ESXi 3.5 U4 licensing problem - invalid license content

[Fred_Weston]

I've just installed ESXi 3.5 U4 on a Dell server and an HP server. Both are currently running in evaluation mode, and I'm trying to enter the serial number I got when I registered for the free ESXi download, but I'm getting an error that says "the uploaded license content was not valid" when I select serial number under license source in the VI client and enter the provided serial number. I just created a new vmware.com account and re-registered to get a different serial number, but that one yields the same error. The webpage that gives me the serial number indicates that it should work for ESXi 3.5 U2 or later. What gives?

[bulletprooffool]

Fred,

Are you typing the serial out, or copying and pasting?

Make sure that you are not [pasting in any spaces or line breaks.

[Fred_Weston]

I've tried both ways, pasting and manually typing. Same result each way.

[kjb007 · Accepted solution]

Go back into your account on vmware. Go into 'find serial number'. Change license type to eval, and see what serial it lists. Try that and make sure it matches what you had.

-KjB

VMware vExpert

[Fred_Weston]

That's strange, the serial # listed on my account when I searched for it this way isn't the same as the serial # I got when I clicked through from the e-mail I got to activate my license. I tried this serial # and it worked, weird. Thanks.