Presentation is loading. Please wait.

Presentation is loading. Please wait.

VMware vCenter Server Licensing

Similar presentations


Presentation on theme: "VMware vCenter Server Licensing"— Presentation transcript:

1 VMware vCenter Server Licensing
Product Support Engineering VMware Confidential

2 Module 1-4 Lessons Lesson 1 – vSphere Upgrade
Lesson 2 – ESX 4.0 Install Lesson 3 – vCenter Server 4.0 Lesson 4 – vSphere 4.0 Licensing Lesson 5 – Remote CLI Agenda Overview VI4 - Mod Slide

3 Module 1-5 Lessons Lesson 1 – Overview of ESX 4.0 Licensing
Lesson 2 – License Management for Legacy hosts Lesson 3 – Configure Licensing for Legacy Hosts Lesson 4 – Managing VC 4.0 Licenses Lesson 5 – Troubleshooting Licenses Agenda Overview VI4 - Mod Slide

4 Serial Number Breakdown
Type Product VMODL Key Features (VMODL Key) Limitations ESX ESX Enterprise esxEnterprise nas, vsmp, san, iscsi, backup, esxHost, das, drs, vmotion, ft,mpio, hotplug, hostprofile, dvs, vmsafe, dvfilter, svmotion, hostcluster maxVcpusPerVm=8 ESX Standard esxFull nas, vsmp, san, iscsi, backup, esxHost, das, hotplug, vmsafe, dvfilter ESX Foundation esxExpress nas, vsmp, san, iscsi, backup, esxHost, hotplug, vmsafe, dvfilter ESX Standalone esxBasic nas, vsmp, san, iscsi maxVcpusPerVm=2 ESX VDI esxVdi nas, vsmp, san, iscsi, backup, esxHost, das, drs, vmotion, ft, mpio, hotplug, hostprofile, dvs, vmsafe, dvfilter, svmotion, hostcluster VC VirtualCenter Server vc federation, woe VirtualCenter Foundation Server vcExpress maxHOST=3 VI4 - Mod Slide 4

5 Serial Number Breakdown
Product Feature Description ESX nas NAS vsmp VSMP san SAN iscsi ISCSI backup Consolidated Backup esxHost VC Agent for ESX Server das HA drs DRS vmotion VMotion ft Fault Tolerance memplus Memory Overcommit mpio MPIO / Third-Party Multi-Pathing hotplug Hot-Pluggable Virtual HW hostprofile Host Profiles dvs Distributed Virtual Switch vmsafe VMsafe dvfilter DVfilter svmotion Storage VMotion storemon Storage Utilization Monitoring hostcluster Host Cluster Features VC federation VC Federation woe Workflow Orchestration Engine Edition Addon1 Addon2 Addon3 Addon4 Addon5 ESX Enterprise ESX Standard vmotion svmotion drs ft hostprofile ESX Foundation das ESX Standalone esxHost backup vmsafe dvfilter VI4 - Mod Slide 5

6 Managing vSphere Licenses
In vCenter Server 4.0, license reporting and management are centralized You no longer need a license server or host license files if you have upgraded all your ESX hosts to 4.0 All product and feature licenses are encapsulated in 25 character license keys that you can manage and monitor from vCenter Server 4.0 Each ESX/ESXi host requires one license key. Each vCenter Server instance requires one license key. Two Editions - Foundation and Enterprise. The Enterprise edition includes VMware DRS, VMware HA, and VMotion. In a vCenter Server system, the Home > Licensing screen includes a Manage vSphere Licenses wizard that guides you through these tasks: Adding license keys to the inventory Assigning licenses to assets Unassigning licenses Removing license keys from the inventory Asset is either VC or ESX VI4 - Mod Slide

7 Evaluation Mode for ESX
ESX 4.0 can be installed and run in Evaluation Mode Evaluation mode is intended for demonstration and evaluation purposes Full functionality of ESX 4.0 for 60 days from the time you install During the evaluation period, the software notifies you of the time remaining until the evaluation expires ESX Enterprise evaluation mode allows you to use VMware VMotion, VMware High Availability, VMware Distributed Resource Scheduler 60-day evaluation period begins to count down immediately after the first time you power on the ESX machine VI4 - Mod Slide

8 Configure ESX to Use Evaluation Mode
The three ESX/ESXi models have different default states: ESX – If you do not enter a license key during installation, ESX is installed in evaluation mode. ESXi Installable – The installer for ESXi Installable has no option to enter a license key. This means that ESXi Installable will definitely be in evaluation mode after installation. ESXi Embedded – ESXi Embedded comes from your hardware vendor preinstalled on an internal USB device. When you receive the ESXi Embedded host, it might be in evaluation mode or it might be prelicensed by your hardware vendor. VI4 - Mod Slide

9 Licensing ESX After the Evaluation Period Expires
After 60-day evaluation period expires You are no longer able to perform most operations in ESX You cannot power on virtual machines, add new hosts , or use advanced ESX features Hosts are disconnected from the vCenter Server system if the evaluation period expires before you assign a license NOTE Reinstalling the vCenter Server after the 60-day evaluation expires does not restart the evaluation period from the beginning. VI4 - Mod Slide

10 Configure VirtualCenter to Use Evaluation Mode
When you run VirtualCenter in evaluation mode, vCenter 4.0 behaves for 60 days as if it has a VirtualCenter Server edition license. The VirtualCenter Server and evaluation editions of VirtualCenter allow you to manage an unlimited number of hosts and use Linked-Mode VirtualCenter. To configure VirtualCenter to use evaluation mode If you install VirtualCenter and do not enter a license key during the installation, VirtualCenter is installed in evaluation mode. When the install wizard prompts you for a license key, leave the license-key field blank. VI4 - Mod Slide

11 License Management for Legacy Hosts ( ESX 3.x )
FlexLM License Server is required to manage ESX 3.x/ESXi 3.5 hosts in vCenter Server 4.0 vCenter Server 4.0 must be configured with the FlexLM license server connection details When you add an ESX 3.x/ESXi 3.5 host to the vCenter Server 4.0 inventory, vCenter Server checks out vCenter Server Agent licenses from the FlexLM license server. The license server also manages VMware VMotion, VMware Distributed Resources, VMware High Availability, and VMware Consolidated Backup licenses for ESX 3.x/ESXi 3.5 hosts. The FlexLM License Server can be installed from a VC 2.5 CD VI4 - Mod Slide

12 Configure a Legacy License Server for vCenter Server 4.0
Before you begin this procedure, Make sure that vCenter Server is licensed by choosing Home > Licensing. If vCenter Server is in evaluation mode or is unlicensed, click Manage vSphere Licenses and assign a license key to vCenter Server Host-Based License Files for Legacy Hosts If your ESX 3.x and ESXi 3.5 hosts have host-based license files, you can continue to use the license files. However, host-based license files are not a substitute for the license server that is required by vCenter Server 4.0 when vCenter Server is managing legacy hosts. Screenshot describing this appears on the next slide. VI4 - Mod Slide

13 Configure a Legacy License Server for vCenter Server
From the VI Client, select Administration > vCenter Server Settings Click Licensing in the list on the left. Select a vCenter Server from the Current vCenter menu. Under License Server, enter the fully qualified domain name or the IP address of the license server and, optionally, a port. If you do not specify a port, the default port, 27000, is used. Select Reconfigure ESX 3 hosts using license servers to use this server if you want each ESX 3.x/ESXi 3.x host that you add to the vCenter Server inventory to use the same license server as this vCenter Server. VI4 - Mod Slide

14 License Reporting for vSphere 3
On the vCenter Server 4.0 Home > Licensing screen, you can monitor Virtual Infrastructure 3 license information. Populating and displaying legacy host information requires polling of the license server Displaying legacy host information might take more time than displaying ESX 4.0/ESXi 4.0 host information VI4 - Mod Slide

15 Monitoring License Information
In vCenter Server 4.0, you can view Virtual Infrastructure 3 and vSphere 4 license inventory data by: Product – A product is a license to use a vSphere software component or feature. For example: vSphere 4 ESXi Enterprise (1-4 cores per CPU) vSphere 4 vCenter Server Enterprise VI4 - Mod Slide

16 Monitoring License Information
License key – A license key is the serial number that corresponds to a product. Asset – An asset is a ESX or vCenter on which a product is installed. For an asset to run certain software legally, the asset must be licensed to do so. The license report displays licensed assets only. The report does not display assets that are unlicensed. You can split some license keys by applying them to multiple assets. For example you can split a 4-CPU license by applying it to two 2-CPU hosts. VI4 - Mod Slide

17 Label a License Key When you view licenses in the report, you can add an optional description of each license key or of a set of license keys. These labels appear and are editable in the license report. By default, the label field is empty. To add or change a label 1 From a vSphere Client host that is connected to vCenter Server, click Home > Licensing. 2 Click View by Product or License key. 3 Select a license key. If you are viewing the report by product, click a product to expand the list of associated license keys and select a license key. 4 Click the label field and enter a new label. VI4 - Mod Slide

18 Export Report Data You can export license data to a file.
To export license inventory data From a vSphere Client host that is connected to vCenter Server, click Home > Licensing. Select the view that you want to export: Product, License key, or Asset. From the report screen, click Export. VI4 - Mod Slide

19 Export Report Data In the save-as dialog box, select a folder, a file name, and a format for the exported license data and click Save. VI4 - Mod Slide

20 Managing Licenses Centrally
You can manage all of your vSphere 4 licenses from a single location using vCenter Server. In vCenter Server, the licensing administration page includes a Manage vSphere Licenses wizard that guides you through these tasks: Adding license keys to the license inventory Assigning licenses to assets Unassigning licenses Removing license keys from the license inventory VI4 - Mod Slide

21 Add License Keys The Manage Licenses wizard allows you to add multiple license keys in a single procedure or add one license key at a time. To add license keys From a vSphere Client host that is connected to vCenter Server, click Home > Licensing. Click Manage vSphere Licenses. In the Add License Keys text area, enter license keys one per line. Type a brief description of the key or keys. VI4 - Mod Slide

22 Add License Keys Click Add License Keys. The wizard validates the keys. If any of the keys are invalid, an error message lists the invalid keys according to the invalid condition, which can be: Existing keys – The license key already exists in the vCenter Server inventory. Expired keys – The license key is valid but expired. Invalid keys – The license key is missing characters, has too many characters, or its characters are ordered improperly. VI4 - Mod Slide

23 Add License Keys Assign license keys to assets Select ESX or vCenter and in the Product window select an appropriate license key Click Next through the remaining wizard screens and click Finish to save your changes. VI4 - Mod Slide

24 You can search for assets that you want to apply licenses to.
You can search based on the following criteria: Asset name License key VI4 - Mod Slide

25 Search for Assets To narrow the list of selectable assets
From a vSphere Client host that is connected to vCenter Server, click Home > Licensing. Click Manage vSphere Licenses. To skip the Add License Keys screen, click Next. Type search terms into the Search for assets text area and press the Enter key. Each asset with matching criteria appears in the list of selectable assets. Click the ESX or vCenter Server tab to display the available assets that match your search term. VI4 - Mod Slide

26 View the Current Status of an Asset
To view the status of an asset From a vSphere Client host that is connected to vCenter Server, click Home > Licensing. Click Manage vSphere Licenses. To skip the Add License Keys screen, click Next. Click the ESX or vCenter tab to display the available assets. Rest your mouse cursor over an asset to view the current status. VI4 - Mod Slide

27 Unlicense an Asset To unlicense an asset
From a vSphere Client host that is connected to vCenter Server, click Home > Licensing. Click Manage vSphere Licenses. On the Assign Licenses screen, select an asset. Click the ESX and vCenter tabs to display the asset types. In the Product window, click Unlicensed and click Next. Click Next to skip the Remove License screen. If you retain the license, you can assign it to another asset. Click Finish to save your changes. VI4 - Mod Slide

28 Remove License Keys Reasons to remove a license include:
You can remove license keys that are not assigned to any assets from the vCenter Server inventory. Reasons to remove a license include: The license key has expired. You have used the licensing portal to combine the capacities of multiple fragmented licenses and you need to remove the zero-capacity licenses. You have upgraded your licenses and you need to remove the legacy licenses. VI4 - Mod Slide

29 Remove License Keys From a vSphere Client host that is connected to vCenter Server, click Home > Licensing. Click Manage vSphere Licenses. Click Next twice to go to the Remove License Keys screen. Select the license to remove it from the inventory and click Next. By default, this screen displays only license keys that are not assigned to any assets. Click Finish VI4 - Mod Slide

30 Managing Licenses Individually
1. From the vSphere Client, select the host in the inventory. 2. Click the Configuration tab. 3. Under Software, click Licensed Features. 4. Click Edit. 5. Select Assign a new license key to this host, click Enter Key, and enter a license key and an optional label for the license key. 6. Click OK. VI4 - Mod Slide

31 Serial Number Breakdown
Serial Number Licensing In vSphere we completely removed the FLEX licensing system (except as noted below) vSphere uses serial numbers to license both VC and ESX Each ESX system is licensed using one serial number Each instance of VC is licensed using one VC serial number VC can also manage ESX serial numbers and can license ESX systems by pushing down the serial number VC becomes the license manager replacing the FLEX license server Note: If the vSphere environment also includes ESX 3.5 hosts, a FLEX License Server is still required VI4 - Mod Slide 31

32 Serial Number Breakdown
Serial Number Licensing (continued) Serial number licensing relies on two components: Serial number Dormant license file (DLF) The customer enters the serial number into the product This unlocks the dormant license file to which the serial number maps The serial number describes customer specific information: CPU count, support-level, expiration date, etc. The dormant license file describes product specific information: Edition, vSMP support (max vCPUs/VM), licensed features (VMotion, iSCSI, DRS etc.) etc. DLF is a reference file for decryptng the license key. VI4 - Mod Slide 32

33 Serial Number Breakdown
Serial Number Licensing (continued) Each serial number maps to one and only one dormant license file Each DLF can have multiple matching serial numbers When licensing capabilities are updated in the dormant license file (either in a minor release or a patch) the serial number does not change A customer upgrading to the latest release will automatically get the new dormant license files and the new licensing definitions VI4 - Mod Slide 33

34 Serial Number Breakdown
Dormant License File Details On ESX dormant license files reside in: /usr/lib/vmware/licenses/site/ On VC dormant license files for VC & ESX reside in: C:\Program Files\VMware\Infrastructure\VirtualCenter Server\licenses\site\ VI4 - Mod Slide 34

35 Serial Number Breakdown
ESX 1 VirtualCenter Server VC Serial Number xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx VC DLF ESX 2 VI (ESX) Serial Number yyyy-yyyyy-yyyyy-yyyyy-yyyyy ESX DLF ESX 3 DLF – Dormant Licence File VI4 - Mod Slide 35

36 Serial Number Breakdown
Additional vSphere Changes Add-on Licenses In vSphere, licensing capabilities are associated with an edition, not broken down into feature-based licenses as it was with FLEX Each serial number maps to a dormant license file that describes the capabilities of the edition VI4 - Mod Slide 36

37 Serial Number Breakdown
Additional vSphere Changes (continued) Add-on Licenses (continued) vSphere also calls for the ability to buy an edition and then add features (e.g. Foundation + VMotion) all using the same serial number Add-on features are encoded in the serial number using the 5 “reserved” bits The licensed capabilities are therefore: The features granted by the edition Plus All add-on features encoded in the serial number VI4 - Mod Slide 37

38 Serial Number Breakdown
Additional vSphere Changes (continued) Per-VM Licensing In addition to licenses by CPU sockets, the serial number can also license quantities of VMs Customers can purchase any edition they wish and then: Add features in the per-VM licensing model Or Add features in the per-CPU socket licensing model VI4 - Mod Slide 38

39 Serial Number Breakdown
Additional vSphere Changes (continued) Per-VM Licensing (continued) The dormant license files will encode a capacityType attribute This describes the cost unit for the count Normally (for per-CPU socket licenses, and as is the case for VI30 & VI35): capacityType=cpuPackage For per-VM licensing this will be set to: capacityType=vm VI4 - Mod Slide 39

40 Serial Number Breakdown
Serial Number Details Serial number format: xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx Examples: Serial Number for vSphere 4 Enterprise Beta: U5415-N628H-H UK-14N20 Serial Number for VMware Virtual Center 4- Beta: M001Q-J90EK-H803V-030UM-0NN24 Data fields in a serial number… VI4 - Mod Slide 40

41 Serial Number Breakdown
Field Bits Description Range Licensing API version 5 version of serial number 0 - 31 LicenseAttr->serialVersion batch id 15 vendor id + part of identifier LicenseAttr->batch unit id 25 remaining part of identifier LicenseAttr->unit issue date 12 # of days from epoch date (~ 11 year 2 month) LicenseAttr->issueDate expiration 2 # of 30 day increment from issue date 0 - 3 (90 days) LicenseAttr->expiration subscription 3 # of year from issue date 0 - 7 year LicenseAttr->subscription support support level 0 - 3 (none, platinum, gold, silver) LicenseAttr->support CPU/VM 16 count field for the license LicenseAttr->maxCPUs addon1 1 add-on feature 1 0 | 1 LicenseAttr->addon[0] addon2 add-on feature 2 LicenseAttr->addon[1] addon3 add-on feature 3 LicenseAttr->addon[2] addon4 add-on feature 4 LicenseAttr->addon[3] addon5 add-on feature 5 LicenseAttr->addon[4] VI4 - Mod Slide 41

42 Serial Number Breakdown
Example ESX DLF # VMware software license StartFields = "Cpt, ProductID, LicenseVersion, LicenseType, LicenseEdition, Option, Epoch" Cpt = "COPYRIGHT (c) VMware, Inc " ProductID = "VMware ESX Server" LicenseVersion = "4.0" LicenseType = "Site" Epoch = " " LicenseEdition = "esxEnterprise" Option = "7" Data = "capacityType=cpuPackage:6core;enable=nas,vsmp:8,san,iscsi,backup,vmotion,das,drs,esxHost,ft,mpio,hotplug,hostprofile,dvs,vmsafe,dvfilter,svmotion;desc=vSphere Enterprise" DataHash = "a0301bd7-24ca5857-3dcf9a37-c77ab7c0-f930f835" Hash = "509ffd42-c589afc5-de de1a b7e" VI4 - Mod Slide 42

43 Serial Number Breakdown
Example VC DLF # VMware software license StartFields = "Cpt, ProductID, LicenseVersion, LicenseType, LicenseEdition, Option, Epoch" Cpt = "COPYRIGHT (c) VMware, Inc " ProductID = "VMware VirtualCenter Server" LicenseVersion = "4.0" LicenseType = "Site" Epoch = " " LicenseEdition = "vc" Option = "7" Data = "capacityType=server;enable=linkedvc,woe;desc=vCenter Server;mdate= " DataHash = "bd0c5c d5-6fb55898-baf9fe4a-e " Hash = "8c32ab91-fb dc3e5fc1-20c072f7-7ff8cd9e" VI4 - Mod Slide 43

44 Troubleshooting Licensing
This section provides guidelines for troubleshooting your license setup for environments with only vSphere 4 hosts and environments that have a mixture of vSphere 4 and legacy Virtual Infrastructure 3 hosts. If you cannot resolve your problem using the information given in this section, contact VMware for support as follows: If you have not received license activation codes for your purchase or have difficulties in using your license activation codes, send to If you have difficulties in configuring licensed features, file a support request at VI4 - Mod Slide

45 Receiving License Activation Codes
VMware sends license activation codes and licensing information to the license administrator listed for a particular purchase. If you need to change the license administrator for your order, contact If you purchase vSphere 4 from an authorized VMware reseller, register your purchase using the partner activation code(s) supplied by the partner to generate your license files. VI4 - Mod Slide

46 Managing VMware Legacy Hosts (ESX 3.x/ESXi 3.5)
The troubleshooting scenarios in this section apply to mixed environments, in which vCenter Server 4.0 is managing legacy ESX 3.x/ESXi 3.5 hosts. Check the License Server If vCenter Server is managing legacy hosts, vCenter Server must check out vCenter Server Agent licenses from the license server. If vCenter Server is having trouble communicating with your license server, check the following: Check that the license server Windows service is running. Check that license server is listening. Check the license server status. VI4 - Mod Slide

47 Managing VMware Legacy Hosts
To check that the license server Windows service is running 1 On the machine on which the license server is installed, select Start > Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Services to display the Services control panel. 2 Verify that the Status column for the VMware License Server entry reads Started. 3 If the VMware License Server is not started, right-click the service and select Start. VI4 - Mod Slide

48 Check That the License Server is Listening
To check that the license server is listening On the machine on which the license server is installed, select Start > Command Prompt. Type netstat -ab at the command line. Verify that the lmgrd.exe process is listening on port and that the VMWARELM.exe process is listening on port VI4 - Mod Slide

49 Check the License Server Status
On the machine on which the license server is installed, select Start > Programs > VMware > VMware License Server > VMware License Server Tools to launch the LMTOOLS utility. Click the Server Status tab to display the Server Status page. Click Perform Status Inquiry. License server information, including the location of the license file, appears at the bottom of the page. VI4 - Mod Slide

50 Check the License File If your license server is operating properly or if your legacy hosts are using single-host licensing, but you cannot use licensed features, you have a problem with your license file. Validate your license file at Ensure that you are using the correct type of license file. If you are using a license server, use a centralized file. If you are using single-host licensing, make sure that you are using a single-host license file on each host. Centralized files contain a block of header text at the top, and the string ‘VENDOR_STRING=licenseType=Server’ appears in each license key in the file. Single-host license files have no header text, and the string ‘VENDOR_STRING=licenseType=Host’ appears in each license key in the file. VI4 - Mod Slide

51 Check the License File If you are using a centralized license file, check that the license type header information appears only once and at the top of the file. If you edited the license file, check that you did not mix centralized and single-host keys in a single file. Check that the license file contains the correct keys for the features you want to use. VI4 - Mod Slide

52 Lesson 1- 4 Summary Learn how to License Legacy hosts in VI 4.0
Learn how licensing works in VI 4.0 License VC 4.0 and ESX 4.0 Hosts VI4 - Mod Slide

53 Lesson 1- 4 - Lab 1 Lab 1 involves Licensing VC 4.0 and ESX 4.0 Hosts
Setting up License Server for Legacy Hosts Licensing VC 4.0 and ESX 4.0 Hosts License Reporting VI4 - Mod Slide


Download ppt "VMware vCenter Server Licensing"

Similar presentations


Ads by Google