VMware periodically launches new SKUs and license editions. Product versions that exist prior to the SKU launch dates may not recognize the new license keys.
VMware NSX customers who have purchased new licenses (NSX-T Professional, NSX-T Advanced, NSX-T Enterprise Plus, NSX-T Robo) after October 1, 2021 either as part of their expansion or renewal cycle are provided licenses from a new NSX-T dormant license file (DLF). This new license key is accepted only in a limited number of NSX versions (table below). If the key is not accepted by NSX Manager, an error "invalid license key" is shown.
TKGI customers who have bought new Tanzu licenses which gave them access to NSX-T are also provided with license keys from NSX-T DLF. If the customer is not running the below mentioned versions of NSX, then they will run into the licensing error "invalid license key."
License Name | Release | Compatible Editions |
NSX DC Standard | NSX 2.X | NSX 2.X, NSX 3.X |
NSX-T Professional | NSX 3.1.3.1 | NSX 3.0.3.1, NSX 3.1.3.1, NSX 3.1.3.3, NSX 3.1.3.5, NSX 3.2.X |
NSX-T Distributed Threat Prevention (Add-On) | NSX 3.0 | NSX 3.X |
NSX-T Advanced Threat Prevention (Add-On) | NSX 3.1.1 | NSX 3.1.X, 3.2.X |
NSX-T Firewall | NSX 3.1 | NSX 3.1.X, NSX 3.2.X |
NSX-T Firewall w/ATP | NSX 3.1 | NSX 3.1.X, NSX 3.2.X |
NSX-T Firewall for Baremetal | NSX 3.1 | NSX 3.1.X, NSX 3.2.X |
NSX Data Center SP Base | NSX 3.1.1 | NSX 3.1.X, NSX 3.2.X |
NSX Data Center SP Professional | NSX 3.1.1 | NSX 3.1.X, NSX 3.2.X |
NSX Data Center SP Advanced | NSX 3.1.1 | NSX 3.1.X, NSX 3.2.X |
NSX Data Center SP Enterprise Plus | NSX 3.1.1 | NSX 3.1.X, NSX 3.2.X |
NSX Distributed Firewall | NSX 3.2 | NSX 3.2 |
NSX Distributed Firewall with Threat Prevention | NSX 3.2 | NSX 3.2 |
NSX Distributed Firewall with Advanced Threat Prevention | NSX 3.2 | NSX 3.2 |
NSX Gateway Firewall | NSX 3.2 | NSX 3.2 |
NSX Gateway Firewall with Threat Prevention | NSX 3.2 | NSX 3.2 |
NSX Advanced Threat Prevention Add on for NSX Distributed Firewall, NSX Advanced, NSX Enterprise Plus | NSX 3.2 | NSX 3.2 |
NSX Federation Add-On | NSX 3.2 | NSX 3.2 |
NSX-T Advanced Add-On | NSX 3.2 | NSX 3.2 |
NSX-T Enterprise Plus Add-On | NSX 3.2 | NSX 3.2 |
Antrea | NSX 3.2 | NSX 3.2 |
NSX Advanced with Threat Prevention | NSX 4.0.1.1 | NSX 4.0.1.1 and above |
NSX Advanced with Advanced Threat Prevention | NSX 4.0.1.1 | NSX 4.0.1.1 and above |
NSX Enterprise Plus with Threat Prevention | NSX 4.0.1.1 | NSX 4.0.1.1 and above |
NSX Enterprise Plus with Advanced Threat Prevention | NSX 4.0.1.1 | NSX 4.0.1.1 and above |
The customer can resolve the issue using one of the following ways:
Recommended Fix: Upgrade to a supported NSX-T version that accepts the license key