In the last months there were several post about the vRealize Log Insight for vCenter Server edition… a “free” version of vRealize Log Insight included with vCenter Server license (so not really free, but included in your license cost).

This was true since vRealize Log Insight 3.3.2 and above will accept the vCenter Server 5.x or 6.x license key you already have. Refer to the VMware Product Interoperability Matrices for confirmation of which versions are compatible.

To be honest there were only 25 OSI included (vRealize Log Insight counts the sources of the log), but quite enough for a small-medium environment, if you consider only the ESXi and vCenter Server… If you try to use for a large environment or for monitoring also other log sources or for NSX components, this number is quite limiting.

Anyway there was a lot of emphasis on how cool was already have this license and how powerful could be this products.

Now VMware has just announced the End of Availability (EoA) of vRealize Log Insight for vCenter Server starting with the next release and all future releases of Log Insight. The current version of Log Insight, version 4.6.x, is the last release that will support the Log Insight for vCenter Server capability.

The next release will not accept vCenter Server license keys for activation.

The reason of this change is not clear, but maybe was due to the limitations of VMware vRealize Log Insight for vCenter:

• Only one vCenter Server license can be added per appliance.
• Deployments are limited to a single node (no clustering).
• Only one vCenter Server can be integrated with vRealize Log Insight for vCenter.
• Content packs are limited to those for VMware products.
• Event forwarding and archiving are not allowed.

Using a full vRealize Log Insight license enables different features:

• Clustering
• HA Support
• Event Forwarding
• Archiving
• Up to 10 vSphere integrations with automatic configuration
• 3rd party and Custom Content Packs (29+ available)
• Custom SSL certificates (always available in Log Insight 4.0+)

Customers interested in using the next version of vRealize Log Insight can explore the following options:

• Purchase Log Intelligence, a new VMware SaaS offering as part of VMware Cloud Services, supporting both public and private clouds, with a 30-day free trial.
• Upgrade to vRealize Suite, our enterprise ready cloud management suite.
• Purchase full vRealize Log Insight as a standalone product.

In my opinion this isn’t a smart move… there are already some good products for log management and give this tool bundled with vCenter was a smart move and a simply way to manage your vSphere logs from a VMware’s product without additional costs (at least for small-medium environments)… Now you need higher licenses or to buy products or services. Some customers may also choose just to buy other products for this task.

Unless the SaaS offerering will be much cheap and powerful that most of the small-medium customers can move easily to this option.

For more information see also: vRealize Log Insight for vCenter Server – End of Availability

Andrea Mauro

Virtualization, Cloud and Storage Architect. Tech Field delegate. VMUG IT Co-Founder and board member. VMware VMTN Moderator and vExpert 2010-24. Dell TechCenter Rockstar 2014-15. Microsoft MVP 2014-16. Veeam Vanguard 2015-23. Nutanix NTC 2014-20. Several certifications including: VCDX-DCV, VCP-DCV/DT/Cloud, VCAP-DCA/DCD/CIA/CID/DTA/DTD, MCSA, MCSE, MCITP, CCA, NPP.