Azure vMX100 transition to vMX-M

[AStoddard]

So I'm finding out the hard way that the vMX100 has hit end of life. In this case, the hard way is I just went to enter my new co-terminated license that is up this month.

I'm looking for any documentation on a transition to the new product, if one is needed at all. It would be nice if I didn't have to redeploy, but I'm not too hopeful there.

[Tore · Accepted solution]

Hi,

The vMX100 Meraki license will work with vMX-M (it is basically the same product) so you will be fine.

Don't worry about Dashboard showing vMX100 It will do this until you renew your license.

Cisco Meraki will continue to support the vMX100 SKU through December 22, 2027

For AWS take a look at this:

https://documentation.meraki.com/MX/MX_Installation_Guides/vMX_Setup_Guide_for_Amazon_Web_Services_(...

I recommend upgrading the MX to RC Firmware 15.42

[JasonEmery]

I do not think this is true. We just renewed our Meraki license as well and are having to decom and rebuild every vMX to move from vmx100 to vMX-m, I totally agree it is basically the exact same thing and it is extremely dumb, but in the Meraki dashboard you cannot apply a vmx-m to a vmx100 instance.

Pretty disappointed in the lack of intelligence in the meraki licensing overall.

[Tore]

@JasonEmeryI believe vMX100 license will work with a vMX-M instance, but not the other way around. So if you had a vMX100 license and bought/renewed a new vMX license you would have to install a vMX instance, just as you experienced.

But if you had valid vMX100 license you could continue using this with a vMX instance for several years (might be differences between AWS, Google, Azure etc).

[JasonEmery]

Ok thanks - yeah that could be I guess but also not very useful. Since the VMX100 is the earlier product, most users would have a VMX100 already installed and then with license renewal get VMX-m licenses. Even if you were adding VM's you would have probably bought new licenses. Only in the edge case of moving or reinstalling existing VM's where you can no longer get the VMX100 VM you would be able to install the VMX-m and use an existing VMX100 license. We only had a half dozen to replace and that is pretty disruptive. I can't imagine if I had dozens or more.

[RobinsonRoca]

Hi Tore, no doubt the the vMX-100 license works on vMX-M. The issue is that I was not allowed to renew the vMX-100 license, I had to go with the vMX-M license because I only had a month left on it. If it expired I would have been left out in the cold with a vMX-100 unlicensed.

I was forced to go to vMX-x, and had to replace the box.

Meraki literally EoL a piece of software right from under me. Meraki will continue to support the vMX-100 box, but that's for customers who had 5 and 10 year licensing. Us poor year to year saps are forced to replace the box because the vMX-X licensing doesn't work on the vMX-100 installs we already had.

I sense some Meraki sneakyness....

[RobinsonRoca]

So I just discovered this the hard way too.  Meraki communication here was horrid.  I would have hoped that maybe a dashboard banner or something to warn users of this change.  On top of this I have to build a whole new appliance to make this work.  I am beyond livid.  Lastly, documentation on migrating from VMX100 to VMX-M is non existent.  Support sent me this: https://documentation.meraki.com/Meraki_Internal/Draft_Articles/vMX100_to_vMX_S%2F%2FM%2F%2FL%2F%2FX...

Its not even a public facing document, can't be opened, don't bother clicking...

I'm not a happy user of Azure, and having to go back in there and build yet another appliance because Meraki decided to change their pricing model makes me throw up in my mouth!!!!!  I am absolutely disgusted that I have to literally replace a virtual machine, its freaking software!!!! UPGRADE IT IN SOFTWARE, don't give me more work!!!!!!  LIVID IS NOT EVEN A WORD TO DESCRIBE HOW I FEEL AT THIS VERY MOMENT!

[shauno]

Can Meraki support please make that doc public so we can read it?

Agreed that having to replace the VM isn't ideal!

[RobinsonRoca]

I just re-read this...I was pretty angry.....I'm glad I can think back on this and laugh about it, but it really was upsetting to have to go back and rebuild the box, exactly one year later..

[NicolaG]

I can't agree more on your comment about Meraki communication quality.
Meraki support bounced me back to Azure support!

And their documentation is also confusing:
1) they talk about an upgrade but in fact in Azure you have to redeploy all the resources and network configuration.
2) Quote from vMX100 to vMX S/M/L Transition FAQ - Cisco Meraki

What is the difference between vMX100 and vMX-M?

vMX-M supports AWS C5 and its additional regional support. vMX100 and vMX-M are equivalent in Azure.

If they are equivalent why on earth should we allocate time in redeploying resources..

What a waste of time.

Nicola

[patbeautz]

Our 3 year license expires this fall on our Meraki subscription including the VMX-100.  Frustrating to see all of the pain you all went through.  I was hoping "in time" that Meraki would make this better but....LOL...no!

On top of that, I was at least thinking we could stand up our new VMX-M in parallel.  That way we could know that the installation in Azure went okay and the product was operational even without connecting to all of our location.    After starting this process then later going back to the FAQ document above, we found out this isn't possible.  Step 1 in the migration guide is "Delete the vMX100 instance from the platform where it is hosted".  Nothing like deleting our entire network to 60+ locations and then praying that installation of the new VMX-M goes smoothly!  

[NicolaG]

@patbeautz 

if it can help this is what we did at our side...

1. I created a new network in Meraki Dashboard;
2. Retrieved the Token to deploy a new Meraki v-MX-M
3. Deployed a new v-MX-M in the same vNet of the v-MX-100, in Azure
4. I originally planned to reassign the IP of address of vMX-100 to the new vMX-M, but this operation was not possible because of the restriction o the Meraki Managed App deployed.
5. I then managed to adjust the routing by modifying the Routing Table in our vNet
6. I deleted the vMX-100 resources group in Azure and removed the vMX-100 from our Meraki dashboard.

This action 6. Triggered a downtime of about 30’ during which all our sites could not connect to Internet, even though all VPN were ok. After 30’ (apparently a sync of all routes) everything went back to normal,

Documentation is rather poor and support is lousy.

It's a pity, because I am a great fan of Meraki on a day to day basis, but on those days I have a different opinion 🤷‍♂️

[MartenLundgren]

@NicolaG 

This type of procedure is what I have been hoping to find for a long time. If it works as you describe, you're a life saver! 🙂

Did you deploy the new VMX in the same subnet as the old one?

[Joshvl]

Thankyou Nicola,

This procedure helped immensely and made the changeover almost unnoticeable

[Delboy1000]

Hi 

I'm sorry. Can you elaborate on this part:

1. I then managed to adjust the routing by modifying the Routing Table in our vNet

Many thanks