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Overview

There are scenarios in which users automatically provision and de-provision virtual machines (i.e. VMs) from an image as part of their build process. In these cases, the IncrediBuild core package or solutions that are consumed by such a VM are not automatically released to the license pool once the VM is destroyed, resulting in IncrediBuild allocating core packages and solutions to VM instances that will no longer be used.

The "Single-use VM Image" feature, addresses exactly this scenario by offering a mechanism that will automatically de-allocate the license core package and solutions assigned to such a VM once the VM is destroyed.

In order to achieve this behavior, the image from which these VMs are to be provisioned, needs to be pre-installed with an IncrediBuild Agent using a special IncrediBuild install option. Once such an image is installed using this special install option (named "Single-use VM Image"), any VM that will be provisioned based on this image will automatically be assigned by the Coordinator with an appropriate core package (according to the amount of logical cores this VM reports to the Coordinator) and the IncrediBuild solutions available in the IncrediBuild license that is loaded in the Coordinator; Upon this VM becoming offline with the Coordinator, the core package and solutions consumed by this VM will be automatically de-allocated and return to the license pool. 

It's important to note that once a VM provisioned from such an image is destroyed (becomes offline to the Coordinator), this specific VM instance will no longer be permitted to connect to the IncrediBuild infrastructure, new VM instances provisioned from the image will of course have no problem connecting to the IncrediBuild infrastructure and consume core packages and solutions. It is possible to change the default timeout after which a single-use VM that is offline to the Coordinator will be considered as de-provisioned (this is relevant if your network has disconnections that may cause single-use VMs to drop the connection with the Coordinator and you want to make sure the Coordinator won't free their allocated core packages and solutions by mistake).

It is possible to instruct to Coordinator to only automatically allocate core packages to single-use VMs and not solutions under the Coordinator Settings

* The "Single-use Virtual Machine Image" feature is only available as part of IncrediBuild Enterprise Edition.

Sequence

  1. Install an IncrediBuild Agent using the new IncrediBuild install option named "Create a single-use Virtual Machine Image" on the image from which you are to automatically provision and de-provision virtual machine instances.

    When installing IncrediBuild on the image from which VMs are to be provisioned, check the "Custom" install option→ "Create a single-use Virtual Machine Image".

  2. Finish the IncrediBuild install process (in the appropriate setup page, make sure to chose the Coordinator on which your IncrediBuild license is loaded).
  3. Save your image.
  4. Verify your Single-use VMs Coordinator settings
    1. Configure the timeout after which a single-use VM that is offline to the Coordinator will be considered as de-provisioned. The default timeout is 30 seconds. 
    2. Choose whether the Coordinator will automatically allocate available solutions to single-use VMs. The default behavior of the Coordinator is to automatically allocate available solutions to single-use VMs.
  5. Provision a new virtual machine instance using this image → this will result with the Coordinator automatically assigning the appropriate core packages and any available solution to this virtual machine.
  6. Upon destroying this virtual machine, the core package and IncrediBuild solutions will automatically be released to the IncrediBuild license pool.
  7. This specific (destroyed) VM instance, will no longer be able to register with the IncrediBuild infrastructure, in order to connect a new virtual machine based on the above image to the IncrediBuild infrastructure, simply provision a new virtual machine from the image.

Important Notes and Limitations

  • This feature is only available for IncrediBuild Enterprise Edition.
  • The number of concurrent "single-use" VMs that can be connected to the Coordinator is only limited by the number of IncrediBuild Agents avaialble in your IncrediBuild license.
  • In the current phase of this feature, if a VM is not allocated with a core package or a solution due to insuffecient core packages or solutions in your IncrediBuild license, there won't be a specific indication for that once the VM is provisioned and connects to the Coordinator. The Agent will simply be either un-subscribed or won't be assigned with the core packages or solutions that are not available.
  • A single-use VM will be considered destroyed once it's offline to the Coordinator for a longer duration than the timeout that was defined.


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