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xchangepatewon
Contributor
Contributor

licensing problem with esxi host using eval license

We just purchased three x3650 M4 from IBM for our virtual environment. Due to time constraints i need to get this up and running so i can roll out some virtual machines for an application we must have ready to install and start testing this application before we go live with it in a few weeks.

this host has two 256gb SSD in a Raid 1 config. These are just temporary until we get our netapp 4243 shelves with 600gb 15k drives in.  The esxi USB key offered from IBM was backordered, so they sent ths system with a blank key, they also sent me a link where i could download the custom IBM esxi image. i burned it to a cd then installed it onto the blank USB key in the server.  i have the management network setup and can communicate with the host via the vsphere client loaded on my workstation.  when i go to enter the evaluation license key i am getting the following messages and errors.

when i click on configuration>license features at the top it says:

you can unlock all esx server features for up to 60 days by activating this hosts evaluation period.

When i click edit it says eval mode no license key. Fair enough so i enter the eval key i got from vm website when i registered for the vsphere vcenter and operations manager suite. and get the following message:

License downgrade warning

Some features will become unavailable after license assignment

Host: my host name

from: unlimited

to: unlicensed

The following features will become unavailable

* Up to 32GB of memory

* Up to 8-way SMP

When i click ok i get the following error:

An Error occurred when assigning the specified license key: License is not valid for this product.

the eval key was for VMware vCenter Operations Management Suite 5.7 (supports VMware vCenter Server 5.1 only).

My ESXi host is running 5.1.0

I tried registering for a new key using a different email address and i get the same thing.

What could be causing this? And how do i fix it?

10 Replies
julienvarela
Commander
Commander

Hi,

When you install a ESXi server, you automatically have 60 days of evaluation with all fonctionnalities. You don't need to activate a license. The license you got is for VMware vCenter operations management Suite and not for ESXi.

Evaluation

In the evaluation mode, you can access and use all features of ESX. The evaluation period is 60 days and begins as soon as you power on the ESX machine. To make full use of the evaluation period, make an early decision on whether to use evaluation mode. If you do not enter a vSphere license key during installation, ESX is installed in the evaluation mode.

Note: Select the evaluation option to enable the evaluation mode. You do not receive a license key for evaluating vSphere.

Here for more information about licensing : VMware KB: Licensing ESXi 5.x and vCenter Server 5.x

Normally, to see how many days you can use your ESXi, just click on your host and you will an information.

Regards,

Julien.

Regards, J.Varela http://vthink.fr
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xchangepatewon
Contributor
Contributor

why is it saying to unlock all features activate the 60 license?  And where do i go to activate the eval license?

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julienvarela
Commander
Commander

Ok ,

What do you see when you select evaluation key?  The key is maybe expired?

esxieval.jpg

Regards,

Julien

Regards, J.Varela http://vthink.fr
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xchangepatewon
Contributor
Contributor

this is what i am seeing. It says license period expired in the bottom right corner which doesnt make sense cause i just got this server delivered last wednesday and installed esxi on friday morning. When i open the license features option in the configuration tab i see this:

Screen Shot 2013-07-21 at 5.41.34 PM.png

Screen Shot 2013-07-21 at 5.54.38 PM.png

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zXi_Gamer
Virtuoso
Virtuoso

Just to confirm, is this esx host added to any VC?

Do check the time on the ESX server and make it to ntp and check the license issue again.

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xchangepatewon
Contributor
Contributor

This is the first esxi host for us on our network. We are still finalizing our vmware licensing with our vendor. We will have vcenter, but so far it has not been licensed or setup yet in our environment.

i have ntp setup. it is pointing to our DC's on my production network. I will double check that again, but on friday it was connected and pulling the right time.

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zXi_Gamer
Virtuoso
Virtuoso

i just got this server delivered last wednesday and installed esxi on friday morning.

Hmmmm. quite the intriguing part. When you got the server and installed esxi, did you happen to change the time after that.

Because I had similar issue since my server bios time was pointing to 2010 when I got it and after esxi install it was giving same error. i had to change the bios time, reinstall esxi and it was working fine.

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xchangepatewon
Contributor
Contributor

esxi-memory limit license error.png

the time was off by 4 hours early in the bios. i made the adjustment and rebooted the esxi host. i did not reinstall esxi. It still tells me the license has expired. when i enter in the code i get the following message now. and i am still unable to assign the key.  to enable all the features.

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zXi_Gamer
Virtuoso
Virtuoso

Finally, the cat is out  of the box..

The message you are seeing is the limitation of Evaluation license key which limits to 32GB. Check here

Either you need to remove one memory module or get an enterprise license Smiley Happy

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xchangepatewon
Contributor
Contributor

Yea, i am still waiting for my damn quote from my vendor for our enterprise plus licenses.  Some other vendor registered his company as the vendor of choice for us and the vmware project even though we were not working with them. Long story short, people are jumping through hoops trying to get the vendor we did choose the correct pricing that would match if they were registered.  Soooo i am stuck sitting here waiting, calling, trying light fires under there butts to get me the quote so we can sign off on it and get our keys.

I don't understand why they put that limitation in there? Why not just make it "FULLY FUNCTIONAL" for 60 days with 128GB of memory or 1TB of memory so we can you know EVALUATE THE PRODUCT AS INTENDED for our environment and then revert back to running only with 32gb maximum after??? Is that to much to ask.   To me this is not fully functional if i have to start yanking out physical dimm's of memory and alter my host by pulling parts out to get it licensed...

ANNOYING! Another dynamite idea put into affect probably from the  bean counters....Sigh!

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