Managing licenses on ESXi hosts using the vSphere Web Client

Products

• VMware vCenter Server
• VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

This article provides steps to manage licenses on ESXi hosts using the vSphere Web Client.

Note: For more information, see the vCenter Server and Host Management Guide.  This guide contains definitive information. If there is a discrepancy between the guide and the article, assume the guide is correct.

Resolution

You can use the license management function in the vSphere Web Client to manage the licensing of assets in your vSphere environment from a central location. You can add license keys in the vCenter Server inventory, assign license keys to multiple assets at a time, view information about the available products and licenses, and export licensing information in a CSV file.

To be able to use certain features and functionality of an ESXi host, you must assign it a license key when the evaluation period of the host expires.

Note: Before adding and viewing a license, verify that you have the Global.Licenses privilege. To view the privileges for the role of your user account, navigate to Administration > Role Manager in the vSphere Web Client.
 

Assigning a license key to an ESXi host in the vSphere Web Client

To assign a license key to an ESXi host in the vSphere Web Client:

1. Log in to vCenter Server using the vSphere Web Client. To do this, use one of these options:
    
   • In a browser, go to https://vSphere_Web_Client_host_name_or_IP:9443/vsphere-client.
   • From the Windows Start menu, select Programs > VMWare > VMware vSphere Web Client > vSphere Web Client.
      
2. In the vSphere Web Client, navigate to the host in the vSphere inventory.
3. Click the Manage tab.
4. Under System, select Licensing.
5. Click Assign License Key.
6. In the dropdown menu, select one of the options in this table to assign a license key to the host:
    

   Option	Description
   Assign an existing license key	Select from the license keys that already exist in the inventory of the vCenter Server instance that manages the host. Ensure to select a license key that supports all the features that the host runs.
   Assign a new license key	Enter a new license key and assign it to the host. You can click Decode to verify that the license key is in the correct format, and that it has sufficient capacity to satisfy the required license usage for the host. You can also decode the license key to verity that it belongs to the correct product.

7. Click OK.
   
   The license is now assigned to the host. Capacity from the license key is allocated according to the required license usage for the host.
   
   Note: If you assign a vSphere 5.x license to the host, you may see that there is a vRAM usage reported for the license. vSphere 5.x is licensed per-processor and you should ignore the reported vRAM usage for vSphere 5.x licenses.

Viewing license information in the vSphere Web Client

You can also view information about the license keys and products that are available in the inventory of a vCenter Server instance or a Linked Mode group.

 

To view the license information in the vSphere Web Client:

1. In the vSphere Web Client, navigate to Administration > Licensing > Licenses.
2. In the vCenter Server dropdown, select a vCenter Server instance.
   
   Note: If you select a vCenter Server instance that is a part of a Linked Mode group, you can see the licensing information for the entire group.
    
3. Select one of the tabs listed in this table, depending on the licensing information that you want to view.
    

   Tab	Description
   Products	Lists the products that have license keys available in the license inventory of the selected vCenter Server instance. If the vCenter Server instance is a part of a Linked Mode group, you can view all products that are available for the group.
   License keys	Lists all license keys that are available in the license inventory of the selected vCenter Server instance. If the vCenter Server instance is a part of a Linked Mode group, the tab lists all license keys that are available in the shared license inventory of the group.
   vCenter Server Instances	Displays licensing information about the selected vCenter Server instance. If the vCenter Server instance is a part of a Linked Mode group, the tab displays licensing information about all vCenter Server instances in the group.
   Hosts	Lists all hosts that are connected to the selected vCenter Server instance. If the vCenter Server instance is a part of a Linked Mode group, the tab displays all hosts that are available in the inventories of all vCenter Server instances in the group.
   Solutions	Lists all solutions that are registered with the selected vCenter Server instance. If the vCenter Server instance is a part of a Linked Mode group, the tab lists all solutions that are registered with the vCenter Server instances in the group.

Adding a license key in the vSphere Web Client

To add a license key in the vSphere Web Client:

1. In the vSphere Web Client, navigate to Administration > Licensing > Licenses.
2. From the vCenter Server drop-down menu, select he vCenter Server system where you want to add the license keys.
   
   If you select a vCenter Server system that is part of a Linked Mode group, the license keys are added to the shared license inventory of the group.
    
3. Select the License Keys tab.
4. Click the Add License Keys (+) icon.
5. In the text area of the Add License Keys dialog box, enter license keys, one per line.
6. (Optional) Label the license keys.
7. Click Next.
8. In the Ready to complete page, review the license keys to add and click Finish.

Notes:

• If any unassigned license keys exist, assign these keys to vCenter Server instances, hosts, or solutions that need licensing.
• Remove all license keys that are no longer required, such as expired license keys or keys that you do not intend to assign.

For more information, see License Management and Reporting in VMware Docs.

Additional Information

• License Key Management for VMware Products (282428)