PowerPath/VE virtual appliance upgrade / new install

I am wondering if anyone can help me w/some questions I have re: an upgrade or migration path.

We are planning on installing the PPVE virtual appliance in our environment, which is an "upgrade" from our current environment which is running a served license model running on a virtualized windows server. I don't believe there is a direct upgrade path from our current enviroment, so I am planning on bringing up the virtual appliance and transitioning my hosts to the new license server, etc...

I have some questions about this process that I can't seem to find documentation on;

What will happen to the PPVE licenses on the hosts already registered to the existing license server?
- Will existing hosts have to re-register w/the new license server?
How are licenses transferred to new license server in a served license model?
Is there a simpler process to transition to the PPVE licensing Virtual appliance than the one I am attempting?

Any help is appreciated,

Thank you

Responses(3)

A

Anonymous

5 Practitioner

•

274.2K Posts

0

December 4th, 2014 06:00

Here is the easiest way for you to migrate /re-deploy your existing served licences from standalone Windows virtual server to vApp managed appliance.

Deploy the vApp with the same hostname and IP address currently in use by that Windows Server( reason: the served licenses are tied to the hostname and IP address assigned to their virtualized Windows Server)
Copy the licenses from the Windows server and import it to vApp through GUI
Add vCenter Server(s) to the vApp

(One caveat here is to make sure that the current licenses have a non-zero overdraft count. Licenses created against a product code used by some distributors contain an overdraft count of zero. The Flexera server on the vApp requires a Served license to have a non-zero overdraft count.)

Another clarification for the subsequent post:

I am not aware of any licensing versions( 5.4/5.9). If its PowerPath/VE versions then vApp does support all PowerPath/VE versions till date without requiring much license file changes if we follow the steps above.

Also, trial period of 45 days from vApp is available with PP/VE 5.9 and above. Hope this clarifies things.

In the remote case you need to maintain two ELMS servers( original Windows sever and vApp), not recommended at all, I can provide steps for that too. But will hold on till there is a valid need expressed by you.

Thanks,

Ankur

PP/VE Dev Manager.

brettesinclair

715 Posts

1

December 3rd, 2014 21:00

What license version do you have ? If it's not 5.9 you'll need them converted/upgraded. ( IE you can't have 5.4 being served).

I found it easier to deploy the VA, un-register the hosts from the existing license server and re-register on the VA.

The VA comes with 45 day trial licenses so you can sort out the licensing during that time if you're wanting to get moving.

You can't have the 2 license servers running in parallel, and the license file must have the ip address of the VA when you load it. PP licensing always seems to be confusing !

Hope that helps.

SumGuy1

14 Posts

0

December 4th, 2014 11:00

Thank you for the help Ankur,
This approach makes the most sense, I wasn't sure about transferring the licenses though.

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