vCenter License edition question + distributed switch

[Park3r]

hello,

I would like to clarifiy about the vCenter license I have and what is it supposed to cover.

Background:

I purchased VI3 VirtualCenter Enterprise license a year ago. I upgraded the server to vSphere4 vCenter few weeks ago and applied the key code I found in my account on vmware.com. So far so good, but it said my VI3 VC license was converted to vSphere Standard.

The ESX servers are 4.0 enterprise.

Now - looking at vsphere_pricing.pdf it looks like I have lot of features available that are offered in editions such as Advanced or Enterprise.

In the table below I made bold few features i clearly see available and which are supposed to be in higher packages than Standard.

So my confusion is - what license do I actually have? Standard as it says in vCenter license tab, or a higher one since clearly there are features available which shouldn't be in Standard?

vSphere Standard includes: • VMware ESXi and VMware ESX (deployment-time choice)2 • VMware vStorage VMFS • Four-way virtual SMP • VMware vCenter Server Agent • VMware vStorage APIs / VMware Consolidated Backup (VCB) • VMware vCenter Update Manager • VMware HA • VMware vStorage Thin Provisioning

vSphere Advanced includes: • VMware ESXi and VMware ESX (deployment-time choice) • VMware vStorage VMFS • Four-way virtual SMP • VMware vCenter Server Agent • VMware vStorage APIs / VMware Consolidated Backup (VCB) • VMware vCenter Update Manager • VMware High Availability (HA) • VMware vStorage Thin Provisioning • VMware VMotion • VMware Hot Add • VMware Fault Tolerance • VMware Data Recovery • VMware vShield Zones

vSphere Enterprise 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 HA* • VMware vStorage Thin Provisioning • VMware VMotion • VMware Hot Add • VMware Fault Tolerance • VMware Data Recovery • VMware vShield Zones * • VMware Storage VMotion* • VMware DRS • VMware DPM

vSphere Enterprise Plus includes: • VMware ESXi and VMware ESX (deployment-time choice) • VMware vStorage VMFS • Eight-way virtual SMP • VMware vCenter Server Agent • VMware vStorage APIs / VCB • VMware vCenter Update Manager * • VMware HA* • VMware vStorage Thin Provisioning • VMware VMotion • VMware Hot Add • VMware Fault Tolerance • VMware Data Recovery • VMware vShield Zones • VMware Storage VMotion • VMware DRS • VMware DPM • VMware vNetwork Distributed Switch • VMware Host Profiles

Now the 2nd question (may be i should have separated these, but I somehow feel it may be related to the first one) - when i create a distributed switch, the 'hosts' tab is empty. I right click and select 'add host to distributed virtual switch', but again it gives me a window with no hosts to chose from.

Is this a license issue or a config issue?

[VMmatty · Accepted solution]

If you have VI3 Enterprise then it upgraded you to vSphere Enterprise. And based on the features you describe below, it looks like the Enterprise license is what is enabled in vCenter. If you click on Licensing in vCenter (Home\Administration\Licensing), do you see your vSphere Enterprise licenses there?

As for the distributed switches, that option is only available in vSphere Enterprise Plus so you won't be able to use them. If you need the features of Enterprise Plus there is a promotion running until Dec. 15th that allows you to upgrade your Enterprise licenses to Enterprise Plus licenses for a big discount. You should speak with your reseller about it if you are interested..

[Troy_Clavell]

have a look at this blog as well

http://blogs.vmware.com/kb/2009/07/got-vmware-licensing-questions.html