Upgrade and Downgrade VMware License Keys

Products

• Support Portal
• Licensing - Manual Provisioning
• VMware

Issue/Introduction

This article will show the steps on how to Upgrade or Downgrade your VMware License keys on the Broadcom support portal.

Important notes:

• Only license keys for products that have officially released versions can be Upgraded via the portal.
• Only supported versions of the product are eligible for "Downgrading".  If the older version is already in an "End of Life" status, it will not be eligible for a downgrade. 
• Once contract is "expired" customers cannot upgrade/ downgrade any license.
• NFR (Not for Resale) licenses shall only be used for Partner test, demo, and development purposes, as specifically authorized by your partner agreement. Partners are not permitted to perform license operations (combine/divide/upgrade/downgrade) on NFRs with non-NFR licenses obtained from VMware. Use of NFRs in any production and end user environment is strictly prohibited.

 

Resolution

Steps to Upgrade or Downgrade the license keys

• Navigate to the "My Entitlements" tab in the Broadcom Support Portal.

• Select the product that you are attempting to upgrade / downgrade the version for and select the "Entitlement Details" button. 

• From the right hand menu, select the "Upgrade" or "Downgrade" option.

• Once selected, choose the product that you want to upgrade / downgrade to from the drop down list and the Quantity of the keys you want to upgrade / downgrade.
• You can only upgrade / downgrade the number of licenses that are shown by the "remaining" field. 
• Select "Continue", this will complete the upgrade / downgrade.

When downgrading vSphere licenses, you can only downgrade one version level at a time. Follow these steps:

1. Check your current license version in the entitlement portal.
2. You can only downgrade to the immediately preceding version. For example:
   • A license for vSphere 8.0U2b, can only be immediately downgraded to 8.0.0a.
   • If your license is for 8.0.0a, you can only downgrade to 7.0.
3. To downgrade multiple levels, repeat the process for each step:
   • Downgrade from 8.0U2b to 8.0.0a
   • Exit the downgrade process
   • Re-enter the downgrade process
   • Downgrade from 8.0.0a to 7.0
4. After each downgrade, verify the new license version before attempting another downgrade.
5. Always complete the entire downgrade process, including accepting any terms and conditions, before starting a new downgrade.

Additional Information

If you experience issues when Upgrade or Downgrade the license keys, follow the below troubleshooting steps

• If you are associated with multiple Site IDs, ensure that you are working within the correct Site ID. You can switch between Site ID's in the dropdown at the top of the License Keys page
• Ensure that the key is associated with an active support contract. 
• Ensure that you have Upgrade & Downgrade License Keys permissions.  
• Ensure that the total number you are upgrading/downgrading is equal to or less than the number of total licenses available.