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Not enough licenses installed in vSphere/Virtual Infrastructure (1005265)

Purpose

This article guides you through troubleshooting missing or incorrectly installed licenses on the License Server. The article provides steps to eliminate common causes leading to an insufficient licenses error.

Resolution

The below listed steps will provide instructions or links to documents to eliminate possible causes and take corrective action as necessary. The steps are ordered in the most appropriate sequence to isolate the issue and identify the proper resolution. Do not skip any steps.

Note: The licensing structure as of vSphere 4.x has changed. For more information on the changes, see vSphere pricing, licensing, and compatibility FAQs (1033021).

Verify that the feature in question is part of the ESX/ESXi edition purchased.

For vSphere 5.x, see Licensing ESXi 5.x and vCenter Server 5.x (2014295).
For vSphere 4.x , see Licensing ESX 4.x, ESXi 4.x, and vCenter Server 4.x (1010839).
For VI 3.x, see VMware Products in VI3.5 Foundation, Standard and Enterprise Editions (1003296).

Verify that the installed licenses on the vSphere/VMware Infrastructure Client are correct and that all available licenses are not in use already.

For vSphere 4.x and above, see Verifying that a feature is licensed in vSphere (1003692).
For VI 3.x, see Viewing the number of CPU Licenses using the VI Client (1005262).

Verify that the type and count of licenses are activated according to the current need.

For vSphere 4.x and above, see Using a product feature fails with the error: Feature is not licensed with this edition (1034773).
For VI 3.x, see ESX 3.x Server and vCenter 2.x Editions (1005153).

Ensure that the correct the license file is uploaded with correct procedure. For more information, see Installing ESX Server Licenses (1001383).

Note: This is only valid for VI 3.x.
If multiple license files are manually combined, verify that the syntax is correct. For more information, see How to Combine FLEXlm License Files (8996281).

Note: If you make a correction to the license file, repeat step 5. This is only valid for VI 3.x.
Ensure that vCenter Server/VirtualCenter is correctly configured. For more information, see:

Adding an ESXi host to vCenter Server fails with the error: Host cannot be added to the vCenter as there are not enough Virtual Center Agent Licenses (1018275) for vSphere 4.x and above
Cannot Add a Host to VirtualCenter (1003623) for Virtual Infrastructure 3.x

If your problem still exists after trying the steps in this article, file a support request with VMware Support and note this KB Article ID in the problem description. For more information, see Filing a Support Request in My VMware (2006985).

Update History

06/26/2012 - Updated for 5.x

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