You must have a base license and then you can add an Add-on license on top of the base license.

Base Licenses

The following base license types are available.

Base License Available Starting with NSX 4.2:

  • vSphere 8 Enterprise Plus for VCF Edge (Core) - This license can only be applied to vSphere. NSX will retrieve it from VMware vCenter servers that are connected to NSX.

Base Licenses Available Starting with NSX 4.1.2.3:

  • NSX Networking for VMware Cloud Foundation (Core)
  • vSphere 8 Enterprise Plus for VCF (Core) - This license can only be applied to vSphere. NSX will retrieve it from VMware vCenter servers that are connected to NSX.

Base Licenses Available Starting with NSX 4.1.2:

  • NSX Professional (Subscription) - (Core, CCU)
  • NSX Advanced (Subscription) - (Core, CCU)
  • NSX Enterprise Plus (Subscription) - (Core, CCU)

Base Licenses Available Starting with NSX 4.0.1.1:

  • NSX Advanced with Threat Prevention
  • NSX Advanced with Advanced Threat Prevention
  • NSX Enterprise Plus with Threat Prevention
  • NSX Enterprise Plus with Advanced Threat Prevention

NSX Data Center:

  • NSX Data Center Standard
  • NSX Data Center Professional
  • NSX Data Center Advanced
  • NSX Data Center Enterprise Plus
  • NSX Data Center for Remote Office Branch Office (ROBO)
  • NSX Data Center Evaluation
  • NSX for vSphere - Standard
  • NSX for vSphere - Advanced
  • NSX for vSphere - Enterprise
  • NSX for vShield Endpoint
  • VMware Container Networking with Antrea Enterprise (3.2 and later versions)

NSX-T:

The NSX-T licenses are available for 3.0.3.1, 3.1.3.1, 3.2, and later versions.

  • NSX-T Standard
  • NSX-T Professional
  • NSX-T Advanced
  • NSX-T Advanced Limited Edition
  • NSX-T Enterprise Plus
  • NSX-T for Remote Office Branch Office (ROBO)
  • NSX-T Evaluation

Limited Export License

The following limited export license types are available:

  • VMware NSX Enterprise per Processor (Limited Export)
  • NSX Data Center Advanced per Processor (for Limited Export)
  • NSX Data Center Evaluation
  • NSX for vShield Endpoint
  • NSX Data Center Distributed Threat Prevention
  • NSX-T Advanced Limited Edition
  • NSX-T Evaluation
Note: For Limited Export Release version, you can add the NSX Data Center Distributed Threat Prevention add-on license only if the VMware NSX Enterprise per Processor (Limited Export) or NSX Data Center Advanced per Processor (for Limited Export) license exists. You cannot delete the VMware NSX Enterprise per Processor (Limited Export) or NSX Data Center Advanced per Processor (for Limited Export) license until the add-on license is deleted.

Security Licenses

Security licenses that are available in NSX v4.1.2.3 and later:

  • VMware Firewall (Core)
  • VMware Firewall with Advanced Threat Prevention (Core)
  • VMware Advanced Threat Prevention (Core)

Security licenses that are available in NSX v3.1.0 and later:

  • NSX Firewall
  • NSX Firewall with Advanced Threat Prevention
  • NSX Firewall with Bare Metal
  • NSX Firewall Evaluation

NSX Distributed Firewall licenses that are available in NSX v3.2 and later:

  • NSX Distributed Firewall
  • NSX Distributed Firewall with Threat Prevention
  • NSX Distributed Firewall with Advanced Threat Prevention
  • NSX Threat Prevention Add-On for Distributed Firewall
  • NSX Advanced Threat Prevention Add-On for Distributed Firewall, NSX-T Data Center Advanced or NSX-T Data Center Enterprise Plus

NSX Gateway Firewall licenses that are available in NSX v3.2 and later:

  • NSX Gateway Firewall – VM
  • NSX Gateway Firewall – ISO
  • NSX Gateway Firewall with Threat Prevention – VM
  • NSX Gateway Firewall with Threat Prevention – ISO
  • NSX Gateway Firewall with Advanced Threat Prevention – VM
  • NSX Gateway Firewall with Advanced Threat Prevention – ISO
  • NSX Threat Prevention Add-On for Gateway Firewall – VM
  • NSX Threat Prevention Add-On for Gateway Firewall – ISO
  • NSX Advanced Threat Prevention Add-On for Gateway Firewall – VM
  • NSX Advanced Threat Prevention Add-On for Gateway Firewall – ISO

See also the section "Base Licenses Available Starting with NSX 4.0.1.1" at the top of this page where the base license is bundled with either Threat Prevention or Advanced Threat Prevention.

Add-On Licenses

You must apply all add-on license on top of one of the corresponding base license as listed in the following table.

Table 1. Add-On Licenses ( From v4.1.2.3 and later)
Add-On License Base License
VMware Firewall (Core)

One of the following base licenses is required:

  • NSX Networking for VMware Cloud Foundation (Core)
  • vSphere 8 Enterprise Plus for VCF (Core)
VMware Firewall with Advanced Threat Prevention (Core)

One of the following base licenses is required:

  • NSX Networking for VMware Cloud Foundation (Core)
  • vSphere 8 Enterprise Plus for VCF (Core)
VMware Advanced Threat Prevention (Core)

One of the following base licenses is required:

  • NSX Networking for VMware Cloud Foundation (Core) + VMware Firewall (Core)
  • vSphere 8 Enterprise Plus for VCF (Core) + VMware Firewall (Core)
Table 2. Add-On Licenses (From v3.2 and later)
Add-On License Base License
NSX Threat Prevention Add-On for NSX Distributed Firewall

One of the following base licenses is required:

  • NSX Distributed Firewall
  • NSX Data Center Advanced
  • NSX Data Center Enterprise Plus
  • NSX-T Advanced
  • NSX-T Enterprise Plus
NSX Advanced Threat Prevention Add-On for NSX Distributed Firewall, NSX Data Center Advanced, NSX Data Center Enterprise Plus

One of the following base licenses is required:

  • NSX Data Center Advanced
  • NSX Data Center Enterprise Plus
  • NSX Distributed Firewall
  • NSX Distributed Firewall with Threat Prevention
NSX Threat Prevention Add-On for Gateway Firewall - VM NSX Gateway Firewall - VM
NSX Advanced Threat Prevention Add-On for Gateway Firewall - VM

One of the following base licenses is required:

  • NSX Gateway Firewall - VM
  • NSX Gateway Firewall with Threat Prevention - VM
NSX-T Advanced Add-On

One of the following base licenses is required:

  • NSX Distributed Firewall and NSX Threat Prevention Add-On for Distributed Firewall (Need both)
  • NSX Distributed Firewall with Advanced Threat Prevention
  • NSX Distributed Firewall and NSX Advanced Threat Prevention Add-On for Distributed Firewall, NSX Data Center Advanced or NSX Data Center Enterprise Plus (Need both)
NSX-T Enterprise Plus Add-On

One of the following base licenses is required:

  • NSX Advanced Threat Prevention Add-On for Distributed Firewall, NSX Data Center Advanced or NSX Data Center Enterprise Plus
  • NSX Data Center Distributed Threat Prevention
  • NSX Advanced Threat Prevention
  • NSX Threat Prevention Add On for NSX Distributed Firewall
Note: You cannot delete the base license until the add-on license is deleted.
Table 3. Add-On Licenses (Before v3.2)
Add-On License Base License
NSX Data Center Distributed Threat Prevention (Distributed IDS included)

(Introduced in v3.0)

One of the following base licenses is required:

  • NSX Data Center Advanced
  • NSX Data Center Enterprise Plus
  • NSX Firewall
  • NSX-T Advanced
  • NSX-T Enterprise Plus
NSX Advanced Threat Prevention

(Introduced in v3.1.1)

One of the following base licenses is required:

  • NSX Data Center Advanced
  • NSX Data Center Enterprise Plus
  • NSX Firewall
  • NSX Advanced
  • NSX Enterprise Plus