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License server a critical dependency?
Can the PowerPath Management Appliance handle config changes and/or getting migrated to other hosts without breaking the license?
What happens if the PowerPath Management Appliance becomes unavailable - will PowerPath quit working on the hosts?
Butch777
88 Posts
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January 26th, 2018 05:00
Hi bbutler - PowerPath Management Appliance (license server) is not a critical dependency. PowerPath/VE always contains a license; if the Management Appliance becomes unavailable PowerPath/VE will continue to work.
There are instructions in the PPMA install and config guide for shutting down the PPMA; to move it to a different host you simply install it on the new host. If the IP address of virtual appliance changes you will need a new license file.
Bob Lonadier
PowerPath Product Manager
bbutler1
2 Posts
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January 26th, 2018 08:00
This question is about PPMA, the VMware virtual appliance. By the default nature of VMs, sometimes the MAC address can change, even if the IP address doesn't change. By "migrate", I mean when the VM does a vmotion to another ESX host. So the bottom line is that the license is tied to the IP address, not the MAC address or a unique identifier/GUID of the machine?
I have read the PPMA Installation and Configuration Guide, along with everything else I can find. A few things are not clear:
1. If PowerPath VE is installed on a ESXi host, but not yet assigned a license, either manually or through PPMA, is PowerPath fully functional?
2. The PPMA guide is not clear on how to actually "assign" a license to a host. If you point PPMA at your vCenter and it picks up all 400 of your ESXi hosts, you may not want to actually license them all.
3. Various documentation covers how you take your LAC to the Iicense portal to generate a key for an individual license or for a ELMS server. However, there is nothing in the PPMA about that process.
4. The PPMA guide for 2.2 (October 2017) has steps to register and enable the vCenter Plugin, and there are steps to use the vCenter Plugin for certain tasks. However, vCenter has not allowed scripted plugins by default since the vSphere fat client went away. There is a way to modify a config file that worked in vSphere 6, but it does not seem to work in vSphere 6.5. So the plugin will not work.
Butch777
88 Posts
1
January 29th, 2018 09:00
Thanks, bbutler for your detailed follow-up. Please see responses below:
If you point PPMA at your vCenter and it picks up all 400 of your ESXi hosts, you may not want to actually license them all. [rcl] can you please elaborate off-post (email below) on the use case where you would not want to license all PPVE hosts?
3. Various documentation covers how you take your LAC to the Iicense portal to generate a key for an individual license or for a ELMS server. However, there is nothing in the PPMA about that process. [rcl] thanks for the feedback. The PPMA release notes have a section for Related PowerPath documentation. I'll make sure this section points to the documentation on how to convert the LAC to a key.
4. The PPMA guide for 2.2 (October 2017) has steps to register and enable the vCenter Plugin, and there are steps to use the vCenter Plugin for certain tasks. However, vCenter has not allowed scripted plugins by default since the vSphere fat client went away. There is a way to modify a config file that worked in vSphere 6, but it does not seem to work in vSphere 6.5. So the plugin will not work. [rcl] Can you please open an SR on this issue and email me it to me off-post?
Robert Lonadier
PowerPath Product Manager
robert.lonadier@dell.com