Ignite image & VxVM codeword

[Jeff Schussele]

Greetings all,

I had some new RP7410s ordered & delivered with MCOE level OS.
Unfortunately they came in w/Mar 2003 images. This was too new to go into Production.
So I Ignited them with Dec 2002 images from a comparable system.
This unfortunately breaks the Veritas VxVM license as it's tied to HostID.
I tried in vain for weeks to get Veritas to regenerate the VxVM license key. They kept telling me HP could do it. HP said Veritas has to do it...yada..yada...etc.
I finally got HP to issue new codewords for Dec 2002 B9116AA - VxVM 3.5 - my questions are:

1) Can I apply the codeword *without* having to reinstall VxVM 3.5?

2) Will this alone reset the 60-day temp Veritas VxVM license now on the systems such that it will never expire?

3) Can HP, in fact, generate the Veritas key, or can ALL they do is issue codewords?

vxlicrep command now shows the VxVM license will expire in July & I don't want this to happen because IF it does I lose the DMP (Dynamic Multi-Pathing) ability of VxVM. And if I lose a single link, I lose the disks.
Anybody run into this issue already?

TIA,
Jeff

[Ravi_8]

Hi, Jeff

I haven't experienced this, but heard about this from our another lab.

1) No,
code given applies only for product (in your case Dec 2002 VxVM)
2) No. it wouldn't reset the license period

3) HP can issue the codewords/license for Mar 2003 VxVM

[Bill McNAMARA_1]

I've heard of the exact same issue with a telecoms company.. in the end they *had* to fax a request for a licence for every single server - around 2-3 hundred! lucky they were a telco company! Hopefully it's a little easier - that was around 2-3 years ago right on the intro of vxvm with 11i.

[Jeff Schussele]

Are there any Veritas or licensing gurus out there in HP that could answer these questions?
Ideally, what I'd like is the 32 char key that I can apply on the fly via the vxinstall command.
I do *not* want to & don't feel I should have to reinstall VxVM just to license a product I've *already* paid for.
These systems have already been released into production & it's not going to look good for anybody ESPECIALLY HP & Veritas if I have to request an outage for this.

Thx,
Jeff

[Jeff Schussele]

Ping....Any HP personnel care to respond?

[Jeff Schussele]

UPDATE:

After some research - on my own mind you - I found that I could indeed apply the codeword for B9116AA (Vx Vol Mgr 3.5m) w/o having to reboot. As it turns out, only base VxVM requires a reboot on reload.
The above mentioned product is *strictly* the license portion of full-blown VxVM.
So, all I had to to was set some swinstall options (click reinstall filesets & unclick both dependency options so that the binaries were not reinstalled) & it *appears* the problem is solved.
But that's won't be definitively ascertained until 7/3/03 when my 60-day temp licenses expire. I'll repost here at that time as an FYI.

But I have to tell you that the whole process has left a sour taste in my mouth. I haven't been bounced between vendors like that since my old M$ days (and that's pre-Winblows, mind you). I almost felt as if I was dealing with customer *non-service* depts. It's extremely frustrating when you can't get what I felt was a VERY trivial matter solved because vendor A says it's vendor B's problem/responsibility & vice-versa.

Open Msg to HP & Veritas:
It's about time you two iron out your differences. If you keep this squabbling up, you'll drive customers like us - who spend MILLIONS of $ a year with you - away, UNLESS you quit letting this crap distract you from what SHOULD be your focus - CUSTOMER SERVICE!!!!
I simply cannot think of any other way to put that. Well I could but this IS a public forum.....

Jeff

[Pete Randall]

Jeff,

It reminds me of my mainframe days. I used to spend weeks at a time bouncing back and forth between "Big Blue" and some out fit that was owned by a guy that didn't even know how to pronounce his own name.

Looking forward to July (and even more toward August!!)


Pete

[Michael Tully]

Well said Jeff!
There have been quite a few times where vendors should be taking a pro-active approach instead of sitting back doing this:

-->
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I hate it and eventually they get told to pull their heads and they do for a while ...

I've been in this industry for the best part of 20 years and have found only one company that have exceeded my expectations on what customer service is all about. I'll keep that a secret, as I'm sure they know who they are ...

Cheers
Michael
"When I have trouble spelling, it's called fat finger syndrome"

[James Murtagh]

Hi Jeff,

Sorry you had such a frustrating experience. There is some confusion as both Veritas and HP both release virtually the same code. The general rule of thumb:

i) If it is a product supplied by Veritas and Veritas badged go to them for license queries.
ii) If it is an HP badged Veritas product go to HP for the licenses.

There are things in the pipeline, can't say too much I'm afraid, although I will look into the details tomorrow for you if you are interested. Recently it has been announced the OnlineJFS product can use a license either from Veritas or HP, for example. HP will also now support HP or Veritas badged products.

Cheers,

James.

[Jeff Schussele]

Thanks for the understanding guys.

Pete - I hear ya. When I was at Cat I used to hear some great horror stories from the OMF folks. And in fact Cat dumped Big Blue HW & went totally Hitachi. Of course they still had to purchase the OS & OS support from BB.
In response IBM, after purchasing Lotus, went so far as to GIVE Cat an enterprise-wide license for the *entire* Notes line - FREE. And being the OpenMail lead Admin, that essentially drove me out here to KC. No regrets at all....

Tully (And I hope I don't insult you w/the nickname - I like it) - Seems we're almost compadres. Come 2004, I'll be a 2-decader myself. I'm intrigued by your puzzle & someday I'll pull it out of you. But my desire would be to do so whilst sunning on your fav beach shooting the sh1t. As someone earlier pointed out, my wife & I also wish to do the Oz-thing for a couple weeks some year & we WILL do so. So I'll get your contact info somewhere down the road. I look forward to meeting you. You're my kinda guy - now don't take that the wrong way.... 8~))

James - Appreciate your input & certainly don't do anything you'll regret on my behalf. But it IS comforting to know that *somebody* there's listening.

Certainly hope to meet some of you mugs in 'Lanta. Word's filtering down that my mgr's gonna go & take ONE SA w/him.
I'm certainly in the top three - but...sigh...it's certainly not a sure thing. I MAY have to take personal time to attend. Maybe...I can get them yo at least pay the admission $.

Thx all,
Jeff

[Jeff Schussele]

Oh...and before all you prudish folk freak out...

OMF = Old MainFramer

Hee...hee...hee,
Jeff

See you're all just as twisted as I.

[Pete Randall]

Two decades??!! You guys are just pups! Of course that may be why you still have semi-functional memories.

Cheers,
Pete

[Jeff Schussele]

What were talking 'bout.......?