Question regarding subscription renewal for vSphere Essentials home lab

[sutusa]

First time posting on the forum here.  Apologies if this is not the right location for a question like this.

I have a home lab that I have setup using the "VMware vSphere 5 Essentials Kit" that I had purchased from the VMware Online Store.  It was a pretty fun project as it let me get more familiar with the technologies I use at work without the same repercussions for mistakes.

To be honest though, I have never gave much thought to the support and subscriptions for it.. the setup was really just meant for learning and being the main server for my home projects.  The cost for me to purchase the Essentials Kit was a bit over $500 a year ago, and it seems that my currently still active subscription (my account shows "Subscription Only" for the Essentials Kit) allows me to download the latest patches and maybe even upgrade to a new major release in the future.  I would like to continue the subscription as it seems to be more cost effective than letting the subscription lapse and then renew.. compared the initial $500, a one or three year renewal looks pretty good - and I would get to continue being on the latest versions of the vSphere Essentials.

I thought it would be as simple as clicking renew somewhere on my account but that is starting to not look like an available option.  I think that I'm being pushed to get in touch with a partner company for subscription renewals (is this sounding right?).  It seems like a bit overkill to me for a little home lab like mine.  Is the only way to renew a subscription via a partner company?  If I'm completely off-track here, please let me know.  If i'm right here, does anyone know of (or recommend) a partner company that handles small renewals like mine would be?

Maybe i'm hesitating for nothing, but I thought I would ask those that understand the subscription and support better than me.

Thank you for the help!

Dan

[Jayden56]

Hi

Welcome to the communities.

As you have purchaed online better if you contact directly to vmware .

Take care!

[a_p_]

Please take a look at VMware KB: Support contract and renewals for VMware Products FAQ to find out about the options for renewals.

André

[sutusa · Accepted solution]

To answer my own question, I found out that for users with contracts under $3,000.. that it is possible to do an Online Renewal without needing to go through a partner.  It turns out that the link to the online renewal page is only available through the 60, 30, 15 days in advance warning emails that are sent to the account holder (which is how I found it).  The renewal page linked me to this FAQ PDF that I found helpful.  I was able to successfully renew my subscription through the link.

http://www.vmware.com/files/pdf/myvmware/vmware-online-renewals-faqs-en.pdf

The important bits to me were the below (from the FAQ):

====

Q: Can customers access Online Renewals from VMware.com or My VMware?

A: Access to the online renewal platform is only through a direct "link" sent to customers through the renewal email communication.

Q: When will VMware send me the online renewal link?

A: The link for customers to renew online will be included on email reminders sent 60-30-15 days in advance of contract expiration.

Q: Can customers renew all their renewal contracts online?

A: Customers will be able to renew only those contracts with an overall value below $3,000 USD. Customers will have the ability to

  upgrade to a higher service level or a longer term as desired.

====

Hope that helps future home lab enthusiasts like me.

Dan