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MattMeyer
VMware Employee
VMware Employee

VMotion Violates Microsoft Server 2003 EULA

This was recently brought to my attention. I'm not sure how this is going to pan out yet. Apparently Microsoft changed their EULA a few months back, but I'm just now becoming aware of this. If you are using VMotion and have a Volume License Agreement, please read:

http://www.mattmeyer.net/blog/archive/2007/04/20/335.aspx

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FredPeterson
Expert
Expert

Only thing I can say is that if MS' Virtual Server ever gets to a point like VMWare's is (Hahah!) then this should still apply to their own products. If it doesn't, I hear lawyers scratching at doors.

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chandlm
Expert
Expert

I think technically this doesn't even just apply to VMotion. Even cold migrations would probably be in violation since it is still moving to different hardware.

This creates more opportunity to sell the Datacenter version since it would provide unlimited licenses for the host but I'm still not 100% on how that all works. Sounds like you just buy a DC edition license for each host and you don't actually have to even install or host a DC edition VM on it.

I definitely see a lawsuit coming on this one I would think...

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JDLangdon
Expert
Expert

It was explained to me by one of our consultants that as long as there is a DC edition license attached to a host, you can install as many virtual Windows machines on that host of any flavor of windows.

Basically put, buy a DC edition license for your Esx host (total BS) and then purchase whatever additional licenses you need for your Windows standard and enterprise editions.

Jason

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pcramer
Contributor
Contributor

Our Microsoft Technical Account Manager (TAM) has said that if you purchase DataCenter edition (per physical processor) There is no need to install it, you just need the proof of purchase. it will cover all server operating systems running virtually. It will cover Server 2000, 2000 Advanced server, 2003 Standard and 2003 enterprise. (NT4.0 if you have some of them but hopfully not). Client operating systems (Windows 2000, XP, Vista) are not covered.

When you VMotion the UUID stays the same and could possibly change at a reboot because the ID is generated by a combination of the host and guest.

Volume licensing usually includes a select key which is always the same for every install. Check the EULA it may refer to OEM licenses.

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admin
Immortal
Immortal

Disclaimer: I am not representing any official VMware Legal openion here. Simply reading the EULA and interpreting the litteral language.

I believe that this was taken out of context. The EULA snippet below (which is not from the VLA) clearly states:

•a. Assigning the License to the Server.

•i. Before you run any instance of the server software under a software license, you must assign that license to one of your servers. That server is the licensed server for that particular license. You may assign other software licenses to the same server, but you may not assign the same license to more than one server.

•ii. You may reassign a software license, but not within 90 days of the last assignment. You may reassign a software license sooner if you retire the licensed server due to permanent hardware failure. If you reassign a license, the server to which you reassign the license becomes the new licensed server for that license.

•b. Running Instances of the Server Software. You have the rights below for each software license you assign (corresponding to the edition of the software you have licensed).

•i. Standard Edition. You may run, at any one time, one instance of the server software in one physical or virtual operating system environment on the licensed server.

•ii. Enterprise Edition.

•A. You may run on the licensed server, at any one time:

•I. one instance of the server software in one physical operating system environment, and
•II. up to four instances of the server software in virtual operating system environments (only one instance per virtual operating system environment). If you have separately licensed Standard Edition, you may run an instance of Standard Edition in place of Enterprise Edition in any of these virtual operating system environments. This agreement applies to your use of Standard Edition in this manner.

•B. If you run all five permitted instances at the same time, the instance of the server software running in the physical operating system environment may be used only to run hardware virtualization software and to manage and service operating system environments on the licensed server.

I take this to mean the following:

1) This applies to hosted environments ONLY. i.e. Microsoft Virtual Server, VMware Server or Workstation.

2) With point 1 in mind, you can run ONE Windows 2003-R2 standard VM on a Windows 2003-R2 Standard Edition using the same license.

You can also run up to 4 Windows 2003-R2 Enterprise on a Windows 2003-R2 Enterprise using the same license.

3) If you move any of the above VMs to another host running Windows 2003-R2, you will need to relicense the VMs to match the host's license.

4) ESX Server does not apply to this clause which means that you can only run one instance of a given OS license on any ESX server. There is no tie between the VM's License and the host's license since your won't be using the extra license(s) here.

5) Volume License Agreement ties the licnese to the hardware on which it is installed. So, regardless of where the VM runs, it is still the same license count.

See also:

Regards,

Mostafa

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mstahl75
Virtuoso
Virtuoso

I'm going to preface this with a disclaimer that MS Licensing confuses the heck out of me ... :smileygrin:

That said, the way the document linked to reads and the other more recent information I've read is the following:

1. Each OS license is assigned to a server. The definition of server is (page 28 of linked doucment):

(quote)+A +server is a physical hardware system capable of running server software. A hardware partition or blade is considered to be a separate physical hardware system, and therefore a separate server

2. Each OS license from #1 can have 1 running instance on that physical hardware.

3. To move an instance of the OS from one physical piece of hardware to another piece of physical hardware requires the latter to have an available OS license assigned to it (no running instance using it) if the OS you are moving will then be running -- either VMotion or cold migrating and starting the VM.

4. This licensing model doesn't rely on the underlying OS running on the hardware. The underlying OS can provide additional licensing allowances: e.g. Windows 2003 Enterprise Edition as the host allows you to run the host OS and in addition virtual instances (4 I think). That same Enterprise Edition license can be assigned to the hardware running ESX and only the virtual licenses get to be used.

That is fairly straightforward I would guess, though I think it sucks from a personal standpoint. It should be that each running VM requires a license regardless of the underlying physical hardware.

The point that has been recently made is that if you need to take a physical servr down and need to migrate those VMs to other hardware you will need increased licensing counts on that hardware. Consider you have 3 ESX servers with 10 VMs running. Assume you are running 2003 Standard VMs. According to the MS Licensing model you will need to have 10 licenses assigned to each ESX server (physical hardware). If you need to take one of those servers down and plan to migrate VMs to the other two server then, say 5 to each server, then you would need to have 15 licenses assigned to each of those ESX servers (physical hardware). Basically, you will need to have a OS license for each concurrently running instance of that OS running on that hardware.

Of course, you still have the allowance to reassign OS licenses to different hardware in the 90 day period for hardware failure or general license reassignment.

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pdrace
Hot Shot
Hot Shot

We looked it over and I agree with your assessment. We ended up buying DC edition to cover all our ESX host physical CPUs. Luckily we get educational pricing.

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JTYAGI
Contributor
Contributor

Dear Mostafa,

Thanks for your detailed reply,

My question

I have windows server 2003 R2 enterprise edition with the hardware DELL PE2900. I want to migrate this hardware to ESX 4.0.0, can i use my existing

2003 enterprise edition licence for creating VM servers inside ESX, and how many VM servers i can create with this OEM OS?

Regards

Jitendra Tyagi

Message was edited by: JTYAGI

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Josh26
Virtuoso
Virtuoso

You realised you replied to a three year old thread?

A lot of the information above has changed in recent license overhauls. Regardless, your question doesn't directly relate to the subject of this post - you'd be better off in your own thread.

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Texiwill
Leadership
Leadership

Hello,

This licensing model is specific to Hyper-V actually... Running one OS ontop of another is Hyper-V. You need a proper license for Hyper-V, then any VMs running on it.

Since, ESX,Xen, and KVM for that matter, do not run a version of the windows OS below another OS, this license then falls to, you need to have a license per physical system.

What is interesting here, is the question of whether this gives Hyper-V an unfair licensing practice? This is for Licensing lawyers to hash out.

But since you are tied to the physical hardware, then this is really a push to sell more datacenter licenses.

IMHO, this is not a good licensing practice.


Best regards,
Edward L. Haletky VMware Communities User Moderator, VMware vExpert 2009, 2010

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Podcast: Virtualization Security Round Table Podcast[/url]|Twitter: Texiwll[/url]

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Edward L. Haletky
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