Question & Answer
Question
Company is considering creating virtual machines (VM)s/(VDI)s for developers to use IBM Rational Application (RAD) with WebSphere Application Server (WAS) and RAD with WebSphere Portal from within that environment. Is this a good idea? What are the advantages (if any), do you need a different license and do you need to do anything differently. Is it supported by RAD.
Cause
Questions for deploying RAD on VMs
Answer
It's not a question of good or bad. RAD is supported and will run on VMs for supported platforms.
For example: RAD 8.0.4 System Requirements (Hosted environments) , states as much and refers to: Support for virtualization technologies .
RAD does not provide support for problems with the VM, just like it does not provide direct support for problems with a client's desktop/Operating System. RAD versions System Requirements for RAD v8.5plus are listed in the Software Product Compatibility Reports.
The advantages of a dedicated machine versus VM(s)/VDI(s), is a general business/technical question for any company/organization to address. IBM RAD support cannot answer or advise on this. It is not specific to RAD and is something IT/managers/developers need to investigate, discuss and decide as to what is best for their environment and development needs..
In general, if a VM reasonably matches what is provided by your dedicated desktop/laptop in terms of O/S, hardware (RAM+HD), network access and permissions for all applications that you run, you should be fine. They key being, have your IT/VM specialists set it up adequately and comparably to a similar physical machine with the same O/S. VDI(s) like VMWare are very specialized and require qualified expertise to configure. It is not trivial, especially if it is configured to be effectively like any other machine on your network. Your IT or relevant persons will need to know how to install/manage and configure VMs.
For example, a dedicated i86 Windows 7 Professional VM based on VMWare with adequate RAM and HD space comparable to a laptop/desktop runs fine with RAD, WAS and Portal. You can access it with Remote Desktop from my Windows.
In terms of licensing a VM is just like another machine, you will need separate "permanent" licenses (Activation kits) for each dedicated machine with the understanding it is associated with one user, otherwise have floating licenses. It should be just like another physical machine (but virtual).
You should be able to install and run RAD on a VM/VDI just like a physical machine. If there is a problem, recreate it on physical machine. RAD does not provide support for diagnosing VMWare issues. This is clarified in:
Support for virtualization technologies (RAD)
"...
If the problem can not be reproduced on the native file system, then IBM Rational will not fix or support those problems as it is VMware specific.
Note: A case by case determination will be made in deciding which defect will be filed and fixed by IBM Rational support.
.."
, and
Software support for IBM SWG products in a VMware environment ( IBM Wide)
As with other environments, if IBM Support cannot recreate the issue in our Lab, we may ask the client to recreate the problem in a non-VMware® environment . If the client has purchased an IBM ServicePac Agreement® (for VMware®), the IBM VMware® support team can assist in reproducing the problem in accordance with the terms of that agreement.
..."
RAD licenses and VMWare or Citrix:
RAD permanent licenses (activation kits), are per installations and not hardware. So each VM is like a separate machine. In the case of a multiple user (shared server) environment like Citrix server with one RAD installed, you would need some N floating licenses/keys configured on a Rational License Key Server (RLKS) to accommodate some M users that may not all be using RAD at the same time
Note: as of RAD 9.1.1+ , no Hosted environments are explicitly listed as supported.
See the System Requirements for all in service RAD releases by viewing the Software Product Compatibility Reports and clicking the Supported Software tab.
For example: RAD 8.0.4 System Requirements (Hosted environments) , states as much and refers to: Support for virtualization technologies .
RAD does not provide support for problems with the VM, just like it does not provide direct support for problems with a client's desktop/Operating System. RAD versions System Requirements for RAD v8.5plus are listed in the Software Product Compatibility Reports.
The advantages of a dedicated machine versus VM(s)/VDI(s), is a general business/technical question for any company/organization to address. IBM RAD support cannot answer or advise on this. It is not specific to RAD and is something IT/managers/developers need to investigate, discuss and decide as to what is best for their environment and development needs..
In general, if a VM reasonably matches what is provided by your dedicated desktop/laptop in terms of O/S, hardware (RAM+HD), network access and permissions for all applications that you run, you should be fine. They key being, have your IT/VM specialists set it up adequately and comparably to a similar physical machine with the same O/S. VDI(s) like VMWare are very specialized and require qualified expertise to configure. It is not trivial, especially if it is configured to be effectively like any other machine on your network. Your IT or relevant persons will need to know how to install/manage and configure VMs.
For example, a dedicated i86 Windows 7 Professional VM based on VMWare with adequate RAM and HD space comparable to a laptop/desktop runs fine with RAD, WAS and Portal. You can access it with Remote Desktop from my Windows.
In terms of licensing a VM is just like another machine, you will need separate "permanent" licenses (Activation kits) for each dedicated machine with the understanding it is associated with one user, otherwise have floating licenses. It should be just like another physical machine (but virtual).
You should be able to install and run RAD on a VM/VDI just like a physical machine. If there is a problem, recreate it on physical machine. RAD does not provide support for diagnosing VMWare issues. This is clarified in:
Support for virtualization technologies (RAD)
"...
If the problem can not be reproduced on the native file system, then IBM Rational will not fix or support those problems as it is VMware specific.
Note: A case by case determination will be made in deciding which defect will be filed and fixed by IBM Rational support.
.."
, and
Software support for IBM SWG products in a VMware environment ( IBM Wide)
"...
As with other environments, if IBM Support cannot recreate the issue in our Lab, we may ask the client to recreate the problem in a non-VMware® environment . If the client has purchased an IBM ServicePac Agreement® (for VMware®), the IBM VMware® support team can assist in reproducing the problem in accordance with the terms of that agreement.
..."
RAD licenses and VMWare or Citrix:
RAD permanent licenses (activation kits), are per installations and not hardware. So each VM is like a separate machine. In the case of a multiple user (shared server) environment like Citrix server with one RAD installed, you would need some N floating licenses/keys configured on a Rational License Key Server (RLKS) to accommodate some M users that may not all be using RAD at the same time
Note: as of RAD 9.1.1+ , no Hosted environments are explicitly listed as supported.
See the System Requirements for all in service RAD releases by viewing the Software Product Compatibility Reports and clicking the Supported Software tab.
Related Information
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Document Information
Modified date:
14 July 2020
UID
swg21696953