Adding a host to the vCenter Server inventory fails with the error: The edition of vCenter only supports 3 hosts in the inventory

Products

• VMware
• VMware vCenter Server
• VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

Symptoms:

• You cannot add a fourth host to the vCenter Server inventory.
• Adding an ESX host to the vCenter Server fails.
• You see the error:
  
  The edition of vCenter only supports 3 hosts in the inventory. Remove some hosts from the inventory before performing the operation.

Environment

VMware vCenter Server 5.5.x
VMware vCenter Server 5.1.x
VMware vSphere ESXi 5.1
VMware ESX 4.0.x
VMware vSphere ESXi 5.0
VMware vCenter Server 4.0.x
VMware ESXi 4.1.x Embedded
VMware vCenter Server 5.0.x
VMware vCenter Server 4.1.x
VMware vCenter Server 6.0.x
VMware ESX 4.1.x
VMware ESXi 4.1.x Installable

Resolution

This issue occurs if the fourth host you are trying to add is licensed with one of these editions:

• vCenter Essentials
• vCenter Essentials Plus

These editions allow you to manage a maximum of 3 hosts in the vCenter Server inventory. For more information, see Compare vSphere Kits.

To work around this issue, license your vCenter Server with vCenter Standard license

 

For information on the available upgrade options, contact VMware Sales or authorized resellers.

Additional Information

将主机添加到 vCenter Server 清单失败并出现以下错误：vCenter 版本的清单中仅支持 3 台主机 (The edition of vCenter only supports 3 hosts in the inventory)