Process to Get a Permanent License Key for VirtuCache and Applying it

VirtuCache’s permanent license file is tied to the VMware host System UUID. System UUID is a unique ID assigned to the physical ESXi host by VMware. Please send us the System UUID for each host that you want the permanent license for.

There are two ways to get the System UUID for the host.

1. Using ESXi CLI: You can get the UUID for the host by using the command ‘esxcli system uuid get’. Please copy the UUID of each ESXi host to a text file and send it to us. Don’t use VMware’s powercli or web tools to get the UUID, since they get a different UUID.
2. If VirtuCache is installed, you can get the System UUIDs for all the Hosts in the cluster by going to the VirtuCache vCenter Plugin, and following the steps in the animated GIF below.

   

    

After you send the System UUIDs to us, we will send you a license file. The license key file is of the type lic_vnx2*.vib
The license file is installed using the below command
esxcli software vib install -v “file:///vmfs/volumes/’datastore name’/lic_vnx2.vib”
where ‘datastore name’ is the datastore that you copied the vib to.

Please don’t copy and paste the command to ESXCLI, control characters get inserted during copy and paste, and the installation might fail. Instead, please type the command from a scratch in ESXCLI.

In case you are updating an existing key (that might be temporary, permanent, expired, or still active) with another key, you don’t need to stop caching or uninstall the old key. Simply install the new license .vib on each host using the esxcli command shown above. There is no need for maintenance mode. You can install the key while your production VMs are running on the host. The old key will be automatically overwritten with the new key and VirtuCache caching driver will automatically recognize the new key. There will be no interruption in caching.

One license vib file can contain license keys for one or more host UUIDs, so that the same license vib can be installed across multiple hosts.

Upgrading the VirtuCache driver doesn’t need a new key. Your existing installed license key will work across VirtuCache versions.

Once the permanent key is successfully installed, the ‘License:’ field in the VirtuCache GUI ‘Hosts’ tab will say ‘Activated’ instead of having an expiration date.