Legacy license keys cannot be used or upgraded in vCenter 9.0

Products

• VMware vCenter Server

Issue/Introduction

Administrators may attempt to apply an existing vCenter 8.x (or earlier) license key to vCenter 9.0, or inquire whether an old (perpetual or subscription) license key can be upgraded for use with version 9.0. This article explains why legacy license keys are not supported in vCenter 9.0 and clarifies the new licensing model.

Environment

• vCenter 9.0
• VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) 9.0
• VMware vSphere Foundation (VVF) 9.0
• Environments previously licensed using traditional (perpetual or subscription) license keys (5×5 format)

Cause

Prior to version 9.0, VMware products such as vCenter, ESXi, NSX, VMware Aria Operations were licensed individually using traditional perpetual license keys in a 5×5 format.

Starting with VCF / VVF 9.0, VMware introduced a new licensing model. Under this model:

• Individual product license keys are no longer used.

• Licensing is no longer performed by manually entering a license key into vCenter.

• License compliance is based on actual environment usage rather than static license assignment.

Because of this fundamental change, legacy license keys are incompatible with vCenter 9.0.

Resolution

The following information clarifies how licensing is handled in vCenter 9.0.

• Single license file for VCF 9.0 Licensing
  
  Unlike previous releases that relied on individual product license keys, VVF/VCF 9.0 uses a single license file to replace multiple per-product license keys, simplifying the overall licensing and compliance process.
• License key usage in vCenter 9.0
  
  vCenter 9.0 does not provide any interface to enter or manage traditional license keys. 
  
  
• License upgrade path
  
  Existing license keys cannot be upgraded to vCenter 9.0.
  
  
• Licensing model in 9.0
  
  Licensing in VCF/VVF 9.0 is managed through VMware Aria Operations. 
  
  
• Legacy License Keys
  
  Legacy license keys remain valid only for the product versions they were originally issued for and cannot be reused with version 9.0.

Additional Information

Reference: Licensing in VMware Cloud Foundation 9.0 https://blogs.vmware.com/cloud-foundation/2025/06/24/licensing-in-vmware-cloud-foundation-9-0/