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Licensing ESX 4.0, ESXi 4.0, and vCenter 4.0

Symptoms

  • Unable to remove ESX 4.0/ESXi 4.0 from Evaluation Mode
  • Unable to upload the license file for vSphere
  • Unable to connect vSphere 4 to vCenter Server
  • Unable to activate vSphere

Purpose

This article provides steps to add, assign, and remove the licenses of  ESX 4.0, ESXi 4.0, and vCenter 4.0.

Resolution

 
You can add any number of licenses to the vSphere 4.0 inventory. When assigning licenses in 4.0 products, you can create a relationship between an asset and a license key. Each asset can be licensed by one and only one license key or it can be unlicensed and in Evaluation Mode.
 
Note: To perform these steps, your vSphere Client must be connected to the vCenter Server.
 
To add licenses:
  1. Log in to the vSphere Client.
  2. Click Home. Under the Administration section, click the Licensing icon.
  3. Click Manage vSphere Licenses.
  4. Enter the License Key in the Enter new vSphere license keys field (one per line).
  5. Include labels for new license keys as necessary.
  6. Click Add License Keys.

    After clicking Add License Keys, you can review the license keys you added, capacity counts, expiration dates, and labels associated with the license keys.
  7. Click Next to assign the license keys.
To assign the license keys to vCenter or the ESX host:
  1. Log into the vSphere Client.
  2. Click Home. Under the Administration section click the Licensing icon.
  3. Choose Evaluation Mode and expand the list. Find the product you want to license .
  4. Right-click on the product and choose Change License Key.
  5. Assign a key from list was entered previously on Manage License window.
  6. Click OK.
  7. Verify the product is licensed now.

    Note:     Hovering the cursor over a license key in the Manage vSphere Licenses wizard displays a tool tip with all of the asset's information.
To remove license keys:
  1. Log in to the vSphere Client.
  2. Click Home. Under the Administration section click the Licensing icon.
  3. Click Manage vSphere Licenses.
  4. Click Next.
  5. Click Next.
  6. Choose the license key you want to remove.
  7. Click Next to proceed to the confirm changes page.

    You can review your changes on the Confirm Changes page before applying them to your inventory.

  8. Click Finish to apply all of the changes.
To license your product with a different license key:
  1. Click Home. Under the Administration section click the Licensing icon.
  2. Expand the product you want to change the license for.
  3. Right-click on the product and choose Change License Key.
  4. Choose the license you want to use to license the product.

    Note:     From this dialogue you can place a product to Evaluation Mode during the first 60 days.
To license a standalone ESX or ESXi 4.x:
  1. Log in to the ESX/ESXi host using vSphere Client.
  2. Click the Configuration Tab.
  3. Click Licensed Features under Software.
  4. Click Edit under Licensed Features.
  5. Select Assign a new license key to this host.
  6. Press Enter and enter the License Key.
  7. Click OK.

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Actions
  • KB Article: 1010839
  • Updated: Nov 13, 2009
  • Products:
    VMware ESX
    VMware vCenter Server
  • Product Versions:
    VMware ESX 4.0.x
    VMware ESXi 4.0.x Embedded
    VMware ESXi 4.0.x Installable
    VMware vCenter Server 4.0.x