A newly deployed Aria Operations stays in evaluation mode after configuring a vCenter integration

Products

• VCF Operations/Automation (formerly VMware Aria Suite)

Issue/Introduction

• Starting with VMware Aria Operations 8.16, license consumption for VMware Aria Operations is not required for entitled setups, the license consumption is tracked against your vCenter systems.
• A newly deployed VMware Aria Operations works in evaluation mode for 60 days if no valid entitlement is available.
• After adding a vCenter integration, the Aria Operations appliance remains in evaluation mode
• A banner may appear in the Aria Operations UI with an evaluation countdown from 60 days
  
  Aria Operation is in evaluation mode and Please update the license by going to the Administration > Licensing
  
  
• Aria Operations entered restricted mode after the evaluation period ended. In the restricted mode, you can only access the following pages:
  
  • Subscriptions: License Management and Legacy Licenses
  • Administration: Integrations and Cloud Proxies
    
    
• In the Aria Operations About page (top right of the page under Profile / Preferences dropdown menu), you may see Edition: Not Licensed
• vSphere 8 Enterprise Plus for vSphere Foundation or vSphere 8 Enterprise Plus for VCF licenses are visible in vCenter under Administration > Licensing > Licenses
• A legacy Aria Operations license is not installed

Environment

Aria Operations 8.16 or newer 

Cause

A vSphere 8 Enterprise Plus for vSphere Foundation or vSphere 8 Enterprise Plus for VCF license must be applied to the vCenter server.

Resolution

1. Log into the vCenter server that is configured under Administration > Integrations in Aria Operations
2. Right click the vCenter object under Inventory and select Assign License...
3. Select a valid vSphere 8 Enterprise Plus for vSphere Foundation or vSphere 8 Enterprise Plus for VCF from the Existing Licenses and click OK.
4. Go to Administration > Licensing > Licenses. Expand "vSphere 8 Enterprise Plus for VCF" license and go to "vCenter Server Systems" option to confirm vCenter server name is visible.
5. To refresh the Aria Operation license log into Aria Operations and perform the steps below:
   1. First check if the connection is valid go to Administration > Integrations. Expand the vCenter account, then select the name of the vCenter. It will open the "Cloud Account Information" page. Click the "VALIDATE CONNECTION". If the connection is not validated, update the incorrect information and attempt to validate again. If it displays "Test connection successful" click OK and then "CANCEL" in the "Cloud Account Information" page and move to the next step. 
   2. To Remove the vCenter integration. Go to Administration > Integrations and expand the vCenter instance. Click the 3 vertical dots, and click delete. This will remove the remove the vCenter integration. (You do not have to delete data). 
6. Re-add the vCenter integration, if you were logged in with a vCenter account you will need to log in with another admin account. Go to Administration > Integrations, click the "ADD" button. Select vCenter, in the "Add Account - vCenter" page fill out the necessary information and click "VALIDATE CONNECTION". Assuming the connection is successful you can click OK and proceed to the next step. 
7. Log out and log back in to Aria Operations
8. The evaluation banner will be removed and/or Aria Operations will not be in restricted mode.

Additional Information

• VMware Aria Operations 8.18 - About Licenses
• Configure a vCenter Server Cloud Account in VMware Aria Operations