We are happy to announce that Usage Meter v4.6 is now Generally Available as of Oct 4, 2022. There are a bunch of useful feature updates and new products that you will be able to meter with this version. If you are wondering why you should move to UM 4.6, then read this blog to understand what the new updates are and how they can help you.
vCloud Usage Meter is a virtual appliance that is installed on a vCenter Server instance. vCloud Usage Meter collects product consumption data, and generates reports for products that are part of the VMware Cloud Provider Program.
New Collectors added:
Tanzu Kubernetes Grid Multi-cloud
- Previously we supported Tanzu Kubernetes Grid for vSphere (TKGs) usage collection through vCenter Server and now we are adding the usage collection support to Tanzu Kubernetes Grid Multi-Cloud (TKGm).
- The Tanzu Kubernetes Grid Multi-cloud metering is introduced by providing access to each Management cluster, where the infrastructure is collected by using the Cluster API extensions for TKGm.
- Note with Usage Meter 4.6:
- TKGm deployed in vSphere v6.7 and above will be supported. Usage metering is based on the VMs part of the TKGm infrastructure, including management and workload roles.
- Only Basic and Standard editions will be reported. In the case where the Advanced edition is selected by the user, Standard will be reported.
- Usage collection for TKGm v1.3.0 and above is supported.
vRealize Suite Life Cycle Manager
- With this release, we are now adding the capability for the usage collection from vRealize Suite Life Cycle Manager (VRSLCM).
- VRSLCM Collector enables the auto-discovery of vRealize Suite products.
- Usage collection for VRSLCM v8.4.1 and above is supported.
vRealize Automation v8.x
- Usage Meter 4.6 collects all VM workloads managed by vRA v8.x, VMC on AWS, Google Cloud VMware Engine and Azure VMware Solution unlike the vRA v7.x collector, it collects vRAM consumption for all VMs running in a vCenter Server (cloud type is vSphere).
- VMs running in the vSphere are managed whereas VMs that are running in GCP, Azure and AWS are unmanaged.
- Usage Meter 4.6:
- Automatically discovers vRA v8.x
- Automatically registers vRA v8.x instance(s) managed by the VRSLCM.
- Automatically updates certificates from VRSLCM.
- Usage collection for vRA v8.4.1 and above is supported.
Note: We are adding two separator collectors here one for VRSLCM and one for vRA v8.x because the license information is stored in the vRealize Suite Life Cycle Manager and not in the appliance anymore.
Existing Collectors Enhancements:
VMware Cloud Director Availability:
- Supports newly introduced by VCDA use-case for protections and migrations on dedicated VMware vSphere Cloud.
- Now also supports the metering of vCenter to vCenter Cloud Migrations and Protections.
- VMware Cloud Director Availability v4.4 and above is supported.
VMware vCenter Server / vSphere
- We collect more data such as host server model, manufacturer, CPU model and manufacturer from vCenter. This data is needed to improve the product offering.
Other Enhancements with Usage Meter v4.6:
- Offline Mode Enhancements. For more details read this Usage Meter v4.6 Offline Mode Reporting blog.
- The User Interface has been enhanced to showcase the products in a more sorted manner.
- Security updates.
Upgrade Path to Usage Meter v4.6
Verify the upgrade path to Usage Meter 4.6 from here.
Support policy changes
For those still running on an older version of Usage Meter, please note the following Support policy changes:
- Usage Meter v4.5 will have End of General Support by 16th Dec 2022 and will have End of Technical Guidance by 16th Dec 2023.
- Usage Meter v4.4 has already reached End of General Support and will have End of Technical Guidance by 4th May 2023.
- Usage Meter v4.3 will have End of Technical Guidance by 4th Nov 2022.
- Usage Meter v4.2 and v4.1 are no longer supported for Report Generation and/or Auto-Reporting as of December 5, 2021
- Usage Meter v3.6.1 is no longer supported for Auto-Reporting as of November 5, 2021.
- Note: When a version of the Usage Meter reaches the End of Technical Guidance, VUI will no longer process reports for that version of the Usage Meter.
Other Useful Resources
To find out more about Usage Meter 4.6, please use the following resources Release Notes and Product Documentation
Alternatively have a look at the cloud solutions Web Page and the What’s New Demo.
Remember, to get the latest updates, check this blog regularly, you also can find us on Slack, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn as well as many demo videos and enablement on YouTube, especially our Feature Fridays series.
You can download Usage Meter 4.6 from here.
Click the below links to access:
- Product Detection Guide (Requires Partner Connect Login)
- Data Privacy Guide (Requires Partner Connect Login)
Have more questions?
Contact us at [email protected] or leave a reply.
