VCenter and VMotion

[SAGEBCI]

Hello and thanks in advance.

I am working with VSphere 4 Essentials, and have just completed the install for VCenter Server. The problem I am having is that I cannot add any hosts to the "cluster". The error message is that I need to upgrade the licence for VMotion. What do I need to do to disable VMotion so I can add the hosts to the cluster.

Thanks again,

[casselc · Accepted solution]

Check any VMkernel port groups on the host and make sure VMotion is not enabled.

[SAGEBCI]

Thanks.. That did it. But what sucks is that VSphere Essentials does not seem to be licensed for anything. HA, VMotion and DRS. I get the same license message for all services, so currently they are all turned off. Hmmm.. So what am I using ESX for? Sorry... Anyway, thanks for your help!!!! Got any ideas why My hosts keep disconnecting from VCenter. They stay connected for only a few minutes.

[VMmatty]

As you stated the vSphere Essentials bundle does not include HA, VMotion, or DRS. The next bundle up (vSphere Essentials Plus) does include HA but not VMotion, though I could argue that HA is the more important of the two features. You could speak with your reseller about possibly upgrading to the Essentials Plus bundle which would give you HA as well as VMware Data Recovery, which provides a utility for backing up virtual machines.

The Essentials Bundle does still include VMware vCenter, which gives you centralized management of your ESX hosts and allows you to do cloning, create templates with customizations, etc. Don't think that just because you don't have VMotion that your purchase was worthless!

[SAGEBCI]

Thanks.. I appreciate the feedback. I have had a heck of a time understanding the complexities of VMWARE licensing. But, I'm not getting all bent out of shape about it. I'll just see what I can do about upgrading. So, do you know what I might need to do to get my host to stay connected in VCenter. I'm researching now, but not finding much on it. They only stay connected for a few minutes and then disconnect.

[casselc]

Are there any firewalls in place between the vCenter server and the hosts? Have you tried restarting the management agent?

Take a look at these KB documents: http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1003409 and http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1008030

[VMmatty]

It doesn't hurt to start with what the license you've got and start to get some experience with the tools and features. Then you can see if you need to upgrade to get additional features. You already own it so you might as well use it before rushing to pay more money to get features you might not need.

You will most likely get better luck creating a new post about your ESX host disconnection issue since you'll be able to assign helpful and correct points to the post. Though I'll say that I had a very similar issue to what you're describing and it can be several things. I'd make sure that DNS is configured correctly in your environment and on the ESX host. Check the hosts file on the ESX host(s) and make sure they have both the short name and FQDN of the server. I'd also make sure that you have your networking setup correctly for the NICs used for the Service Console portgroup.

[SAGEBCI]

Thanks so much for your help! I will look into these KB articles.

Cheers!

[SAGEBCI]

Thanks VMmatty! If I need to open another case for the hosts in VCenter, I will do so accordingly. Thanks for your help and guidance!