Can't add a ESXi Hypervisor 6.0 Foundation License to VCenter Server 6.0 Standard

[neilreuel]

Hello,

I'm trying to get some clarification about this issue that I'm having.  I'm trying to add a host into my fully licensed VCenter Server 6.0 but not having any luck doing so.  The ESXi hypervisor has an embedded ESXi Vsphere 6.0 Foundation license (UCS Server BE7K series) and the VCenter server cannot interpret this license as a valid one, nor give me the option to add it as an evaluation mode.  I can't click on the "Next" button until I assign it a new key.  I was under the impression that a fully licensed and registered VCenter Server 6.x can manage Foundation, Essential, and standard ESXi licenses.

Any thoughts?  Thanks for any assistance.

Neil O.

[daphnissov · Accepted solution]

No, a vCenter Server "Standard" edition cannot manage Essentials or Foundations licenses because those are "kit" licenses. Vice versa is also true. Those licenses work as groups, so you cannot mix and match them to get a working vSphere.

[neilreuel]

Thanks for the swift response.  So I guess in order for these ESXi hypervisors that have embedded Foundation licenses to be managed by VCenter, it has to be VCenter Foundation edition as well.  This will have substantial limitation because this VCenter version can only manage 3-4 ESXi's I believe.

Thanks again.

[daphnissov]

That's correct, and that's how those licenses are supposed to work. Foundations is an extremely limited set of features and functionality and, like Essentials, is only designed for small scale.