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Kal4601
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Problems adding ESXi 4 and ESXi 3.5 to VCenter4

Hello All-

I have not been able to get any help from tech support or licensing tech support from VMWare. The excuse is that VCenter is too new to know the correct answer. Everyone has a different answer.

Question:

I have installed VCenter 4 Standard server. I want to manage ESXi 4 and ESXi3.5 hosts. When I try to add these hosts to the VCenter inventory, it says ,no licenses available. I have added ESXi 4 (free) license to the VCenter but it still does not work. By the way; I have ESX4 hosts (Licensed) that I had no problem adding to the inventory. Attached is the error.

I appreciate the help but please only respond if you know the answer for sure. I have waisted days with tech guys in India with no good results.

Thanks.

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ShanVMLand
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It looks like license problem with ESX4i/3i hosts. I hope you are using Free verison of the both ESX. Problem start here only. If you need to manage those ESXi Free version by vCenter, you need to have license for them, unless you can't manage it. To manage those ESX free version, it needs vCenter agent. That agent can be deployed only licensed versions of ESXi. Please refer the attached licensing document for vSphere.

Shan

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ShanVMLand
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It looks like license problem with ESX4i/3i hosts. I hope you are using Free verison of the both ESX. Problem start here only. If you need to manage those ESXi Free version by vCenter, you need to have license for them, unless you can't manage it. To manage those ESX free version, it needs vCenter agent. That agent can be deployed only licensed versions of ESXi. Please refer the attached licensing document for vSphere.

Shan

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admin
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I think you have to point the vCenter to a license server if you want to manage legacy (pre 4.0) hosts. To do this

Login to vCenter server

Go to Administration--> vCenter Server settings

In the licensing--> License server settings section, enter the license server address.

Hope this works Smiley Happy

-Sandeep

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schepp
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ESX 4 hosts can get their license directly from the vCenter Server. ESX 3.5 hosts still need a seperate license server. You can download a flexlm license server in the download section of the old Infrastructure 3. Then install it on e.g. your vCenter Server, load your 3.5 license file and point the 3.5 hosts to it.

This way I'm able to manage 3.5 hosts with a vCenter4 at the moment.

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Kal4601
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alright everyone. Thank you for your replies. I have been able to get the answer directly from VMWare sales. The answer is that you cannot manage ESXi 4 and ESXi 3.5 (free versions) through VCenter. You have to upgrade the license to ESX.

Once again thanks a bunch for the effort.

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ShanVMLand
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Thatswhat, I mentioned in my earlier post. Smiley Happy

Glad to hear that your problem solved!!!

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a2alpha
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I just wanted to comment on the resolution stated earlier. I don't believe that this is correct that you cannot manage ESXi through vCenter.

I have extracted this from the VMware vSphere pricing guide: please see the highlighted part where it states that your choice is between ESX and ESXi at the time of deployment.

VMware vSphere Editions for Small Business

vSphere Essentials and vSphere Essentials Plus are both targeted to smaller deployments. They provide all-in-one

license solutions and include licenses for three physical servers (up to two processors each) and a central management

server. Both editions are self-contained solutions and may not be decoupled or combined with other vSphere editions.

vSphere Essentials provides an all-in-one solution for small offices to virtualize three physical servers for consolidating

and managing applications to reduce hardware and operating costs with a low up-front investment.vSphere Essentials includes:

  • VMware ESXi and VMware ESX (deployment-time choice)

  • VMware vStorage VMFS

  • Four-way virtual SMP

  • VMware vCenter Server Agent

  • VMware vStorage APIs / VCB

  • VMware vCenter Update Manager

  • VMware vCenter Server for Essentials

vSphere Essentials is available for USD$995 including one year of subscription. Support is optional and available on a per incident basis.

Hope this helps,

Dan

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rsmclane
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The way it worked in vCenter 2.5 was that to manage a host, either ESX, or ESXi requred the use of a "VirtualCenter Agent for ESX Server" license. These licence keys were part of the ESX Enterprise/Foundation/etc bundles that you purchased. However, they are manged and handed out by the vCenter when a host is connected. You didn't have to point ESXi at the vCenter's License Server as a licensing method. It sounds like vCenter 4 works the same way. So while you can use ESXi, you still have to have the licenses.

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