Knowledge Base

Note: Beginning with VirtualCenter 2.0.1 Patch 2, VMware License Server (typically installed during VirtualCenter Server installation) no longer requires server-based licenses to be concatenated into a single file. Simply copy server-based licenses to the license directory. See KB 7252734, “ License Server Directory Support for Simplified License Management” for more information.

Determining the Type of License Key You Have

• Host-based licenses
• Server-based licenses

You can determine the license type by looking at the licenseType= string in your license file.

For example, the following key is a host-based license key:

INCREMENT PROD_ESX_FULL VMWARELM 2005.05 permanent uncounted \
___VENDOR_STRING=licenseType=Host;capacityType=cpuPackage;gp=14;exclude=BACKUP;count=2 \
___HOSTID=ANY ISSUED=04-Jul-2006 NOTICE=FulfillmentId=1234 \
___SIGN="0D24 4FC5 1A99 0000 3642 6038 ED5A AA21 2345 0B92 2D84 \
___0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 \
___EAC1 0013 83D8 D9BE E494 7777 CED2"

The following key is a server-based license key:

Combining Server-Based Licenses

1. Make a backup copy of your original license file.
   
2. Make sure both your original and new license files are server-based licenses.
   
3. From your new file, copy and paste all lines starting with INCREMENT to your existing license file.
   
4. Make sure your license file has only one header, as shown in the following example:
   
   SERVER this_host ANY 27000
   VENDOR VMWARELM port=27010
   USE_SERVER

In the example below, lines starting with # are comments

Example:

Combining Host-Based Licenses

Important: The license files by default are in UNIX format, without DOS/Windows newlines at the end. Do not edit license files using Notepad. Use Wordpad or a third-party text editor that supports UNIX newlines.

1. Make a backup copy of your original license file.
   
   
2. Make sure both your original and new license files are host-based licenses.
   
   
3. From your new license file, copy and paste all lines starting with INCREMENT to your existing license file.

In the example below, lines starting with # are comments

Example:

For more information about editing the license file, see http://pubs.vmware.com/vi3/install/wwhelp/wwhimpl/common/html/wwhelp.htm?context=install&file=install_licensing.5.24.html#955301.

For full details about configuring new license keys for VI3, see http://pubs.vmware.com/vi3/install/install_licensing.5.1.html#955301.