Using DRS Maintenance Mode with ROBO Enterprise License

vSphere 6.7 U2 supports limited DRS Maintenance Mode functionality with ROBO Enterprise License.

Prerequisites

• Check if all hosts in a cluster have the ROBO Enterprise License installed. If they do not, you must install the license.
• Check whether any DRS rules are configured and activated. If they are, you must deactivate or delete them to use ROBO Enterprise maintenance mode operation.

Procedure

1. In order for DRS Maintenance Mode to work with ROBO Enterprise License, make sure that each host on the cluster has the ROBO Enterprise License installed.
   • If the license is not installed, go to step 2.
   • If the license is installed, go to step 3.
2. Install the ROBO Enterprise License
   1. Browse to the host in the vSphere Client.
   2. Under the Configure tab, select Licensing.
   3. Click ASSIGN LICENSE.
   4. Enter your ROBO Enterprise License key and click OK.
   You must repeat these steps for all hosts in the cluster.
3. Select the host in the cluster, right-click and select Enter Maintenance Mode and click OK.
   The VMs on the host are automatically evacuated.

Results

After the host exits Maintenance Mode, the VMs are automatically migrated back to the host. The host is restored to the original state. However, if a host is overloaded DRS cannot migrate VMs back to the original host. DRS attempts to restore the host to the original state, but it cannot make a host overloaded.

What to do next

If you need to deactivate DRS Maintenance Mode with ROBO Enterprise License, you can edit the vpxd.cfg file. Open the vpxd.cfg file. Under the <cluster> option, change <roboMMEnabled>true</roboMMEnabled> to <roboMMEnabled>false</roboMMEnabled>. This is runtime configuration, so you do not need to restart vpxd after updating the configuration.