How nodes are counted
Your node count is the number of nodes in your inventory. A node is a single network-connected device such as a server, desktop, or laptop. Virtual machines that have unique IP addresses are counted separately from the physical machines where they reside.
noop mode, and purged nodes that had prior activity within
the relevant calendar month.Nodes included in the node count
- Nodes with a report in PuppetDB during the calendar month.
- Nodes that have executed a Puppet run, task, or plan in the orchestrator, even if the nodes do not have a report during the calendar month.
Nodes not included in the node count
- Infrastructure nodes including your primary server, and any compilers, database servers, and replicas in your installation.
- Nodes that are tracked in the inventory service but are not used with Puppet runs, tasks, or plans.
- Nodes that have been purged and have no reports or activity within the calendar month.
Using the bursting quota
To support occasional spikes in node usage, you have a bursting quota. This means that on up to 4 days each calendar month you can exceed your licensed node count up to your bursting limit, which is double the number of your licensed nodes. If you exceed the bursting quota by using additional nodes on more than 4 days in a calendar month, or you exceed the bursting limit at any time, you must purchase more nodes for your license.
When nodes are counted
PE tracks daily node counts from 12:00 midnight UTC to 12:00 midnight UTC. Therefore, if you exceeded your licensed node count at 23:00 UTC and were still in excess of your licensed node count at 1:00 UTC, you would have used two of the four days of your monthly bursting quota.
Each calendar month begins at 12.00 midnight on the first day of the month. For example, node usage for September includes activity from 12:00 midnight UTC on 01 September until 12:00 midnight UTC on 01 October. At 12:00 midnight UTC on the first day of a new month, the bursting quota resets to four days. For example, if you exceeded your licensed node count at 22:00 UTC on 30 September, and remained in excess of your licensed node count until 1:00 UTC on 01 October, you would have used one of the four days allowed in your September bursting quota and one of the four days allowed in your October bursting quota.
Viewing your node count
To view your daily node count in the PE console, go to the License page and scroll to the Monthly usage section. The License page also contains information about your subscription expiration date, and shows warnings when there are license violations and when the license is approaching or past expiration.
To query daily node usage information on the command line, use the orchestrator API Usage endpoints.
Removing nodes
If you have unused nodes cluttering your inventory, and you are concerned about reaching your bursting limit, you can Remove agent nodes and Remove devices and agentless nodes from the inventory.