topic Re: VMM Licensing in Server Management - Systems Insight Manager

VMM Licensing

Scott_278 — Thu, 09 Feb 2006 10:15:00 GMT

I have deployed different VMM licenses to the same VMWare ESX hosts at one time or another. I did this in attempts to resolve a problem where the ESX hosts would not appear as licensed, even though I had deployed a licence to it.

Anyway, since then I have rebuild the CMS and started with a brand new database. I have since deployed VMM licenses to the ESX hosts, and it now appears as licensed. However, other licenses I have added also appear as being used, since they were deployed to an ESX host in the past.

I have had an open case for several months now, with the hope that the newest releases of SIM and VMM would resolve the issue. Initially I was told that a "Collect License" function would free up the license for deployment elsewhere. Then I was told that was incorrect, and that all the license information is stored in the registry on the CMS. That is not true, as I can still see past licenses I have deployed to the same host AFTER rebuilding my CMS and the database. So there must be some licensing information stored on the ESX host.

What I want to find out is how to clear the VMM license information on an ESX host. How can I clear up my past license deployments?

Re: VMM Licensing

Paul Kratz — Thu, 09 Feb 2006 10:32:52 GMT

I solved a VMM License Problem with Configure - Virtual Host Registration - Unregister Host and aftwards Register Host.

In my case that cleaned up the ESX Server based License Informations.

Try it, may be that helps!

Re: VMM Licensing

Scott_278 — Thu, 09 Feb 2006 11:36:41 GMT

That was a nice thought. I unregistered all my ESX hosts, which removed the VMM status. Then I re-registered all of them, and the VMM status returned. However there was no change in the status of the licenses. I still have VMM hosts using up multiple licenses.

Re: VMM Licensing

Rob Buxton — Thu, 09 Feb 2006 15:33:50 GMT

If it's the same as PMP, the license details are stored in the registry.
If you've misused licenses you may need to get some replacement licenses from HP. I'm not sure trying to fudge the registry is a good way to go.

Re: VMM Licensing

Scott_278 — Thu, 09 Feb 2006 15:39:08 GMT

I don't disagree that there may be some licensing info in the registry of the CMS. But I would strongly disagree if you are asserting that there is no license information stored on the ESX host.

I can state this definitively. The reason why is because I completely rebuild my CMS - formatted the drive, and started for the first time with a SQL database on an external SQL server. Yet when I added the ESX host and registered them, I have hosts which are consuming multiple licenses - even when I haven't deployed any since the rebuild!

There must be some place licensing information is stored on the ESX host.

Re: VMM Licensing

Rob Buxton — Thu, 09 Feb 2006 16:32:58 GMT

No, I wasn't stating that's where it all is. I just know that there are some details of the PMP licenses in the Registry.
There may be other elements in the database, I don't know if your SIM database is on the CMS or not. And there may be a final tie up to entries on the ESX Server.

I was suggesting that it may be an easier process to get your local HP to generate a new VMM key rather than try and flush out all of the corresponding entries.

Also, it may be the new HPSIM discovers the ESX Server and the license entries that it repopulates the registry.

It's guesses, I do not know how the whole mechanism works. It is designed so that the one-off licenses cannot be easily re-used.

Re: VMM Licensing

Scott_278 — Thu, 09 Feb 2006 16:40:49 GMT

My database is on an external SQL server now for the first time. During the past two iterations, is has been MSDE. That is another conversation in itself...

You may be right about contacting HP - in fact, they had given me a new license once as a temporary workaround for not having an a quick answer. But after three months now, I am getting the distinct impression that the functionality of VMM licensing is a closely-held secret even within HP, as no one seems to know how it *really* works.

But the description of your theory is right on target. I think that is exactly what happened. It seems that it should be a simple matter of somehow deleting the licensing information from the ESX host. Apparently that is not an easy thing to do.