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Mike1414
Contributor
Contributor

VMware vSphere Essentials Kit Question

Hi All, I'm looking into purchasing the VMware vSphere Essentials Kit. I know its a 3 host, 2 socket per hosts but, my question is that the 3 servers I have are running all different versions of Vsphere. They are all Cisco UCS C series servers.....all have a valid Vsphere license. I have a mix of version ESXi 4, 5.5, and 6.5.

If I buy this licenses will I be able to manage them all since they are all different versions? Also is the Vcenter server that comes with this kit an appliance/ova?

Thanks,

Mike

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6 Replies
diegodco31
Leadership
Leadership

Hi

If I buy this licenses will I be able to manage them all since they are all different versions?

Yes, no problem.

Also is the Vcenter server that comes with this kit an appliance/ova?

What's incluied

pastedImage_1.png

VMware vSphere Essentials Kits - Official VMware Store

The following chart is a visual representation of the different vCenter Server licensing options and their available features.

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Diego Oliveira
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/dcodiego
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daphnissov
Immortal
Immortal

No, you won't be able to manage all of those under a single vCenter. This isn't a limitation of the license type but of the versions. You should plan on getting all of those other ESXi hosts up to version 6.5. At a minimum, all hosts must be at 5.5 to be managed by a single vCenter on version 6.5.

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sk84
Expert
Expert

This Knowledge Base article will answer your questions: VMware Knowledge Base

It is not supported that the vCenter version is older than the managed ESXi host version. This means that vCenter 5.5 cannot manage an ESXi 6.5 host. And you have at least one ESXi 6.5 host. Therefore, the vCenter or vSphere license must be at least version 6.5. And a vSphere 6.0 or 6.5 license cannot be applied to an ESXi 5.5 or 4.x host.

Also, ESXi 4.x isn't supported anymore. So, from this side too, you will have trouble managing the ESXi 4.x host with vCenter version 6.0 or 6.5.

Therefore, I recommend that you upgrade all hosts at least to version 6.0 (please check the HCL), deploy the vCenter appliance in version 6.5 and order the vSphere Essentials Kit in version 6.5.

--- Regards, Sebastian VCP6.5-DCV // VCP7-CMA // vSAN 2017 Specialist Please mark this answer as 'helpful' or 'correct' if you think your question has been answered correctly.
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Mike1414
Contributor
Contributor

ok...so just to confirm it sounds like vcenter 6.5 is backwards compatible to at least version 5.5? Also the VMware vSphere Essentials Kit Question includes updates can I use that to upgrade my version 4 and version 5.5 hosts to version 6 or do I need to by another license to do that?

Thanks,

Mike

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Ganeshpal
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

Yes, but you check with VMware licence team. Could they upgrade or buy new one.

Br,

Ganeshprasad Pal

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IRIX201110141
Champion
Champion

As already stated above its not a question about licensing. When buying a new license you always buy the current version. Within your myvmware.com account you than can downgrade to the version you need.

- partially downgrading  of your 6 CPU license is possible

- Iam not sure if you can downgrade to a version which isnt a supportet any more

- Support for vsphere 5.5 ends 6 weeks ago

- Yes a vCenter 6.5 can manage ESXi 6.x, 5.5

- vCenter needs same or newer version as your newest ESXi

- As long as you renew your subscription youre allowed to use the most rescent version which is available

You can easily check on VMware Product Interoperability Matrices  which vCenter supports which ESXi version.

Regards,

Joerg

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