vSAN license usage is not automatically released when an ESXi host is powered off

Products

• VMware vSAN

Issue/Introduction

When an ESXi host participating in a vSAN cluster is powered off, placed into maintenance mode, or temporarily disconnected, the vCenter Server does not automatically release or recalculate the vSAN license usage consumed by that host.

Administrators may observe that the vSAN licensing usage at the cluster level remains unchanged even after extended periods of host inactivity or system reboots.

Environment

VMware vSAN and vCenter Server (all versions)

Resolution

This is an expected behavior by design.

vSAN licensing is assigned and calculated at the vSAN Cluster object level, rather than the runtime power state of individual physical ESXi hosts. As long as a host remains registered as a member of a vSAN-enabled cluster in the vCenter Server inventory, its underlying hardware resources (CPUs, Cores, or Storage Capacity) will continue to be allocated against the cluster's vSAN license assignment.

To release or reclaim the vSAN license quota allocated to a powered-off host, the host must be removed from the vSAN cluster.

1. Log in to the vSphere Client.

2. Right-click the powered-off/disconnected host in the inventory tree.

3. Select Move To... and relocate the host outside the vSAN cluster into a parent Datacenter or standard Folder, OR select Remove from Inventory.

4. vCenter will immediately recalculate the vSAN cluster capacity and release the host's consumed licensing quota back to the license key/pool.

Additional Information

1. There is no automatic timeout or expiration mechanism in vCenter Server that will expire or release license allocations for offline cluster members. The license state remains persistent regardless of NTP time changes or prolonged host downtime.

2. Simply shutting down a host does not reduce the licensed core/CPU count required for compliance if the host remains part of the operational vSAN cluster.