After upgrading an ESXi host from version 8.0 to 9.1.0.0, the host continues to display an Evaluation License in the vSphere Client instead of the expected VMware vSphere Foundation (cores) license.

Products

• VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

After upgrading an ESXi host from version 8.0 to 9.1.0.0, the host continues to display an Evaluation License in the vSphere Client instead of the expected VMware vSphere Foundation (cores) license.

This issue is accompanied by the following errors in the VCF Operations dashboard:

• "One or more assets could not be licensed due to insufficient license capacity."
  • 
• "One or more license servers have assets that have been removed but still use license capacity. You must reclaim used capacity manually."
  • 

Environment

• VCF 9.1.x
• VCF Operations with managed License Server

Cause

The license assignment failure occurs due to two primary factors:

1. Service Unavailability: During the host upgrade, the VCF Operations and License Server VMs were temporarily offline. Consequently, the host could not communicate with the license server upon rebooting, causing it to default to Evaluation Mode.
2. Stale Capacity Records: The license server retained "used" capacity records for the asset due to the host being re-added to the vCenter inventory context post-upgrade. This left the license server with 0 available capacity to reassign, even after the licensing components were back online.

Resolution

To resolve this issue, manually reclaim the used capacity in VCF Operations to allow for automatic license reassignment.

1. Log in to the VCF Operations UI.
2. Navigate to Manage > Licensing > Licenses & Registration.
3. Click Manage > License Servers.
4. Select the relevant license server (e.g., <license_server_id>).
5. Under the Licensed Assets section, identify the stale or removed asset that is consuming capacity.
6. Select the affected asset and click Reclaim Used Capacity.
7. Wait for VCF Operations to automatically re-evaluate and reassign the correct VMware vSphere Foundation (cores) license to the host.
8. Verify the license status in the vSphere Client by navigating to the affected host (<esxi_host_fqdn>) and selecting Configure > Licensing. The host should now display the correct assigned license instead of the Evaluation License.

Additional Information

• KB 446090 – "Insufficient License Capacity" licensing error for vCenter in VCF Operations.
• KB 443714 – License assignment from VCF Operations fails on vCenter Server after upgrading.