Massive VMware Bug Shuts Systems Down

mattmarlowe writes "Imagine if Red Hat released a version of Linux, and after it was deployed, customers noticed that any processes with a start date of today would refuse to run? Well, that's what happened to VMware — a company that wants nearly all server applications running in virtual machines within a matter of years." Supposedly a fix will be available ... in 36 hours.

Comments

License Management Software!?

[bigtallmofo]

I don't get license management measures in software that is only going to be used by major corporations.

If someone wants to run virtual machines at home or in a small business, they're likely going to be more than satisfied with VMWare Virtual Server (formerly GSX) and wouldn't even consider the much more complex ESX.

In a major corporation, fear of massive fines and prosecution is enough to stop them from pirating your software. Hardware dongles, software license managers and the like only hurt your paying customers.

Re:License Management Software!?

[morgan_greywolf]

Exactly. Most large companies usually have an entire person, and sometimes multiple people dedicated to nothing but license management.

What a colossal waste of money.

Re:License Management Software!?

[rudeboy1]

Good god do I hear you, brother. I work IT for a legal firm. So many little apps no one else in IT has ever even heard of. And most of them, you're talking to the same guy for support that developed it, and filled the sales order. Out of his basement or garage. Multi-million dollar a year law firm, and it can be brought to its knees if one of our obscure applications goes down and needs support, and the one guy that can support it is out taking his kids to soccer practice.

I'm looking at you North Winds Software. I'll BUY a support contract! If you offered such a thing. If you answered the phone.

I need to go back to bed. :(

Re:License Management Software!?

[supersnail]

Actually its quite a common policy in MegaCorps to reject software that require machine specific or expiring license keys for use in "Mission Critical" applications.

The backup server not having the correct licenses is one of the biggest risks in a Disaster Recovery.

Migration to newer better hardware also becomes a nightmare where license keys are involved -- what do you mean the new server doesnt have centronics port for the dongle?

Its also screws up the companys virtualisation strategy as you have no idea whether a given license scheme will work in inside a VM or not.

Do like the Fortune 500 and just say no to runtime licenses.
       

Re:License Management Software!?

[Gordonjcp]

I'm looking at you North Winds Software. I'll BUY a support contract! If you offered such a thing. If you answered the phone.

There's an Ask Slashdot for you. Is there something out there that can replace this magic bit of software? Is anyone interested in writing an Open-Source equivalent?

Re:License Management Software!?

[fr175]

I really don't think the fines would keep large corporations in line. look at all the stuff you see big business doing that they know is illegal and that they know will land them big fines if they get caught. Software piracy is no different. In fact it's probably easier to use a pirated piece of software than it is to dump illegal chemicals or defraud investors. You can manage the exposer.

Having acted in an advising capacity on a software license management project currently underway at one of the worlds largest financial institutions (400k employees), I disagree. Purchased software is an asset on the books and needs to be tracked. Pirated software is a risk and even the largest companies will occasionally be brought to court for "over implementation."

The main hurdle with Software Asset Management (SAM) is the complexity of the licenses involved, and the multitude of way in which it can be obtained. Some examples: is the license perpetual or subscription based; is it a "named user" license or is it assigned to the org; does it include maintenance (upgrade rights); if it includes maintenance is the maint co-termed with the other licenses that the org owns; if it includes maintenance, what was the most current version at the time the maintenance expired; does the current version allow for "downgrades" and how many version prior can be downgraded; what previous versions qualify for an upgrade license and which would need a full new version; can the licenses be transferred within the org; can they be transferred globally; does the license allow for home use; does the license allow for portable device use; just to name a few.

If large corporations were willing pirates, you would not see them making their annual multi-million dollar payments to Microsoft for their Enterprise Agreements. You wouldn't see them spending millions on risk management/mitigation consultants or conducting their own software audits. There are people out there getting paid piles of cash to implement a working SAM system.

It's unavoidable that a large corporation will be under-licensed. However, they spend big bucks to mitigate the risk that this opens them up to.

Re:License Management Software!?

[MBGMorden]

and as far as everyone else in the business is concerned, any failings in the product is the IT department's problem not theirs

This is true, and particularly frustrating. We recently have converted from an (old, but very functional and stable) 20+ year old COBOL program to a new Windows application in our organization. This is a Visual Basic application that if I'm being kind I'd say is a kludge held together by the electronic equivalent of duct tape and glue. The thing is junk and crashes ALL THE TIME. IT didn't pick this app though - we just get stuck supporting it. However, no amount of explanation can convince these people that the program crashing is not IT's fault. We can reinstall it as many times as they ask for it. We can update everything on their computer. We can buy them a new computer. But the basic fact is the program you bought is crap and full of bugs and nothing IT does is going to make it stop crashing and screwing up data.

Sadly, this is a hard fact to make users accept.

Re:License Management Software!?

[IntlHarvester]

The problem is that every industry has a few of these super-specialized vertical apps that come from one-guy software companies. Most of them are fairly simplistic Access/FoxPro type things, the hard part was implementing all of the business rules.

I've worked with a few companies that recreated their software package in-house (because they needed specific customization the author wouldn't provide), and it's never as cheap or easy as it might seem superficially.

what do you expect?

[larry bagina]

Who knows what else is lurking in their code base? Certainly not me or you -- we can't see it. We're at their mercy to find and fix problems.

I stick to virtualbox. I'm not going to pretend I've audited the source code, but if I need to, I can.

Say YES to freedom.

Yes, it is a bug

[evilpenguin]

But the real bug is license enforcement in the first place. Why would you run the risk of making your business depend on the whims of someone else's IP policies and enforcement?

Now, I'm somewhat realistic. I know that there isn't (yet) an adequate replacement for every piece of closed proprietary software out there. But for my own business (admittedly small) I am building with nothing but GPL/BSD/Apache license code. And it is working. I don't trust closed code. Of course my software will have bugs, some of them serious. But I won't have stuff shutting down because of "license" issues. Why do people go quietly into enforced licenses? Why do people accept remote kill switches on their servers? Why doesn't this strike everyone as a crazy thing to do?

"License management code..."

[John Hasler]

...Says it all, I think. Perhaps you should reconsider the ramifications of making your business critically dependent on software that contains code specifically design to make it stop working.

Consider this: to a proprietary vendor the only safe failure mode for "license management code" is one where everything stops.