Specifications
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Managing Licenses on ESXi Hosts on page 79
You can license an ESXi host that is connected to vCenter Server or if your vSphere Client is connected
directly to the host. You can also query which features are licensed on a host or set a host to evaluation
mode.
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Managing Licenses on ESX/ESXi 3.5 Hosts on page 80
vCenter Server 5.0 requires a license server to manage licenses on ESX/ESXi 3.5. For ESX/ESXi 4.x and
later hosts, vCenter Server 5.0 does not require a license server.
View License Information
You can view the license keys available in the vCenter Server license inventory from the Licensing page in the
vSphere Client.
Prerequisites
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Verify that you have the Global.Licenses privilege.
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Ensure that the vSphere Client is connected to the vCenter Server system.
Procedure
1 In the vSphere Client, select Home > Licensing.
You can view and manage the license keys available in the vCenter Server inventory from the
Management tab.
2 (Optional) Click Refresh.
3 In the Management tab, select a sorting option for the license information.
Option Description
Product
Displays the available license keys listed by product.
License key
Displays the available license keys listed by license key.
Asset
Displays the available license keys listed by the asset to which they are
assigned: host, vCenter Server, or solution.
The Management tab displays the available license keys listed by product, license key, or asset. You can right-
click any of the listed items to add, assign, and remove license keys and copy license information to your
clipboard.
What to do next
If you have a license key with zero assigned capacity, you can:
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Assign the license key to assets that require licensing.
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Remove the license key if the key is no longer required.
You should not keep unassigned license keys in the vCenter Server license inventory.
Add a License Key and Assign It to an Asset
After you obtain a license key, you can add it to the vCenter Server license inventory and assign the license
key to assets.
Prerequisites
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Verify that you have the Global.Licenses privilege.
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Ensure that the vSphere Client is connected to the vCenter Server system.
vCenter Server and Host Management
76 VMware, Inc.