Upgrade and Downgrade VMWare License Keys

Products

• Support Portal
• Licensing - Manual Provisioning
• VMware

Issue/Introduction

This article will show the steps on how to Upgrade or Downgrade your VMware License keys on the Broadcom support portal.

Important notes:

• Only license keys for products that have officially released versions can be Upgraded via the portal.
• Only supported versions of the product are eligible for "Downgrading".  If the older version is already in an "End of Life" status, it will not be eligible for a downgrade. 
• Once contract is "expired" customers cannot upgrade/ downgrade any license.
• NFR (Not for Resale) licenses shall only be used for Partner test, demo, and development purposes, as specifically authorized by your partner agreement. Partners are not permitted to perform license operations (combine/divide/upgrade/downgrade) on NFRs with non-NFR licenses obtained from VMware. Use of NFRs in any production and end user environment is strictly prohibited.

**License keys can be upgraded/downgraded. Right now, the license key's exact SKU name is displayed on the Broadcom Support portal. As a result, the version for which you are downgrading or upgrading the license key may appear under a different name. The license key that is being provided is the correct one for that product version, even though it might have a different SKU name. We might modify the portal in the future so that it displays the name of the product group rather than individual SKU names.**

Resolution

Steps to Upgrade or Downgrade the license keys

• Navigate to the "My Entitlements" tab in the Broadcom Support Portal.

• Select the product that you are attempting to upgrade / downgrade the version for and select the "Entitlement Details" button. 

• From the right hand menu, select the "Upgrade" or "Downgrade" option.

• Once selected, choose the product that you want to upgrade / downgrade to from the drop down list and the Quantity of the keys you want to upgrade / downgrade.
• You can only upgrade / downgrade the number of licenses that are shown by the "remaining" field. 
• Select "Continue", this will complete the upgrade / downgrade.

 

Additional Information

If you experience issues when Upgrade or Downgrade the license keys, follow the below troubleshooting steps

• If you are associated with multiple Site IDs, ensure that you are working within the correct Site ID. You can switch between Site ID's in the dropdown at the top of the License Keys page
• Ensure that the key is associated with an active support contract. 
• Ensure that you have Upgrade & Downgrade License Keys permissions.  
• Ensure that the total number you are upgrading/downgrading is equal to or less than the number of total licenses available.