Multi-Cluster Manager enables licensing all clusters in
the same multi-cluster system with a single license.
This can be achieved by installing a single license on the primary cluster,
which will then distribute license leases to secondary clusters.
Any excess license capacity from licenses installed on secondary clusters,
will be contributed to a global pool of licenses maintained by the primary
cluster.
Note
With Multi-Cluster License Management, clusters require periodic
communication with the primary cluster in order to remain licensed.
When Multi-Cluster license management is enabled, a cluster can contribute its
excess license capacity to the Multi-Cluster license pool.
The excess license capacity is calculated by subtracting the number of
worker nodes in the cluster from the sum of the node limits of all valid
licenses installed in the cluster.
Clusters that do not have sufficient licenses will use the Multi-Cluster
license pool to meet the licensing requirements.
E.g. There are two clusters, A and B, in a Multi-Cluster system, with 4 and
5 worker nodes, respectively.
A license for 10 nodes is installed in cluster A, and cluster B has no
licenses.
The 10 node license covers the 4 nodes in cluster A, and there is an excess
license capacity of 6 (= 10 - 4) on this cluster.
This excess license capacity can be leased by cluster B to meet its license
requirement for 5 nodes.
Both clusters are licensed with a single license in cluster A.
To enable Multi-Cluster license management, the primary cluster needs to be
setup with an ingress, which the secondary clusters are able to connect to.
If an ingress was not specified when setting up the primary, the ingress may
be set by editing the Cluster resource directly. See
Upgrading for details.
When Multi-Cluster license management is enabled, a Multi-Cluster Lease will
be shown on each cluster's Settings -> Licenses page.
This lease is valid for an hour, and clusters will connect to the primary
cluster to renew the lease prior to expiry.
Example lease of a cluster leasing from the Multi-Cluster license pool:
This cluster has 2 worker nodes, but does not have any valid licenses
installed locally.
The cluster is leasing 2 nodes from the Multi-Cluster license pool, to
license its 2 worker nodes.
Example lease of a cluster contributing to the Multi-Cluster license pool:
This cluster has 2 worker nodes and licenses installed locally for 100
nodes.
The cluster is contributing excess license capacity of 98 (= 100 - 2)
nodes to the Multi-Cluster license pool.
Multi-Cluster Manager's Licensing page
provides the cumulative license capacity of the Multi-Cluster system, and the
cumulative number of worker nodes licensed in the Multi-Cluster system.
License capacity of this Multi-Cluster system is 100 nodes, and the
sum of worker nodes in this Multi-Cluster system is 4.
Multi-Cluster lease has expired. This indicates that the cluster was not able
to connect to the Multi-Cluster license manager in the primary cluster to
renew its lease.
Please verify the cluster is able to connect to the primary.
The Multi-Cluster lease is insufficient to license the nodes in the cluster.
Please contact Kasten through your account contact or at contact@kasten.io.
