Alert "License check: There are no assigned licenses found for this product" in VMware Cloud Foundation SDDC Manager

Products

• VMware vCenter Server
• VMware SDDC Manager

Issue/Introduction

• In VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF), the Workload Domain summary in SDDC Manager displays the following alert: License check: There are no assigned licenses found for this product
• Alert "License check: There are no assigned licenses found for this product" is seen in SDDC Manager and upgrading the system does not resolve the issue.
  
  
• Attempting to upgrade the environment does not resolve the issue. The /var/log/vmware/vcf/operationsmanager/operationsmanager.log shows errors similar to:
  

  YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS ERROR [vcf_om,3f929f###5984d9e,1##f] [c.v.v.l.s.u.ResourceLicensingPopulator,om-exec-3] License assignment not found for resource esxi01.example.local
  YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS ERROR [vcf_om,3f929f###5984d9e,1##f] [c.v.v.l.s.u.ResourceLicensingPopulator,om-exec-3] License assignment not found for resource esxi02.example.local
  YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS ERROR [vcf_om,3f929f###5984d9e,1##f] [c.v.v.l.s.u.ResourceLicensingPopulator,om-exec-3] License assignment not found for resource esxi03.example.local
  YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS ERROR [vcf_om,3f929f###5984d9e,1##f] [c.v.v.l.s.u.ResourceLicensingPopulator,om-exec-3] License assignment not found for resource esxi04.example.local

  YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS ERROR [vcf_om,69a82fb9c7496######de7c809f21d3,5c12] [c.v.v.l.s.u.ResourceLicensingPopulator,pool-3-thread-18] License assignment not found for resource VCENTER02.#####.com
  YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS ERROR [vcf_om,69a82fd5e#########e6f10fcfd1f,a0bf] [c.v.v.l.s.u.ResourceLicensingPopulator,om-exec-8] License assignment not found for resource VCENTER02.#####.com

• Checking SDDC Web page, Inventory -> Hosts -> ALL HOSTS, the hosts are in lowercase:
  
  esxi01.example.local
  esxi02.example.local
  esxi03.example.local
  esxi04.example.local
  
  
• However in vCenter web client, click the Main menu -> Administration -> Licensing -> Licenses -> Assets -> Hosts, the hosts are in uppercase:
  
  ESXi01.example.local
  ESXi02.example.local
  ESXi03.example.local
  ESXi04.example.local
• Or Checking the SDDC Web page, Inventory->Workload Domains->Certificates, you notice upper case vCenter FQDN

Environment

• VMware Cloud Foundation 4.x
• VMware Cloud Foundation 5.x

Cause

SDDC Manager retrieves license data from vCenter Server using the resource name. If there is a case-sensitivity mismatch (uppercase vs. lowercase) between the hostnames or vCenter FQDNs registered in the SDDC Manager database and the vSphere inventory, the license status fails to fetch. This discrepancy can block upgrade workflows

Resolution

Note: The DB edits can be destructive if done incorrectly. Take snapshot of the SDDC Manager. Ref KB: Taking and restoring snapshots of the SDDC Manager appliance.

Resolve this issue by modifying the SDDC Manager PostgreSQL database to match the hostname casing.

Prerequisites:

• Ensure that the hostname displayed in vCenter matches the FQDN of the ESXi hosts by verifying it directly on the ESXi servers. If the names match, reach out to Broadcom Support
  
  
• The rename operation is a SDDC Database edit. Ensure a valid file-based backup or offline snapshot of the SDDC Manager appliance is taken..
  
  
  • Verify which hosts or the vCenter are impacted by running the below command:
    
    grep -i "License assignment not found for resource" /var/log/vmware/vcf/operationsmanager/operationsmanager.log | awk '{print $11}' | sort | uniq -c | less -iN
    
    

    1       6 esxi01.example.local
    2       3 esxi02.example.local
    3       5 esxi03.example.local
    4       5 esxi04.example.local
    5       6 VCENTER02.#####.com

Follow the steps below:

1. SSH to the SDDC Manager appliance and access the BASH shell
   
   
2. Access the postgres platform database:

   psql -U postgres -h localhost -d platform

3. Retrieve the ID for the affected ESXi host or vCenter Server:
   
   • In case of ESXi host, Run the following command to list the host with ID's from the host table:

     SELECT id, hostname from host;

     Example Output

     platform=# SELECT id, hostname from host;
                       id                  |       hostname
     --------------------------------------+-----------------------
      dbc4a6fd-ee75-##cb-####-e3735c167f5d | ESX01.example.local
     

   • In case of vCenter, Run the following command to list the vCenter with ID's from the vm_hostname table:

     select id, vm_hostname, type, status from vcenter;

     Example Output

     platform=# SELECT id, vm_hostname, type, status from vcenter;
                       id                  |     vm_hostname     |    type    | status
     --------------------------------------+---------------------+------------+--------
      37840a76-e2d5-####-####-1ac777f3e33b | vcenter01.#####.com | VI         | ACTIVE
      a4b473b2-b28d-####-####-981e568c1d62 | VCENTER02.#####.com | MANAGEMENT | ACTIVE
     (2 rows)

4. Update the database record with the correct lowercase Fully Qualified Domain Name (FQDN) corresponding to the ID identified in Step 3.
   
   • For the ESXi host

     update host set hostname='esxi01.example.local' where id='dbc4a6fd-ee75-##cb-####-e3735c167f5d';

   • For the vCenter

     update vcenter set vm_hostname='vcenter02.#####.com' where id='a4b473b2-b28d-####-####-981e568c1d62';

5. Type \q to exit the PostgreSQL prompt.
6. Refresh the SDDC Manager browser session to verify the alert has cleared.

Additional Information

For the holistic health of the environment, lowercase is the recommended case for the environment. If you find that you have mixed case hostname / FQDN in your SDDC environment it is recommended that you take the following additional steps:

• Reconfigure the ESXi hostname to lowercase directly on the host.
• Ensure Forward and Reverse DNS records are updated to reflect lowercase formatting.