Adding ESXi Hosts to vSphere Client

[wil2liv]

We have 7 ESX Servers and 8 ESXi Servers.

Six of the ESX Servers are sitting in one cluster and the last one is in it's own cluster.

It's nice to manage all 7 ESX Servers within one vSphere Client.

The 8 ESXi Servers I have been managing each with their own vSphere Client connection.

Is it possible to create an ESXi cluster within vSphere and add each of the ESXi hosts to that "cluster?" Or even one per "cluster?"

I've tried and I get the following error.

"License not available to perform the operation. The ESXi 4 Single Server license for Host 192.168.1.10 does not include vCenter agent for ESX Server. Upgrade the license."

We don't have a budget to upgrade more liceneses. I'm not looking to do HA or DRS on these ESXi hosts. I would just like to be able to view the Servers running on them for inventory purposes without having to have 9 vSphere Clients open.

We have a fully license vCenter Server so I would think we should be able to add these ESXi Servers.

Any help would be appreciated.

[golddiggie]

Sounds like the ESXi hosts are using the free licenses, not the ones that were purchased... If you have the additional licenses for the ESXi hosts, then you can apply that to them and then pull them into your vCenter Server and manage them as you like (either pull them into the existing cluster, or make a new one for the ESXi hosts, your choice)...

I'm going to assume that your vCenter Server license is unlimited due to the amount of hosts you have on it... Is that correct?

VMware VCP4

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[AntonVZhbankov · Accepted solution]

You must have at least vSphere Standard license for each host you want to manage with vCenter. ESXi Free can not be connected to vCenter.

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MCSA, MCTS Hyper-V, VCP 3/4, VMware vExpert

http://blog.vadmin.ru

[wil2liv]

Right, they are the free licenses. The licenses we purchased are being used on the ESX Servers we purchased them for.

But what I'm asking is, can I manage free ESXi licenced servers with vSphere / vCenter or does it have to be upgraded to ESX?

Or is there some inexpensive version of ESXi that I don't know about that will allow me to add them to vSphere?

Better put would be - Do I have to upgrade ESXi to ESX in order to manage them in once place?

If so, then I guess the answer to my question would be - You can't manage ESXi Servers with vSphere / vCenter.

Confused.....

[golddiggie]

Licenses for the host servers are identical between ESX and ESXi... So, it would be the same as what you spent for the ESX licenses you have now, if you want to have all the same features across both sets of hosts... Otherwise, you'll need to make two clusters, assigning the host licenses accordingly...

Review the host licensing features online and then see what it will cost you to get the correct set... You could get a volume discount by going all eight at one shot... I would also wait until the second half of the quarter (but keep checking with your VAR) to see if VMware comes out with any promotional deals...

Look here: http://www.vmware.com/vmwarestore/vsphere_purchaseoptions.html at the different products and the cost per socket (and core count)... You'll be able to pull the hosts into your existing vCenter Server (Standard) once you've applied the licenses to them... Keep in mind, those are raw/MSRP pricing... Check with your VAR for better pricing (you should be able to get some kind of deal on 8 hosts, assuming dual sockets, so 16 socket licenses)...

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[DSTAVERT]

There is no difference between ESX and ESXi as far as licensing goes. You decide the license level to purchase and then decide whether to install ESX or ESXi.

[wil2liv]

What is the difference between ESX and ESXi? I thought that ESXi was the free slimmed down version that can't do templates, vMotion, HA, etc with it.

[AntonVZhbankov]

Not really. ESXi is slimmed down version without RHEL-based service console. Because of that VMware can give it for free.

But actually all the functions like HA, vMotion etc are controlled by license (serial number). You can just enter serial number for vSphere Enterprise Plus on ESXi and you'll instantaneously get ALL the functions.

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MCSA, MCTS Hyper-V, VCP 3/4, VMware vExpert

http://blog.vadmin.ru