Migrate ESXi to ESX

[tirher]

Hello,

        If i need to change my server ESXi to ESX, I only need to buy a licence and put the serial or do I need something else?

        I have 3 ESXi version 5.0 and i want to upgrade to essentials.

Thanks.

[weinstein5]

If you want to stay on version 5 there is no longer an ESX versiion but if you are looking to set a version 4 of ESX than you willl need to get the license key for version 4 and apply it to an ESX 4 host -

[Troy_Clavell]

why would you want to go back to ESX? What benefit will that provide to you?  ESX is no longer offered, as of 4.1.

[kiranchavan30]

if you are downgrading the version then you have to go for new license key. But I would like to suggest you stay with version 5. Is there any issues you are facing with version 5?

regards,

KC.

[a_p_]

I may be wrong, but I think there's a misunderstanding about ESXi.

ESXi is not only available as a limited free version. Assigning the appropriate licenses (like Essentials) will enable the advanced features. The binaries for all editions are the same, so you won't have to do anything else but assigning the license keys.

André

[11satya]

hope you are right

_________________________________
Good luck!

[mwpreston]

If you main goal is just to upgrade from free to essentials, then all you need to do is apply your lisense key to the same esxi host.  As of version 5 there is no longer an ESX version being released, so if your plan is true to the title of your post, in order for you to migrate to ESX, you will have to do a complete re-install using ESX version 4.1 or earlier...

Unless you have an absolute need for the service console that is offered in ESX, I would stick with the latest version ESXi 5.  ESX has a larger footprint, requires more updating, and to tell you the truth, will at sometime be declared end of life by support.  ESXi offers all of the virtualization features that ESX does...