do not have enough points for that month, you enter a grace period.
- If there are insufficient points for all the subscribed packs, the system automatically renews the oldest subscriptions first. Premium packs that the system could not charge, go into the grace period.
Points are connected to your Cortex XSOAR license. Points
that are not used by the Cortex XSOAR license expiry date can be
used for renewal.
Points purchased but not used after 5 years
will automatically expire (unless prohibited by applicable law).
Grace Period
Premium packs are automatically renewed each month.
If you do not have sufficient points to renew your subscription,
the premium pack enters a two-month grace period, enabling you to
buy more points before the pack is removed from your environment.
During the grace period you receive warnings that the grace period
is to expire, but no content is removed. In the
Status
field
you see notification that you have insufficient funds. 
If you hover over the
No sufficient funds
field,
you can see more details.
When you buy more points, you need to pay for the grace period
and the following month. In the following example, you can see the
overdue payments and the monthly subscription.
You can also view more details of the overdue payments when clicking
view
details
:
When more points are added, any outstanding payment is
taken automatically. If the premium pack was deleted and you want
to subscribe again you need to pay any outstanding amount.
If after the grace period you do not have enough points to purchase
the premium pack, it is deleted together with any customizations,
playbook, automations, etc.
Subscription to Third Party Services
Some of the premium packs provide a subscription to
a third party service (for example, intelligence feeds, SaaS products,
etc.). Access is managed by third party technology partners. In
the
Details
tab of the pack, you can see
whether the premium pack contains a third party subscription.How to Get Access
When you trial or subscribe to a premium pack that contains an
API key, the Marketplace platform processes the transaction and
notifies the Partner to generate access to complete the transaction.
Usually within 24 hours, the Partner will send API key information
by email directly to you (detailed instructions are provided). The
Partner may ask you to obtain the key via their system, portal,
etc.
After receiving the API key, copy and paste the key into the
integration configuration to allow the integration to function.
You may need to paste this key into another content pack’s configuration
(such as a Base or Core content pack). The premium pack will specify
the relevant content pack and integration name.
Ongoing Access
You continue to have access to the third party data or service
for as long as you remain subscribed to the premium pack. If a Partner
contacts you to update your key, please do so to ensure your access
is active.
Payments for premium packs occur monthly, on the first day of
the month. If you subscribed to a pack via Private Offer,
payment is collected upfront and the pack will remain active for
the contracted term length. If you choose to delete or unsubscribe
from the premium pack, access will be terminated at the end of the
current calendar month.
Get Help
If you need help, have questions, or did not receive access,
please email soar.alliances@paloaltonetworks.com.
Content Pack Updates
Content packs are updated for bug fixes, enhancements,
and so on. When there is an update available for a content pack,
you will see notifications in several places in the Cortex XSOAR
platform, including an icon over
Marketplace
in
the main navigation panel and the Installed Content Packs
tab
in the Marketplace.The Marketplace is updated every 2 hours and when the server
is restarted.
In the
Release Notes
tab of a content
pack you can see the version history for the content pack, including
the currently installed version, earlier versions, and available
updates. You can always revert to a previous version of a content
pack.Unsubscribe
You can unsubscribe from premium packs that you have
subscribed to monthly, at any time, without obligation. If you unsubscribe,
you can either delete the content pack immediately or unsubscribe
and then wait until the end of the month when the content is deleted.
For more information, see delete a content pack.
If you have subscribed to a premium pack through a Private Offer,
the pack will remain active through the contracted term length.
If you no longer want to use the pack, you can delete it at any
time, but the terms of the private offer agreement will continue
through the contracted term length.
Contributions
When you contribute a Content
Pack, you can provide it for free or set a point amount for
subscribing. Payment is usually sent from Palo Alto Networks to
the contributor every month.
Certification
Certified content packs are thoroughly reviewed by the
Cortex XSOAR team and pass a rigid set of requirements that ensure
quality and that the pack consists of a complete use case. All premium
packs will be certified.
