vSphere 8 Licensing Error - "The license capacity is insufficient"

Products

• VMware vSphere ESX 7.x
• VMware vSphere ESX 8.x
• VMware vCenter Server 8.0
• VMware vCenter Server

Issue/Introduction

This article addresses the steps to review and remediate license capacity issues encountered when adding ESX host(s) to vCenter Server. Below are some of the errors that might be encountered:

• When attempting to assign a license key (e.g., vSphere 8 Standard or Enterprise Plus) to an ESXi host 8.x in vCenter, the operation fails with the following error:
  
  The license capacity is insufficient
  
  Additionally navigating to Administration > Licensing > Licenses on the vCenter UI and reviewing the Usage column shows a higher number than the actual physical core count or the Capacity of the license key being assigned.
  
  

Environment

vCenter 8.x

Cause

The primary license assigned to the vCenter Server instance lacks sufficient available core capacity to license the incoming ESXi host. Licensing strictly requires a minimum of 16 cores per CPU. If the primary license pool contains fewer available cores than the hardware requires, the capacity deficit prevents successful assignment.

Resolution

1. Verify Hardware Configuration: 
   
   Identify the number of occupied CPU sockets and the physical core count per CPU on the concerned ESX host 
   
   
2. Calculate Required Capacity: 
   
   Total Capacity Needed = (Number of CPUs) x (Max(16, Physical Cores per CPU)). Ensure the 16-core minimum per physical CPU socket capacity is met
   
   

3. If there are multiple license keys for the same product, combine them to meet the total core requirement for a single host.
   
   

   1. Log in to the Broadcom Support Portal.
   2. Navigate to My Entitlements >Site >Product>License.
   3. Select the product and use the Merge function to combine smaller keys into one large capacity key.
   4. Re-try the assignment in vCenter using the new combined key.
   If the physical core count exceeds total entitlement, contact the Broadcom Sales Representative or Reseller to purchase additional core add-ons.
   
   
4. Re-attempt the License assignment for the concerned ESX host

Additional Information

vSphere 8.0u3 onwards, a per-core licensing model has been introduced with a mandatory minimum of 16 cores per physical CPU (socket)

1. 16-Core Minimum Requirement: Even if a physical CPU has fewer than 16 cores (e.g., an 8-core or 12-core processor), vCenter will utilize16 cores of license capacity for that CPU.
2. High Core Count: If a CPU has more than 16 cores (e.g., 32 cores), it requires 32 cores of license capacity.
3. Calculation: Total Capacity Needed = (Number of CPUs) x (Max(16, Physical Cores per CPU)).

For more details, refer to Counting Cores for VMware Cloud Foundation and vSphere Foundation and TiBs for vSAN