VMware's large Remote Office Branch Office (ROBO) Enterprise license supports automatic VM evacuations when a host enters maintenance mode.

In a ROBO Enterprise cluster, DRS is deactivated by default and you cannot make changes to DRS configuration. When a host in a ROBO Enterprise cluster enters maintenance mode, VMs are automatically evacuated from the host by DRS. Before evacuating the VMs from the host, DRS creates VM-host affinity mappings to track where the VMs were placed. When the host exits maintenance mode, the VMs that were running on the host are migrated back to the host. VM-host affinity mappings are cleared after the migration.

Limitations of DRS Maintenance Mode with ROBO Enterprise License

DRS Functionality with ROBO Enterprise License is not full DRS functionality.

There are some limitations you should be aware of before you initiate maintenance mode on a ROBO Enterprise cluster. On a ROBO Enterprise cluster, DRS is deactivated by default. If you have migrated from a DRS supported license to a ROBO Enterprise license, you may have VMs with affinity or anti-affinity rules present in the system. You must deactivate or delete VMs with affinity or anti-affinity rules or the ROBO Enterprise maintenance mode operation is deactivated. ROBO Enterprise maintenance mode operation is deactivated if DRS is not set to fully automated mode. DRS automation level must be set to fully automated mode in order to evacuate VMs automatically through the host maintenance workflow. If a VM overrides DRS fully automated mode, you must evacuate the VM manually.

Using DRS Maintenance Mode with ROBO Enterprise License

vSphere 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.

Troubleshooting DRS Maintenance Mode with ROBO Enterprise License

If you experience issues using maintenance mode with your ROBO Enterprise cluster, consider the following.

In order for maintenance mode to function correctly with a ROBO Enterprise cluster:

  • 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.
  • If the compatibility check fails, make sure that the other hosts are compatible with the VM.