Unable to License to VMware HCX 9.0.x on vCenter 8.0

Products

• VMware HCX

Issue/Introduction

• Unable to activate the license for a newly installed VMware HCX Connector (version 9.0.x) that is configured with vCenter 8 versions.
  
  
• Although the VMware Interoperability Matrix confirms functional compatibility between HCX 9.0 and vCenter 8.0 for migration operations, the HCX Manager fails to ingest license keys leaving the HCX manager in Evaluation Mode.
  
  
• Login to the HCX administration UI :
  https://<hcx-ip-or-fqdn>:9443  >> navigate to Configuration --> Licenses, it shows the status as Evaluation Period
• If the vCenter server running with 8.0 version is entered in the Entitlement Server section, it gives the error below :-
  Invalid Entitlement Server https://vcenter-ip not supported with version less than 9.0.0

Environment

VMware HCX 9.x
VMware vCenter 8.x

Cause

1. VMware HCX 9.0 introduces an architectural shift in licensing aligned with the VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) 9.0 framework.
   
   
2. Starting with version 9.0, the HCX licensing service attempts to automatically discover "Solution Licensing" keys via the Management vCenter API.
   
   
3. Because vCenter 8.0.x does not support the VCF 9-style licensing schema or its automated discovery mechanism, the query returns an invalid/null response.
   
   Refer to this documentation for more details About HCX Licensing
   
   
4. Consequently, the HCX UI enforces the new model by suppressing manual serial number ingestion, which was the standard method for version 4.x and below.

Resolution

To address the issue permanently, upgrade the vCenter server from 8.0.x to 9.0.x 

If the upgrade of the vCenter server is not immediately feasible, then HCX will operate with the following limitations.

1. HCX 9.0.x provides a 90-day evaluation period from the date of deployment. This grants full feature access but limits concurrency to 20 VMs per migration group.
   
   
2. Ensure version parity between HCX Connector and HCX Cloud as per KB HCX 9.0.x and 4.10.x/4.11.x Site Pairing compatibility to maintain site pairing stability during the evaluation window.

 

Additional Information

License showing as "Evaluation Mode" on HCX 9.x Initiator