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Downgrading a vSphere 4.x license to a ESX 3.5 license (1010533)

Purpose

This article provides information about downgrading vSphere licenses to an older version such as VMware Infrastructure 3.x and answers the following questions:

How do I downgrade vSphere 4.x?
Can I purchase a VMware Infrastructure 3 license if I have already purchased a vSphere 4.x license?
How do I purchase a VMware Infrastructure 3 license?

Resolution

After the release of vSphere 4.x, you can no longer purchase older versions. You must downgrade the license.

To downgrade your license, see Downgrading a license key to VI3 in Downgrading license keys in My VMware (2006975).

Notes:

The downgrade option is not available with ESXi 4 Single Server, vSphere 4 Essentials, and vSphere 4 Essentials (Plus).
You can only downgrade new orders, and you must downgrade the whole order.
License keys are not decreased or affected by a downgrade.
The downgrade process cannot be reversed.
If a license has been upgraded from VI3 to vSphere 4, you do not need to downgrade.
If you have made a new order and you do not have the option to downgrade the licenses, file a Support Request. For more information, see Filing a Support Request in My VMware (2006985).

Additional Information

vMotion functionality is only available for licenses downgraded from vSphere Enterprise and vSphere Enterprise Plus.

Request a Product Feature

To request a new product feature or to provide feedback on a VMware product, please visit the Request a Product Feature page.

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