Required to assign a new license part of different Site ID in VCF Operations 9.0.x

Products

• VCF Operations

Issue/Introduction

• A VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) 9.0.x deployment (connected mode) requires a license migration when a subscription/contract expires on one account and a new license is procured under a different Broadcom Site ID. This process involves disconnecting the existing VCF Operations instance from the old Site ID and re-registering it with the new license part of a different Site ID to maintain compliance and avoid service disruption.
• The existing VCF 9.0.x license expires before the start date of the new license.

Environment

VCF Operations 9.0.x

Cause

The issue is caused by a coverage gap between the expiration of the old license and the commencement of the new subscription/contract. In VCF 9.0.x, licenses are tied to a Site ID; therefore, simply adding a key is insufficient—the instance must be un-registered from the old site ID and re-registered to the new Site ID to pull the new entitlements.

Resolution

VMware Cloud Foundation 9.0.x uses VCF Operations as the central license manager, follow a coordinated "Disconnect and Re-register" workflow.

• Step 1: Plan Scheduled Downtime

1. 1. While existing workloads (VMs) will continue to run, management operations (creating new VMs, vMotion, etc.) may be restricted during the license gap. Schedule a maintenance window when the expiry of old license is set to happen, to perform the Site ID swap.

• Step 2: Disconnect from the Old Site ID

1. 1. Log in to VCF Operations.

   2. Navigate to Administration > Licensing > Registration.

   3. Click Unregister or Disconnect to remove the association with the expiring Broadcom account.

• Step 3: Register with the New Account/Site ID

1. 1. Log in to the VCF Business Services Console (VCFBSC) using the new account credentials.

   2. Ensure the new VCF 9.0.x license is present/allocated to the new Site ID.

   3. In VCF Operations, navigate to Licensing > Registration and click Register.

   4. For Connected Mode: Generate an Activation Code from the new account portal and paste it into VCF Operations.

• Step 4: Distribute Licenses to SDDC Components

1. 1. Once registered to the new Site ID, VCF Operations will download the new entitlements.
   2. Click Update Licenses to push the new keys to the managed vCenter Server instances.
   3. Verify in the vSphere Client that all hosts and components are reporting "Fully Licensed".

Additional Information

References:

• How to deactivate a license currently assigned to a VCF Operations 9.0 instance (411467)
• Registering VCF Operations with the VCF Business Services console
• Add a License to VCF Operations
• Managing Licenses in the VCF Business Services console
• Assign an Add-on License to a vCenter Instance