esxi 7 (or 8?) free license restrictions

[MCHALEY]

I've done a bit of research and I see the restrictions to the free license is 2 physical processors and, I believe, each VM is restricted to 8 cores. I'm considering a build which would have two xeon processors at about 14 cores each for a total of 28 cores. Is there a restriction to the number of cores on the physical processors?

Thanks!

[jsm79]

ESXi license isn't free anymore. You can download a fully functioning version of ESXi 7 or 8 that will work for 60 days.

The cores per CPU licensing threshold is now 32, so your 14 core CPU should be good.

If this is for a home lab, or something similar, you might consider a VMUG Advantage membership. It's $200 per year, and gives you a fully functional vSphere 7 or 8 license for personal use, as well as several other VMware products (vSAN, NSX, Tanzu, etc):

https://www.vmug.com/membership/vmug-advantage-membership/

[Kinnison]

Hello,

What do you mean that the "VMware vSphere Hypervisor" also known as ESXi "free" license is no longer available?!
It is a little less immediate to find it, but it is still available, here is the link for version 7/8:

https://customerconnect.vmware.com/en/evalcenter?p=free-esxi7
https://customerconnect.vmware.com/en/evalcenter?p=free-esxi8

Regards,
Ferdinando

[jsm79]

Kinnison,

You and I are saying the same thing in 2 different ways. I guess you could still call it a "free license", but I call it a 60 day evaluation license. If you sign up for either of those evals you just linked to, it's only good for 60 days.

[CallistoJag]

My understanding was that if you did not enter a license key you get the evaluation which is unrestricted but limited to 60 days. If you apply for and get the license key, this does not expire, but it has a much more limited feature set. To answer the original question, yes VM cores are limited, but the cores of the ESXi host are not.

[MCHALEY]

If I'm already using 7 and have a key with no expiration, I can just use that key on the upgraded machine. 2 proc, 14 cores each seems to be in line with the license.

[scott28tt]

vSphere Hypervisor is a licence key, and not time limited.

It is not the same as installing ESXi and not entering any licence key at all, that's a 60-day evaluation.

[e_espinel]

Hello.
If you have a VMware vSphere license either paid or free, you can move it from the old server to the new one without problems.
I add several links on the subject of free license (VMware vSphere hypervisor)

https://kb.vmware.com/s/article/2107518

https://www.ubackup.com/enterprise-backup/vmware-esxi-free-limitations.html

[Kinnison]

Hello jsm79,

Sorry but that's not the case, the license you get has expiration set as "never" and identifies the product as "vSphere 7 Hypervisor", which is the one I requested and applied to a host a few minutes ago. The fact that the software thus licensed has strong limitations does not make it a "trial", which on the contrary has all the functions active at the "Enterprise Plus" level for a period of 60 days.

Personally, I don't make particular use of the so-called "free" licenses because I have both licenses obtained through the VMUG "advantage" program and commercial (paid) licenses, but sometimes in certain contexts that comes in handy too.

Regards,
Ferdinando

[jsm79]

I stand corrected! I learn something new every day. Never knew there was a "Hypervisor 8" product license. I thought there were just vSphere 60 day trials.

[Kinnison]

Hello,

It happens, I discovered the VMUG "Advantage" program years after I turned to a VAR, as a consumer not as a company, to purchase an "Essential Kit" to build a "homelab" (about ten years ago). 😂

Regards,
Ferdinando