6.5.1

The License Service in vSphere 6.5
In vSphere 6.5, the License Service is part of the Platform Services Controller. The License Service delivers
centralized license management and reporting functionality to vSphere and to products that integrate with
vSphere.
You can use the License Service with newly installed vSphere 6.0 and later environments. You can also use
the License Service with environments that are upgraded from vSphere 5.x to vSphere 6.0 and later. For
details about upgrading the license management in vCenter Server 5.x to the License Service in vSphere 6.0
and later, see the vSphere Upgrade guide.
The License Service provides an inventory of licenses in the vSphere environment, and manages the license
assignments for ESXi hosts, vCenter Server systems, and clusters with enabled vSAN. The License Service
also manages the license assignments for products that integrate with vSphere, such as vRealize Operations
Manager, and VMware Site Recovery Manager.
If your vSphere environment has several Platform Services Controllers that are joined through one vCenter
Single Sign-on domain, the licensing inventory is replicated across all Platform Services Controllers. This
way, the licensing data for each asset and all available licenses are replicated across all the
Platform Services Controllers. Each individual Platform Services Controller contains a copy of that data and
licenses for all the Platform Services Controllers.
N Licensing data is replicated across multiple Platform Services Controllers on a 10-minute interval.
For example, suppose that your environment consists of two Platform Services Controllers that are
connected to four vCenter Server systems each, and every vCenter Server system has 10 hosts connected to
it. The License Service stores information about the license assignments and uses for all eight vCenter Server
systems, and the 80 hosts that are connected to those systems. The License Service also lets you manage the
licensing for all eight vCenter Server systems and the 80 hosts that are connected to them through the
vSphere Web Client.
Licensing for Environments with vCenter Server Systems 6.0 and
Later, and 5.5
If your vSphere 6.0 or later environment consists of vCenter Server 6.0 or later, and 5.5 systems, consider the
dierences in the license management and reporting between vSphere 6.0 and later, and vSphere 5.5.
The License Service in vSphere 6.0 and later manages the licensing data for all ESXi hosts, vSAN clusters,
and solutions that are associated with the vCenter Server 6.0 and later systems in the vSphere environment.
However, every standalone vCenter Server 5.5 system manages the licensing data only for the hosts,
solutions, and vSAN clusters that are associated with that system. Licensing data for linked vCenter Server
5.5 systems is replicated only for the vCenter Server 5.5 systems in the group.
Due to the architectural changes in vSphere 6.0 and later, you can either manage the licensing data for all
assets that are associated with all vCenter Server 6.0 and later systems in vSphere, or manage the licensing
data for individual vCenter Server 5.5 systems or a group of linked vCenter Server 5.5 systems. The
licensing interface in the vSphere Web Client 6.0 and later allows you to select between all vCenter Server
6.0 and later systems and vCenter Server 5.5 systems.
Chapter 7 License Management and Reporting
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