I read that I could install up to 3 instances on one license, but when I installed a second instance I saw a ‘nodes are draining tasks’ banner at top of admin page. Also, on license page there appeared a license limit attribute for Nodes having 0/1.
Hi Suzanne,
Thanks for getting in touch!
In this case, instance and node are not equivalent. An instance of Octopus include both an install of Octopus Server and it’s database (which we would term a single node install). Your license allows for three such installs.
On some licenses (all current licenses and legacy HA licenses) allow for multiple Octopus Server installs to be connected to the same database. These are multi-node or High Availability installs, allowing tasks and user interation to be spread across multiple servers (typically behind a load balancer).
What I suspect in this case is that the new instance you have setup is currently in maintenance mode, which would triger the nodes are draining tasks message. Can you have a look and confirm if this is the case?
Thanks Suzanne, I look forward to hearing from you.
Regards,
Alex
Hi Alex,
Thank you for reaching out to me. I uninstalled the instance and restarted the service which returned us to normal. What is the proper way to install a new
instance? What I did was: install on same server, to a new database.
Regards,
Suzanne Beauchamp | IT Development Manager | George’s Inc. | PO Drawer G | Springdale AR 72765-2030
Office: 479.927.7174 | Help Desk: 479.927.7999 | Mobile: 281.224.2367 |
Suzanne.Beauchamp@georgesinc.com
Hi Suzanne,
Sorry for the delay in getting back to you, I managed to miss your reply 
To add a new instance on the same server as a current install should be as simple as opening Octopus Manager, selecting the instance name in the top right hand corner (Default), then choosing “New Instance”. That will then guide you through adding the new instance (make sure you choose a different port for the Web UI and for Tentacle communications).
I tested that method on a test install and it appeared to work correctly, if this doesn’t work for you please let me know and we can investigate further.
Regards,
Alex
Thank you very much, Alex. I was able to install another instance of Octopus.
Regards,
Suzanne Beauchamp | IT Development Manager | George’s Inc. | PO Drawer G | Springdale AR 72765-2030
Office: 479.927.7174 | Help Desk: 479.927.7999 | Mobile: 281.224.2367 |
Suzanne.Beauchamp@georgesinc.com
Hi Suzanne,
That’s great news, happy to hear that everything is working correctly 
Please let me know if there is anything else we can assist with.
Regards,
Alex