VMWare Workstation Licensing

[Am_Here]

Hi,

My company recently acquired 7 VM licenses and I'm seeking some clarification on how they work. 

I assume they're tied to the hard disc of the machine they're used on and not the user. 

What happens if the hard disc dies? How is the license recovered then? 

And is it possible to view the record of the license, what hard disc it's bound to and which ones it was bound to?

Thank you. 

Moderator edit by wila: Moved thread from Technical Community Resources to VMware Workstation discussions

[fabio1975]

Ciao 

I didn't remember that there were VMware Workstation for VM licenses.
Normally the Vmware Workstation license is tied to the installation of the VMware Workstation software.
1 license = 1 Installation of Vmware Workstation.
1 Installation of Vmware Workstation = n Virtual Machine (limit only to the HW where VMware Workstation is installed)
Do you have more details of the license they sold you?

[Am_Here]

Hi Fabio,

Thanks for responding. 

See, we were covered by a site-wide license before, then it changed to individual licenses, so we al have VMware workstation already installed. The license is for Workstation Player version 16.

Is the license recoverable if the hard disc that it's tied to dies, do you know?

[wila]

Hi,

Seems I should have read the full thread ... will move it to Workstation Player discussions after my reply.

The answer is the same as for Workstation Pro discussions though.

First: your assumption is wrong.

The licenses are not tied to hardware physical id's. If a machine dies, you do not have to go and uninstall the existing license. Instead you take the license key that you wrote down for that machine and use it on the machine that replaces it. You only need to record which license you used where and stay within the license boundaries.

VMware Workstation / VMware Player does not use activation servers or similar techniques to enforce their license restrictions. They trust you to do the right thing.

--
Wil

[Am_Here]

Hi Wil, 

Thanks for responding. 

Perfect, that's what I wanted to know. I thought that the license transfer request form might be applicable in that situation, but I guess not. 

So you have to keep the record yourself of which license keys go on which machines? We only received one activation code/serial number for seven machines, so if one died when the other six are in use it would be possible to use that serial number to license its replacement, without notifying VM support?

[wila]

Hi,

For the record... I do not work for VMware, nor am I a licensing expert.
For an official answer... contact VMware sales and/or VMware support.

But yes, you don't need to contact support to replace a machine, it will just work.

--
Wil

[Am_Here]

Hi Wil, 

I've been trying to get through to VM support, and it's been awkward to say the least. 

I'll keep trying for an answer, but thank you for the guidance. 

[RaSystemlord]

Of course, it is always good to have an archive of every software that you have downloaded and installed together with their licensing keys. They is no real substitute for this protocol. 

However, My VMware has the licenses that you have bought, with their serial keys and you can look from there. I have never noticed anything else than the number of computers that one license key is meant for, not necessary it is only one. Thus you can do whatever you wish when you don't exceed the number of licenses that you have bought.

As others here have stated, I'm not a VMware employee, but I cannot see any reason for a more official answer.