Finding missing licenses?

[mwdicksion]

Hi all,

I'm hoping some of you can help me with an unusual question. I've been asked to help a client upgrade their VI3 infrastructure to vSphere, which ought to be straightforward enough. The problem is, their VI3 licenses don't show up in the license portal anywhere, and the client isn't really good at keeping records. How do I go about putting the installed VI3 licenses under support so that they can get upgraded? Can I get the necessary information out of the license server or the .lic file somehow? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!

- Matt

[FranckRookie]

Hi Matt,

If you can't find the licenses using the VI Client, you can find the licence files at the following locations:

- if you have vCenter and a license server, open the Windows Explorer to "C:\Program Files\VMware\VMware License Server\Licenses\"

- if you have single hosts, go to "/etc/vmware/vmware.lic"

Good luck

Regards

Franck

[a_p_]

Matt,

if your client does not have the original SnS contract number, you may ask your distributor. With your client's data (name, email, date of purchase, ...), the distributor should be able to find out which licenses your client has as well as the status of the client's SnS and he can also give you a quote on the renewal if necessary.

André

[mwdicksion]

Thanks for the replies guys! Near as I can tell these licenses were never under any SnS, which is a big part of the problem. If I get the .lic file off the license server as you suggest, will that be enough to put the licenses on a SnS contract? Appreciate the help, thanks!

[a_p_]

The more information you can give to your distributor or VMware, the higher the chance they find the original contracts/date of purchase. I'm almost sure there was an SnS, because the licenses are usually sold with at least 1 year (mandatory) SnS.

If there is no SnS or it is expired, the cost of a new SnS will be higher than a renewal of a current SnS. However, I think it is possible to put the licenses under SnS.

I'd suggest you go ahead and call VMware. For phone numbers, see http://www.vmware.com/support/us_support.html

André