i have a physical server with windows OEM license installed. now i want to install ESX on it and leverage the key to install a windows guest OS.
i have found a physical key and virtual key with this machine,
1) should i deactivate the physical key before i use the virtual key?
2) how to do the deactivation and activation?
anybody has similiar experience? thanks in advance!
Use the virtual serial.
But depending of the Windows version you have only some instances licended:
* Windows Server Standard = 1 instance
* Windows Server Enterprise = 4 instances
* Windows Server Datacenter = all instances
Andre
You do not need to de-activate the original. The type of Windows license as Andre indicated will determine how many times you can activate the license key(s)
is the number 1,4, unlimited a technical limitation?
if we install one VM, activated it and convert it to template, when we deploy from this template, do we need to active the VM again?
Is basically a commercial limitation.
But depending on how you active you could reach the max number of activations.
If you deploy from template or clone a VM with customization and new SID generation a new activation is usually required.
Andre
can i vmotion a VM with windows OEM license to another physical machine?
Technically this may work, however you may need to double check whether the Microsoft EULA allows to run the VM on another hardware.
André
As written is not a technical problem... you can without issue.
But on the license side you have to be compliant...
Andre
you dont have to deactivate it and i dont think there is any option to deactivate the license you installed before.. you just have to use the virtual key you have with you and everything should be okay.