I have a VMware vSpehere 6 Essentials License can I upgrade to vSphere 7?

[Rimfire]

Hi
The vSphere license is about to expire very soon. I believe I have already installed the latest available HPE Custom Image "HPE Gen9 Plus Custom Image for ESXi 6.7 Update 3" to the hosts. This one:

Client version:
1.33.7

Client build number:
15803439
ESXi version:
6.7.0
ESXi build number:
19195723

I wonder if I'm entitled to upgrade the vSpehere 6 to vSphere 7? Will the license key apply to vSphere 7? Is it legal? Or am I restricted to 6.7 U3. 

[scott28tt]

It used to be that you had to have an active Support & Subscription contract in order to upgrade - that's when licenses were perpetual.

VMware has now switched to a subscription model, that might have changed things.

Best to check with whoever you bought your license from.

[Rimfire]

Oh, I purchased it via my credit card from VMware shop. Wonder if anyone in this forum knows if I can upgrade it before the maintenance expires. 

[Rimfire · Accepted solution]

Found this:
https://kb.vmware.com/s/article/81665

[e_espinel]

Hello.
If you purchased a paid VMware vSphere license, between 2020 to 2023 and you had a support contract or have a current support contract, you may be entitled to upgrade your license to version 7 or higher.
Your licenses must be registered in the VMware connect web (user and password), log into the license management section and check what licenses you have and if they can be upgraded.

Attached are the versions and the year of release:
vmware vsphere 6.0 2015
vmware vsphere 6.7 2018
vmware vsphere 7 2020

Note: the free licenses (discontinued) are not listed in the license manager, and are not upgradeable.