vMotion disables even though it is licensed

[Tracyp]

Hi all

I have a strange problem

We are running vmware ESX 4.1 on two hosts (IBM blades)

vMotion is licensed and I can enable it on the hosts but when I try to migrate a live server it tells me that vMotion is NOT licensed and when I check the host vMotion is unticked again

What could be causing this?

Thanks

Tracy

[a_nut_in]

Hi Tracy,

Is this a new setup or has vMotion actually worked in the past? As this is 4.x. what happens if you place the hosts in evaluation mode license and check?

Regards

a

[Tracyp]

It has worked in the past and is still licenced

[a_p_]

I assume you are referring to the port group settings with "... when I check the host vMotion is unticked again ..."!?

Which vSphere edition do you use, and how is vMotion configured, .i.e. do you use a dedicated subnet?

André

[Tracyp]

Hi Andre

Using vsphere 4.1.0

And using vmotion on vmkernel port

[a_p_]

Ok, so you are using vSphere 4.1, but which edition? Essentials, Essentials plus, Standard, Enterprise, ...?

What type of physical switch do you use and - if managed - how are the uplink ports configured? To me this looks like an unmanaged switch, because you are using different IP subnets without VLAN tagging!?

André

[Tracyp]

This is in an IBM Blade Center S running 2 x HS22 blades

Message was edited by: a.p. - Removed the screen shot with the license keys!

[a_p_]

Please do not post screen shots with license keys!

Just to confirm, does vMotion show up in the feature list when you select a host in the inventory and click "Licensed Features" in the "Configuration" tab?

André

[Tracyp]

Oops! My bad ☹

Yes vMotion does show up

[a_p_]

So back to my previous question. How are the uplink ports on the physical switch(es) configured?

And what's the exact error message you get (a screen shot might help).

André

[Tracyp]

Also shows up as being enabled

[Tracyp]

Sorry don’t know answer to first question. I did not set this up.

Error message is:

[a_nut_in]

Hi Tracyp,

Correct me if I am wrong - but vMotion does show up as enabled (as you are getting the change host) in the screenshot. What is not enabled seems to be Storage VMotion

http://blog.vmpros.nl/2010/07/13/vmware-vsphere-4-1-license-editions/

You might need to check and see if your license keys are Standard or Enterprise/Enterprise Plus as SVMotion is only available on Enterprise and Enterprise Plus editions

You can read about the difference betwwen vMotion and SVMotion below

vMotion: vSphere vMotion: Live Migration of Virtual Machines

Storage vMotion: VMware vSphere Storage vMotion: Live Virtual Storage Migration

Regards

a

Message was edited by: afunnynut

[a_p_ · Accepted solution]

@a_nut_in

Good catch. As a quick note, the license edition is Essentials Plus 4 (I removed the screenshot, because it contained the license keys) which indeed doesn't support svMotion.

André