VMware NSX Advanced Load Balancer – Basic Edition
Overview
Starting with Avi Vantage release 20.1.2, VMware NSX ALB - Basic edition is available on Avi Vantage. NSX ALB - Basic edition has been introduced to provide equivalent load balancing features that are available on VMware NSX-T.
Notes:
- NSX ALB Basic edition is not available as a separate SKU and is not saleable.
- NSX ALB Basic Edition supports the following deployment modes:
- NSX-T Cloud Connector
- No Orchestrator Mode
For more details on setting up NSX ALB basic edition, refer to NSX ALB Basic Edition Installation Guide.
Licensing Requirements
Any NSX customer with an active NSX license with load balancing capabilities is eligible to use NSX ALB Basic edition. When an eligible NSX serial key is imported onto the Avi Controller, equivalent number of Basic edition Service Cores will be deposited based on the conversion table below.
Use the following conversion table to convert various NSX license types to the Avi Service Cores.
| NSX License Type | Quantity | Avi Service Core |
|---|---|---|
| NSX CPU Package | 4 | 1 |
| NSX VM | 200 | 1 |
| NSX Concurrent Users | NA | NA |
| NSX Core | 48 | 1 |
Feature Comparison (Essentials vs Basic vs Enterprise)
The detailed feature list for each of the editions is documented in NSX Advanced Load Balancer Editions guide.
Converting from Enterprise Edition to Basic Edition
Follow the below steps to change an Avi Controller from the Enterprise edition to the Basic edition.
Check License and Import NSX Serial Key
It is a requirement to have sufficient Basic Edition Service Cores on Avi Controller to license existing SEs.
Login to the Avi CLI and use the show license ledger details command to check the available number of Service Cores under the various license tiers. A sample output for the show license ledger details command is shown below.
[admin:cntrl]: > show license ledger details
+-----------------+-----------------+
| Field | Value |
+-----------------+-----------------+
| uuid | default |
| tier_usages[1] | |
| tier | ENTERPRISE |
| usage | |
| available | 22.0 |
| consumed | 5.0 |
| escrow | 0.0 |
| remaining | 22.0 |
| tier_usages[2] | |
| tier | BASIC |
| usage | |
| available | 36.0 |
| consumed | 5.0 |
| escrow | 0.0 |
| remaining | 31.0 |
| se_infos[1] | |
| uuid | se-005056afe528 |
| tenant_uuid | admin |
| tier | BASIC |
| service_cores | 1.0 |
| last_updated | 0 |
| se_infos[2] | |
| uuid | se-005056afb0ca |
| tenant_uuid | admin |
| tier | BASIC |
| service_cores | 1.0 |
| last_updated | 0 |
| se_infos[3] | |
| uuid | se-005056afb332 |
| tenant_uuid | admin |
| tier | BASIC |
| service_cores | 1.0 |
| last_updated | 0 |
| se_infos[4] | |
| uuid | se-005056af42b4 |
| tenant_uuid | admin |
| tier | BASIC |
| service_cores | 1.0 |
| last_updated | 0 |
| se_infos[5] | |
| uuid | se-005056afe25b |
| tenant_uuid | admin |
| tier | BASIC |
| service_cores | 1.0 |
| last_updated | 0 |
+-----------------+-----------------+
Refer to the previous section to check how many Service Cores will be necessary.
Import active NSX serial keys that have load balancing capabilities into the Avi Controller to deposit the required Basic Edition Service Cores.
Navigate to Administration > Settings > Licensing, and click on Apply Key. Provide the NSX Serial Key that has load balancing capabilities on NSX.
Perform Configuration Audit
Avi Controller enforces feature restrictions for each edition. Therefore, configuration needs to adhere to Basic edition for the transition from Enterprise edition to Basic edition to be allowed.
A config audit tool has been introduced to check the configurations that are not supported for the target edition. Run the config audit tool to check the violations in the configurations. Resolve all the violations before proceeding to change from the Enterprise Edition to the Basic edition.
The configuration audit API performs licensing checks on all the objects in the system and reports various violations. It ignores the violations in system default objects since they are handled internally.
Use the Avi CLI or the Avi REST API to check the unsupported configuration and take the required actions.
- Avi CLI:
show configuration audit tier <tier_name> - Avi REST API:
/api/config-audit/tier/ <tier_name>
The following is the sample output for the configuration audit command. The below output exhibits the configuration and features which are not supported in the Basic edition. Perform the required actions as per the output before proceeding with the license edition change.
[admin:ctrl]: > show configuration audit tier basic
+--------------------+---------------+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Object Type | Name | License Violations |
+--------------------+---------------+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| VirtualService | vs-1 | Object refers to system default object marked for removal: StringGroup System-Rewritable-Content-Types |
| | | Field VirtualService.analytics_policy.full_client_logs.enabled cannot have True as its value in BASIC license tier. Allowed value: False. |
| | | Field VirtualService.enable_autogw cannot have True as its value in BASIC license tier. Allowed value: False. |
| | | Field VirtualService.content_rewrite cannot be set in BASIC license tier. |
| | | Field VirtualService.sideband_profile cannot be set in BASIC license tier. |
| | | |
| ServiceEngineGroup | Default-Group | Field ServiceEngineGroup.ha_mode cannot have HA_MODE_SHARED as its value in BASIC license tier. Allowed value(s): HA_MODE_LEGACY_ACTIVE_STANDBY. |
| | | Field ServiceEngineGroup.hm_on_standby cannot have True as its value in BASIC license tier. Allowed value: False. |
| | | Field ServiceEngineGroup.app_cache_percent cannot have 10 as its value in BASIC license tier. Allowed value: 0. |
| | | |
| Pool | vs-1-pool | Field Pool.connection_ramp_duration cannot have 10 as its value in BASIC license tier. Allowed value: 0. |
| | | |
+--------------------+---------------+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
Additional Checks:
The following are the additional points to check while changing the default licensing tier from the Enterprise edition to the Basic edition.
- Save the backup configuration prior to changing the licensing edition.
- The changing of license editions is supported for Avi Controllers and SEs on the same base version only. Avi Controller and SEs on different patch versions are also supported for the license tier change option.
Changing Licensing Tier from the Enterprise Edition to the Basic Edition
Once all the features and configuration specific to the Enterprise edition are removed, Avi CLI is used to switch to the desired licensing tier.
Change the system mode to Enterprise mode as follows:
-
On Licensing page click on gear icon next to Licensing.
-
Select Basic License.
-
Click on Save.
After changing the licensing tier to the Basic edition, SEs are associated with the Basic Service Cores. The Enterprise Service Cores are freed up and are not used anymore when the Avi Controller runs in the Basic edition. The Avi Controller will start enforcing Basic edition feature restrictions.
New System-Default objects are created according to the NSX ALB Basic edition support. The events related to the system objects, and the configuration changes are available under Operations > Events.
As shown below, there are various events related to the deletion of network profiles, WAF Profiles, e.t.c.
Converting from Basic Edition to Enterprise Edition
There is no disruption of traffic or downtime while changing the licensing tier from the Basic edition to the Enterprise edition. Once the Avi Controller is in the Enterprise edition, all the features available on the Avi Vantage can be utilized.
Follow the steps mentioned below to set up the Avi Controller in the Enterprise edition.
-
Check the available Enterprise Service Cores available on the Avi Controller. The available Enterprise Service Cores should be sufficient to license the existing SEs. Changing from the Basic edition to the Enterprise edition is only allowed if sufficient licenses are available on the Avi Controller.
-
Import and upload the Avi Enterprise license using Avi UI if the Enterprise license is not available on the Avi Controller.
- Set the value of the default_license_tier to enterprise.
[admin:ctrl]: > configure systemconfiguration [admin:ctrl]: systemconfiguration > default_license_tier enterprise overwriting the previous entered value for default_license_tier [admin:ctrl]: systemconfiguration > save -
Once the mode change is successful, the SEs are licensed with the Enterprise Service Cores, and the Basic Service Cores are freed up.
- The new system-default objects are created according to the Enterprise edition support. The configurations and features available on the Avi Controller will be as per the Enterprise Edition feature enforcement. All the features on Avi Vantage is available when the Avi Vantage is in the Enterprise edition.
Mapping NSX Concurrent User Licenses to Avi Basic Service Core
If the NSX concurrent users are less than 1000, then it will directly map to ten basic service cores. We use a computation logic for higher values that considers throughput per user, AVM (App Volumes) to compute the number of Avi Basic Service Cores.
For instance, the following table exhibits the mapping of NSX concurrent user license to Avi Basic Service Core:
| NSX Concurrent Users | Avi Basic Service Cores |
|---|---|
| 1 < 1000 | 10 |
| 1000 | 18.0 |
| 2000 | 21.0 |
| 5000 | 21.0 |
| 7500 | 27.0 |
| 10000 | 33.0 |
| 15000 | 39.0 |
| 20000 | 45.0 |
| 25000 | 45.0 |
How to Get Support
An active entitlement for NSX that has load balancing capabilities is eligible for NSX ALB Basic edition support. This would be supported by Avi and VMware Technical Support teams.
FAQs
How will Avi Vantage consume NSX Enterprise and NSX Advanced licenses?
NSX Enterprise and NSX Advanced DLF keys can be applied on the Avi Controller. For example – 1 CPU unit of NSX Enterprise and NSX Advanced license would be mapped to 0.25 Service Cores of Basic edition on Avi.
Would deploying x Basic LB SEs and y Enterprise LB SEs on the same Avi Controller be allowed?
No, the Basic edition and the Enterprise edition licenses cannot exist on the same Avi Controller.
Will Avi Basic edition allow AKO for ingress?
No. Enterprise edition license is required to use AKO.
Is Per-App supported in the Basic Edition?
No. Customers can create multiple SE Groups if this functionality is needed.
Will 10% overage be allowed for the Basic Edition as well?
Yes, 10% overage be allowed for the Basic Edition as well.
Can a Controller be upgraded from Basic edition to Enterprise edition?
Yes, the Basic to Enterprise edition upgrade on the Avi Controller is allowed. The only requirement is to have sufficient Enterprise edition licenses to license the existing SEs in the cluster. Upgrade to the Enterprise edition would be seamless and cause zero traffic disruption.