VCF ( Prior to 9.0) License Key Per Component Expiration Behavior and how to reactive them

Products

VMware vSphere ESXi VMware vCenter Server VMware vSAN VMware NSX VMware HCX VMware Aria Operations (formerly vRealize Operations) 8.x VMware vRealize Automation 8.x VMware vRealize Network Insight 6.x VMware vRealize Log Insight 8.x VMware Site Recovery Manager 8.x VMware Private AI Foundation VMware Data Services Manager

Issue/Introduction

Software licenses are foundational to system functionality, access control, and compliance. When a license expires, the effects can range from losing access to degraded service or limited experience to complete loss of service, potentially impacting business operations and user access. Like most software licenses, the VCF license also expires as the subscription expires.

If renewals are not tracked accurately and if the license keys are not managed before a subscription expires, each VCF component behaves differently once the license expires. On a high level, the existing workloads remain unaffected, and there is no disruption to current workloads. There will be no degradation or interruption to workloads already in operation. However, starting new workloads is restricted; no new hosts/clusters/objects can be created post the license expiry. You may continue to have read-only access, you may be required to manage individual ESX hosts, and hosts cannot be managed by VC as the license expires.

Environment

VMware vSphere ESX 7.x
VMware vSphere ESX 8.x
VMware vCenter Server 7.0
VMware vCenter Server 8.0
VMware vSAN 7.x
VMware vSAN 8.x
HCX 4.10.X
HCX 4.11.X
VMware Aria Operations (formerly vRealize Operations) 8.x
VMware vRealize Automation 8.10
VMware vRealize Log Insight 8.x
VMware vRealize Network Insight 6.x
VMware Site Recovery Manager 8.x
VMware Private AI Foundation
VMware vSphere Kubernetes Service

Cause

What happens when the license expires:

VCF Components	What happens when the license expires
ESX	1. ESX hosts disconnect from vCenter, requiring direct connection for management 2. All powered-on virtual machines continue to work 3. Current configurations of features in use cannot be changed 4. Unused features at the time of the license expiration cannot be used 5. No new Workloads can be created 6. No VM Operations can be performed
vCenter	1. ESX hosts disconnect from vCenter, requiring direct connection for management 2. Features such as vMotion, DRS, and HA are not available 3. vCenter actions, such as powering on virtual machines and modifying existing virtual machines via the vCenter Interface, are restricted 4. Backup and restore operations may be disrupted
vSAN	1. No impact to the existing vSAN configuration 2. Cannot add new capacity or create new disk groups 3. New Storage-related operations are restricted or limited
NSX	1. "Create" and Edit operations are disabled. 2. Read/Delete operations are allowed for objects configured after the license expiry
Supervisor/TKC	1. No impact on the existing clusters
PAIF	9.0: When PAIF licenses expire, the guided flow is not available, and new GPU reservations cannot be created (VAPI will fail) Quickstart can still be used if a namespace with GPU reservations is available. 8.18.1(5.2.1) If the license expires, Quickstart is no longer available in vRA, and the guided docs are not available in SDDC Manager
HCX	1. HCX Manager is deactivated 2. Service Selection on either Compute Profile or Service Mesh is greyed out 3. All new operations (CP/SM/DR/NE/Migration) are restricted 4. However, there is no impact to HCX capabilities if the paired site's HCX Manager has a valid license that is inheritable
Aria Operations	8.18: If VMware Aria Operations cannot find a valid license or entitlement at the end of the grace period, it enters restricted mode. In the restricted mode, you can only access the following pages: Subscriptions: License Management and Legacy Licenses Administration: Integrations and Cloud Proxies Data collection does not stop in the restricted mode. For the below versions, if VMware Aria Operations cannot find a valid license or entitlement at the end of the grace period, it enters restricted mode. In the restricted mode, only the License Expired wizard is displayed. Data collection does not stop in the restricted mode. 8.17.1/ 8.16 : About VMware Aria Operations Licenses
Aria Automation	8.18: VMware Aria Automation is licensed by a component license key or a VCF solution license entitlement provided by at least one vCenter registered into VMware Aria Automation. If VMware Aria Automation cannot find any valid VCF solution license entitlement or cannot find any valid component license key: Provisioning of new workloads is disabled, e.g., the UI and API requests report 'No License' error results. Existing workloads and content remain intact. Inventory syncs from vCenter continue. The UI displays a no-license banner. 8.16 and earlier versions VMware Aria Automation is licensed by a component license key. If VMware Aria Automation cannot find a valid license key: All application services are shut down. Provisioning of new workloads, execution of workflows, including scheduled tasks, is stopped. Existing workloads and content remain intact. The UI endpoint shows a page that conveys that the subscription has expired. API requests respond with a similar error
Aria Networks	6.13/6.14 AON If AON cannot find a valid license via any of the vCenters under management AND cannot find any valid license keys, it enters restricted mode. In restricted mode, most AON functionality goes into read-only mode. The only allowed operations are Add a new vCenter as a data source. If the new vCenter does not have a valid VCF license with AON entitlement, then AON remains in restricted mode. Add a new license key in the license support page in AON (not a preferred way) Pre 6.12.0 vRNI: If AON cannot find any valid license keys, it enters the restricted mode. In restricted mode, most of the AON functionality goes into read-only mode. The only allowed operations are Add a new license key in the license support page in AON (not a preferred way) 9.0: If Network operations cannot find a valid license via any of the VCF 9.0 vCenters under management, it can have two paths, It can go back into Eval period if the customer is left with any evaluation period. If no evaluation period is left, then NetOps enters restricted mode. The only ones allowed in restricted mode are Add a new vCenter as a data source. If the new vCenter does not have a valid VCF license with NetOps entitlement, then NetOps remains in restricted mode.
Aria Log Insight	9.0: If VCF Operations for Logs cannot find any valid entitlements at the end of the evaluation or grace period, it enters restricted mode. The following functionality remains active in the restricted mode: Integrations → vSphere Integration Management → License Log ingestion 8.18: If VMware Aria Operations for Logs cannot find a valid license or entitlement at the end of the evaluation or grace period, it enters restricted mode. The following functionality remains active in the restricted mode: Integrations → vSphere Integration Management → License Log ingestion Doc: About VMware Aria Operations for Logs Licenses 8.18 8.16 and earlier versions: If VMware Aria Operations for Logs cannot find a valid license, it enters restricted mode. The following functionality remains active in the restricted mode: Management → License Log ingestion Doc: About VMware Aria Operations for Logs Licenses 8.16
VLR	When using VMware Live Site Recovery in offline mode, there is a seven-day grace period after your license expires or you deactivate offline mode. During the grace period, VMware Live Site Recovery operates without any limitations. After the end of the grace period and until day 30, VMware Live Site Recovery operates in degraded mode. If you do not apply a new license key or connect to the cloud, from day 31, VMware Live Site Recovery enters suspended mode Degraded and Suspended Mode
DSM	No license enforcement. DSM is no longer included in VCF. DSM is sold separately.

Resolution

How to apply valid license keys:

With VCF 5.1.1 and vSphere 8.0U2b, the vSphere license key will serve as the solution license key for VCF and VVF. All component license keys will continue to appear in the Broadcom Support portal so that brownfield customers are not forced to upgrade their keys.

If you are using Solution license keys, please refer to: VMware Cloud Foundation and vSphere Foundation Solution License Key . We encourage customers to use the single Solution key.

If you are still running an older version and have not upgraded, you can continue using component keys. Please refer to the information below to restore each component once a subscription is renewed or the new set of licenses is purchased:

VCF Components	How to restore the environment
ESX	Apply a valid license key to the host There are multiple ways to apply ESX licenses. Below are the alternatives: 1. Assign a valid ESX host license key using the Host Add/Reconnect workflow in vCenter UI OR 2. Assign a valid ESX host license key using the ESX UI Host Management OR 3. Assign a valid ESX host license using ESX shell access using the vim-cmd vimsvc/license -set <key> OR 4. Assign a valid ESX host license using the public API (VMware vSphere SDK) - LicenseManager, where the API client identifies itself as a VMw Once you apply the license, if the ESX host does not connect to vCenter automatically, please refer to KB: Adding an ESX host to the vCenter Server Inventory
vCenter	Licensing vCenter - How to Configure License Settings for Your vCenter Server
vSAN	Licensing VMware vSAN 8.0
NSX	NSX 3.2, 4.1: NSX supports multiple license keys. If all the base licenses have expired, a valid base license key needs to be added in the NSX license UI. NSX 4.2: If all VCF licenses are in enforcement mode, you need to apply a valid VCF license in at least one of the VCs connected to NSX to exit the enforcement mode in NSX. For VCF solution license keys, you need to apply the license key in a VC that is connected to NSX. For other base NSX license keys, you need to apply a valid key in the NSX license UI. Documents to refer - NSX Licenses
Supervisor/TKC	Licensing vSphere Supervisor
PAIF	From the VC UI, verify there is an asset created in the "Solutions" tab in Administration → Licensing → "Licenses" section Click on Assign License → New License → And enter the license key; Click "OK"
HCX	HCX 9.0: You need to apply a valid VCF license on the registered vCenter or the Entitlement Server to exit the restricted mode in HCX. A periodic job will automatically restore the HCX license once it detects the new license in the registered vCenter or Entitlement Server. HCX 4.10.X / 4.11.X: For the VCF Solution license key (VCF 5.2), you need to apply the license key in the vCenter that is registered with the HCX. For other HCX or NSX-based license keys, you need to apply the valid key in HCX's configuration page in the administration UI. Activating or Licensing New HCX
Aria Operations	8.18: To exit the restricted mode, perform any one of the following actions in VCF Operations: Add a vSphere 8 Enterprise Plus for vSphere Foundation or a vSphere 8 Enterprise Plus for VCF license from the Subscriptions → License Management page, or enter a valid VMware Aria Operations license key from the Subscriptions ->Legacy Licenses page After you add a valid license on the License Management page, you must also add the license to a vCenter and assign it to the vCenter asset by using the vSphere client. VMware Aria Operations will then fetch the valid entitlement and enable the entitled feature set. Add a new entitled vCenter cloud account from Administration → Integrations or use the suite API. Add a valid license to a registered vCenter system using the vSphere client. 8.17.1 and earlier versions: To exit the restricted mode, perform one of the following steps: Add a VMware Aria Operations license key in the License Expired Wizard Add a new entitled cloud account using the suite API Replace the expired license key with a valid license key Once you validate and save the new license or entitlement, VMware Aria Operations exits the restricted mode and enables the entitled feature set. Licensing VMWare Aria Operations
Aria Automation	To get out of restricted mode, you need to add a vCenter having a valid VCF license with Network Operations entitlement as a data source. 5.2 and 5.1.1 AON: To get out of restricted mode, You can add a vCenter having a valid VCF license with Network Operations entitlement as a data source. This is the preferred way to license AON, or You can add a valid AON license key. Pre 5.1.1 vRNI To get out of restricted mode, you can add a valid AON license key. Licensing Aria Automation using the Aria Suite Lifecycle
Aria Networks	6.13/6.14 AON To get out of restricted mode, You can add a vCenter having a valid VCF license with Network Operations entitlement as a data source. This is the preferred way to license AON, or You can add a valid AON license key. To get out of restricted mode, the customer can add a valid AON license key How to License Aria Operations for Networks 6.10
Aria Log Insight	Licensing Aria Operations for Logs
VLR	In order to restore VLR, you need to Remove the old Offline license and Set up a new Offline Licenses How to fix Degraded or Suspended Mode SRM legacy license keys The restoration process for SRM with an expired license key is to Install new SRM license key..
DSM	DSM is no longer sold as a VCF component. You can purchase DSM separately.

Additional Information

Purpose:

To help customers understand the behaviour of the products as subscriptions expire
To provide step-by-step processes to restore full functionality of VCF components by relicensing deployments that are running on expired license keys

Abbreviations:

PAIF - Private AI Foundation

TKC - Tanzu Kubernetes Cluster also known as vSphere Kubernetes Cluster

VLR - VMware Live Site Recovery

DSM - VMware Data Services Manager