Aria Operations for Networks VCF License Activation Failure with vCenter Server 8 Standard.

Products

• VCF Operations for Networks
• VMware vCenter Server 8.0

Issue/Introduction

• After adding a vCenter Server as a data source in VMware Aria Operations for Networks, the product remains in Evaluation Mode.
• The vCenter Server added as a data source is currently licensed with "vCenter Server 8 Standard".
  
  To display vCenter Server license assigned, navigate to Administration > Licenses > Assets > VCENTER SERVER SYSTEMS  in vSphere Client.
  
  
  
• No VCF VC found found in restapilayer log under /var/log/arkin/restapilayer.
  INFO settings.licensing.KeylessLicensingManager KeylessLicensingVCFLicenseChecker-0 lambda_fetchAndHandleVCFLicenseInfo_6:236 vcLicenseInfoResp
onse: VCLicenseInfoResponse(vcLicenseInfoList:[VCLicenseInfo(dpId:vc.example.com, editionKey:vc.standard.instance, expirationTime:<EXP_TIME>, capacity:<capacity>, name:vCenter Server 8 Standard, licenseKey:<LICENSE_KEY>)]) for collectorId: <COLLECTOR_ID>
INFO settings.licensing.KeylessLicensingManager KeylessLicensingVCFLicenseChecker-0 lambda_fetchAndHandleVCFLicenseInfo_6:243 No VCF VC found for collectorId: <COLLECTOR_ID>, customerId: <CUSTOMER_ID>
  
  

Environment

VMware Aria Operations for Networks (vRealize Network Insight) 6.14

VMware vCenter Server 8.0

Cause

Aria Operations for Networks 6.x entitles itself automatically by detecting a valid VCF solution license on the connected vCenter Server.

In this scenario, the issue is caused by the vCenter Server being assigned a vCenter Server 8 Standard license. This prevents the collector from identifying the vCenter as a VCF-managed asset. Consequently, the VCF entitlement does not propagate to Aria Operations for Networks, and the product cannot validate the license key manually because it expects the entitlement to be inherited from the vCenter infrastructure.

Resolution

To resolve this issue, update the license assigned to the vCenter Server asset to a VCF-compatible key.

1. Log in to the vSphere Client.
2. Navigate to Administration > Licensing > Assets.
3. Select the VCENTER SERVER SYSTEMS tab.
4. Locate the vCenter Server used as the data source for Aria Operations for Networks.
5. Click Assign License and change the assignment from vCenter Server 8 Standard to your vSphere 8 Enterprise Plus for VCF license key.
6. After assigning the license, wait approximately one hour for the entitlement information to synchronize with the Aria Operations for Networks collector.

After successful registration, you will see restapilayer log under /var/log/arkin/restapilayer.
INFO settings.licensing.KeylessLicensingManager KeylessLicensingVCFLicenseChecker-0 lambda_fetchAndHandleVCFLicenseInfo_6:236 vcLicenseInfoResponse: VCLicenseInfoResponse(vcLicenseInfoList:[VCLicenseInfo(dpId:vc.example.com, editionKey:vc.vcf, expirationTime:1922313600000, capacity:0, name:vSphere 8 Enterprise Plus for VCF, licenseKey:#####-#####-#####-#####-#####)]) for collectorId: <COLLECTOR_ID>
INFO settings.licensing.KeylessLicensingHelper KeylessLicensingVCFLicenseChecker-0 getHighestExpiryVCFEnabledVC:177 vCenter with dpId: vc.example.com is VCF_ENABLED

Additional Information

VMware Aria Operations for Networks License generated for VMware Cloud Foundation

You must use VMware vSphere 8 Enterprise Plus license keys generated for VMware Cloud Foundation to entitle VMware Aria Operations for Networks.

VMware Aria Operations for Networks 6.14