Chapter 6. Registering Virtual Machines to use a Host-based Subscription

Use an auto-attach activation key to register virtual machines so that they inherit a subscription from their hypervisor.

For more information about activation keys, see Managing Activation Keys in the Content Management Guide.

The virtual machine receives a temporary subscription while Satellite Server waits for virt-who to provide information about which hypervisor the virtual machine is running on. After virt-who provides this information, Satellite Server attaches a permanent subscription to the virtual machine.

If the virtual machine migrates to another hypervisor that reports to virt-who and has a host-based subscription attached, the virtual machine inherits a subscription from that hypervisor. If the hypervisor does not have a host-based subscription attached, Satellite Server automatically attaches a host-based subscription to the hypervisor, and the virtual machine inherits that subscription.

If the virtual machine migrates to another hypervisor that does not report to virt-who, or there are insufficient subscriptions available to attach to the hypervisor, the virtual machine cannot inherit a subscription. To avoid this, either ensure that all hypervisors the virtual machine can migrate to have host-based subscriptions attached and report to virt-who, or limit the virtual machine’s migration to specific hypervisors.