You can directly perform an upgrade from VC2.5 U3 to vCenter 4.0. You will have to get new licenses for 4.0. Also you have a 60 days evaluation period.

You can download vCenter 4.0 from http://www.vmware.com/download/vsphere/

-Sandeep

Hello Troy,

We have license server with VC, is there any ways to convert the license file to license keys?

Thanks,

Kaps

check your licensing portal. Once all ESX Hosts are moved to ESX(i)4 your license server can be retired

http://www.vmware.com/support/licensing.html

vSphere is licensed differently, so no you can't convert your .lic file to a key.

VI3.5 is licensed with a .lic file read by your license server.

vSphere 4 is licensed by license keys

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Visit: http://www.kickstartesx.com

Rapid deployment, zero intervention

What’s New in Licensing

License Keys

With the release of VMware vSphere 4,
VMware has introduced a fully redesigned licensing experience. The key
improvements and enhancements in VMware licensing are as follows:

• License keys are simple 25-character strings instead of complex text files.
• License
  administration is built directly into VMware vCenter Server. There is
  no separate license server which must be installed and monitored.
• Customers
  receive only one single license key for a given vSphere edition (e.g.
  Advanced). There are no separate license keys for advanced features,
  such as VMware VMotion.
• The same vSphere license key can be
  used on many VMware ESX hosts. Each license key encodes a CPU quantity
  which determines the total number of ESX hosts that can use the license
  key.
• It is no longer using the VMware Infrastructure 3 licensing server or licensing model.

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Upgrading to VMware vSphere License Keys

You
must obtain new licenses to deploy VMware vSphere. Your existing VMware
Infrastructure 3.x licenses will not work on VMware ESX 4 or VMware
vCenter Server 4. Read the VMware vSphere 4 licensing guide for instructions on how to activate your new VMware ESX 4 and VMware vCenter Server 4 license keys.

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Delivery of VMware vSphere Licenses

If
you have licenses of VMware Infrastructure 3.x or VMware vCenter Server
2.x with active support and subscription, VMware will deliver your new
VMware vSphere 4 and VMware vCenter Server 4 license keys. You do not
need to request your new license keys, and there will be no activation
codes to turn in.

For every active support and subscription contract with an end date
on or after the day VMware vSphere becomes generally available,
customers will receive their equivalent vSphere 4 and/or vCenter Server
4 licenses.These can be found in the new VMware vSphere license portal.

NOTE: VMware vSphere
licenses are sold in 1-CPU increments whereas VMware Infrastructure 3.x
licenses were sold in 2-CPU increments. The diagram below shows an
example of the license counts and how they map.

The delivery of VMware vSphere 4 license keys does not affect access
to your VMware Infrastructure 3.x licenses. The current and new license
portals will contain licenses for both versions, however your total
number of licenses available for deployment will not increase. As an
example, if you have 12 CPUs (6 licenses x 2 CPUs) of VMware
Infrastructure 3.x Standard, you will receive 12 CPUs (12 licenses x 1
CPU) of VMware vSphere 4 Standard. The total number of CPUs (VMware
Infrastructure 3.x + VMware vSphere 4) you can deploy is 12. Therefore,
if you deploy 4 CPUs of VMware vSphere 4, the maximum amount of VMware
Infrastructure 3.x you can legally deploy will be 8.

Expected Timeframe to Receive Your vSphere License Keys

For
most customers, your vSphere keys will be automatically delivered and
available in the new licensing portal shortly after vSphere becomes
generally available.

Certain combinations of existing Support and Subscription contracts
require additional processing and may result in later delivery of your
vSphere keys. If you are a customer affected by a potential delay,
VMware will notify you shortly after vSphere becomes generally
available and then keep you informed via email on the status of your
upgraded license keys. Email the licensing hotline if you have questions about your licenses.

Examples of contracts impacted by the above include:

• Previous license upgrades (e.g., from VI3 Standard to VI3 Enterprise)
• Separately purchased feature licenses (e.g., VMware VMotion)

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Accessing Your Licenses

New vSphere/vCenter License Portal

Licenses for VMware vSphere 4 will be managed using the new vSphere/vCenter license portal.
Your upgraded license keys will be automatically added to this portal
after the subscription-based upgrades for your VMware Infrastructure
3.x licenses have been processed. Future purchases of VMware vSphere 4
licenses will also be added to this portal.

Changes to the VI3 Licensing Portal

As a result of the
new licensing model for VMware vSphere, the VI3 licensing portal will
display quantities according to the new model. The license quantities
displayed will be changed from license counts (where each license
represents 2 CPUs) to single CPU counts. This means most of the numbers
you see will be doubled from the the numbers displayed in the past.
Licenses which are not counted in CPUs (e.g., VMware vCenter Server
instances) will not be affected by this change, and their counts will
remain the same. Your actual license entitlement does not change.

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Upgrade Eligibility

Licenses will be upgraded to the new version according to these rules:

• Only
  licenses that have active support and subscription contracts as of the
  day when VMware vSphere becomes generally available (in the following
  known as “the GA date”) will be upgraded. If subscription has expired
  or will expire prior to the GA date you will retain access to the
  VMware Infrastructure 3.x licenses, but you will not receive new VMware
  vSphere 4 license keys.
• If your support and subscription
  has expired prior to the GA date you can choose to reinstate it later.
  If you do so, you will receive your VMware vSphere 4 licenses at that
  time.
• Licenses that have been upgraded to a higher edition
  (e.g. from Standard to Enterprise) will be treated as the higher
  edition (Enterprise). However, delivery of VMware vSphere 4 license
  keys requires that support and subscription is active on both the lower
  edition (Standard) as well as on the upgrade component.
• Licenses
  for features that have been purchased separately (e.g. VMware VMotion)
  require a corresponding VMware Infrastructure 3.x edition (e.g.
  Standard) with which it can logically be combined. As with upgraded
  editions, the subscription on both components must be active.
• Within
  the new licensing portal, upgraded license keys are are visible to
  users that are designated to an authorized role on a support and
  subscription contract. Contract roles include Primary License
  Administrator “PLA”, Secondary License Admistrator “SLA” and Support
  Administrator “SA”, and each role grants a specific level of access
  within the portal.
  NOTE:
  in some cases an individual may have previously registered VI3
  activation codes and will therefore have an assigned role of
  “Registered User” for those licenses. In the new licensing portal,
  these Registered Users will not have access to the upgraded vSphere 4
  license keys unless they are also designated to an authorized contract
  role (e.g., PLA, SLA, SA).

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Entitlement Mapping

The following tables explain how your VMware Infrastructure 3.x licenses will be mapped to VMware vSphere 4.

Edition Licenses:

VMware Infrastructure 3.x license	VMware vSphere 4 license
VMware Infrastructure 3.x Enterprise	VMware vSphere 4 Enterprise
VMware Infrastructure 3.x Standard	VMware vSphere 4 Standard
VMware Infrastructure 3.x Foundation	VMware vSphere 4 Standard
VMware vCenter Server 2.x	VMware vCenter Server 4 Standard
VMware vCenter Foundation 2.x	VMware vCenter Server 4 Foundation
VMware ESXi Management Kit	VMware vSphere 4 Essentials

Acceleration Kits:

For the purpose of version upgrades, licenses which were originally
purchased as part of an acceleration kit will be treated as individual
products (e.g., VMware Infrastructure 3.x Standard). The upgrade path
for these individual products can be found in the table above, as noted
for Edition Licenses. For the purpose of support renewals, Acceleration
Kit support will continue to be based on the original Acceleration Kit
even after a vSphere version upgrade.

Upgraded Edition Licenses:

VMware Infrastructure 3.x license	VMware vSphere 4 license
VMware Infrastructure 3.x Standard & upgrade to Enterprise	VMware vSphere 4 Enterprise
VMware Infrastructure 3.x Foundation & upgrade to Enterprise	VMware vSphere 4 Enterprise
VMware Infrastructure 3.x Foundation & upgrade to Standard	VMware vSphere 4 Standard
VMware vCenter Foundation 2.x & upgrade to VMware vCenter Server	VMware vCenter Server 4 Standard

Feature Licenses Purchased Separately:

In the vSphere licensing model, features cannot be licensed
separately. However it is possible to add features onto an edition
license. This add-on is fixed, which means it is done by VMware at the
time of license delivery and the feature cannot be separated from the
edition at a later stage.

VMware Infrastructure 3.x license	VMware vSphere 4 license	Notes
VMware Infrastructure 3.x Standard & VMware VMotion	VMware vSphere 4 Standard + VMware VMotion + Storage VMware VMotion	This entitlement is represented as a single vSphere license key
VMware Infrastructure 3.x Foundation & VMware VMotion	VMware vSphere 4 Standard + VMware VMotion + Storage VMware VMotion	This entitlement is represented as a single vSphere license key
VMware High Availability (HA)	Included in VMware vSphere 4 Standard and above	Since all relevant vSphere editions include the HA feature, these licenses are not upgraded separately.
VMware Consolidated Backup (VCB)	Included in all VMware vSphere editions	VCB is replaced by the vStorage API in which is included in all relevant vSphere editions, thus. VCB licenses are not upgraded separately.
VMware Infrastructure 3.x Standard & VMware VMotion & VMware DRS	VMware vSphere 4 Enterprise	Since the Enterprise edition includes VMware and VMotion, you will receive a single Enterprise license, instead of a license for each.
VMware Infrastructure 3.x Standard & VMware VMotion & “no VMware VMotion” upgrade to Enterprise	VMware vSphere 4 Enterprise	You will receive a single Enterprise license, instead of a license for each.

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Preparing for Your License Upgrade

In
order to ensure a problem-free license upgrade, VMware requests your
cooperation in verifying that your license and subscription data is
correct. Please take the time to review your account and email the licensing hotline
if the information is not consistent with your expectation. If
corrections are needed it is preferable to make them prior to the
delivery of your VMware vSphere 4 licenses.

1. Check Your VMware Infrastructure Licenses

Log-in to your VMware Infrastructure 3.x License Portal
and review the “# Purchased” quantity for all VMware Infrastructure 3.x
and VMware vCenter licenses (example shown below). Assuming the
subscription on the licenses will be active as of the date that VMware
vSphere is generally available, these quantities correspond to the
quantities of VMware vSphere licenses you will receive.

2. Review Your Support Contracts

Go to the VMware Support Contracts Portal
and, using the same login, review your support contracts. The quantity
of licenses listed on those contracts should match the quantities you
see in the license portal, subject to the eligibility rules noted above.
In this view, review the status and end dates of all contract lines
that contain “ESX 3.x” or “vCenter Server 2.x.” If some contracts are
expired or have an end date earlier than 21 May 2009, you may not
receive your new VMware vSphere licenses for the quantities on those
contracts. To request a renewal or reinstatement of contracts, use the contract renewal web form.

3. Verify Your Role

Go to the VMware Support Contracts Portal
and, using the same login, verify your role on each of the contracts by
going to the Administrators tab. The primary contact for license
upgrade notification, etc. will be the primary license admin (PLA) on
each contract. However, secondary license admins (SLA) and support
admins (SA) on the contracts will also have access to the upgraded
licenses via the portal. The PLA on each contract has the ability to
add, remove, and edit the SLAs and SAs on the contract (via the
interface shown below). Verify that the appropriate individuals are
designated as SLA and/or SA on your contracts, and make changes as
necessary.



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Version Downgrade

Converting vSphere Licenses to VI3 – “Downgrades”

If you
have purchased VMware vSphere 4.0 licenses and wish to convert some or
all of them to increase your available VMware Infrastructure 3
licenses, you may downgrade the desired number of the licenses on the vSphere license portal.

Once you have completed the downgrade request, you will be able to access your newly generated VI3 license information in the VI3 License Portal.

For example, you purchased 20 CPUs of vSphere Advanced and need to
run 10 CPUs of VI3. You may perform a downgrade to 10 CPUs of VI3
Standard using the vSphere Licensing Portal. You will then be able to
access 10 additional CPUs in the VI3 Licensing Portal. Please note your
total entitlement will not change. In other words, you may deploy no
more than 20 CPUs in total, but can mix and match between vSphere and
VI3.

Not all vSphere products are downgradable. Please see the downgrade options table (below) for specific mappings.

Downgrade Options:

VMware vSphere 4 SKU	VMware Infrastructure 3 (VI3) SKU
ESXi 4 Single Server	Not downgradable
vSphere 4 Essentials (Plus)	Not downgradable
vSphere 4 Standard	VI3 Standard
vSphere 4 Advanced	VI3 Standard
vSphere 4 Enterprise	VI3 Enterprise
vSphere 4 Enterprise Plus	VI3 Enterprise
vCenter Server Standard	VirtualCenter Server
vCenter Server Foundation	VirtualCenter Foundation

Downgrade Process via vSphere/vCenter License Portal

1. Log in to the vSphere License portal
2. Select the downgrade link
3. Select vSphere order number(s) to be downgraded – only whole orders can be downgraded
4. After approx. 30 minutes, additional license quantity is added to VI3 license portal
5. Licenses displayed on vSphere/vCenter portal will not be decreased or affected

Reason You May Need to Convert vSphere licenses to VI3

In
some cases, the only way to obtain new VI3 licenses now that vSphere
has been released is to purchase vSphere licenses and convert them to
VI3 licenses by downgrading them on the vSphere License portal.

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Obtaining New VI3 Keys

How to Obtain VI3 License Keys Now that vSphere has Been Released

Only
vSphere SKUs are available for purchase. However, if you wish to deploy
additional VI3 licenses, you can purchase vSphere and “downgrade” the
licenses on the vSphere License Portal.
The downgrade will add additional VI3 license quantities to your VI3
portal – and as in the upgrade case, you will have access to both
versions simultaneously and must manage compliance accordingly.
Licenses can only be upgraded or downgraded once.

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