Domain repointing copies license keys to a new domain. Copying the license keys ensures that valid licensing of all assets is maintained after repointing.

vCenter Server tracks license usage on a per domain basis. If a key is used in more than one domain, you must ensure that the aggregate use of the key does not exceed its capacity. To simplify your license management, remove each license copied to a second domain and assign a new license to assets.

Consider the following two cases:
  • License keys that are no longer in use (that is, assigned to assets) in the original domain post repointing.
  • License keys that are in use (that is, assigned to assets) in multiple domains.

For more information about cross-domain repointing, see "Repoint vCenter Server to Another vCenter Server in a Different Domain" in vCenter Server Installation and Setup.

License Keys Not in Use in a Domain

If after completing repointing, a license key appears in more than one domain, but is not in use in some of those domains, you can remove the license key from any domain in which it is not in use. For instructions on how to remove the licenses in vCenter Server, see Remove Licenses.

License Keys in Use in Multiple Domains

If after completing repointing, a license key is in use (that is, assigned to assets) in more than one domain, to remove the license key from all but one domain, first a different license key must be assigned to each asset in domains from which the license key will be removed. Two common approaches:
  • If you have other license keys available with sufficient unused capacity, you might use these other keys in place of a license key to be removed. See Assign a License to Multiple Assets to assign licenses in vCenter Server.
  • You might divide the license keys used in more than one domain into separate license keys, one for each domain. To divide the license keys, see the VMware knowledge base article at http://kb.vmware.com/kb/2006972. To determine the capacity to be included in each of the license keys into which the original is divided, see Viewing Licensing Information to view the usage of the license key in vCenter Server for each of the domains.

    Each of the resulting license keys can then be added to a different domain and assigned in vCenter Server to assets previously licensed with the original license key. See Create New Licenses to create licenses and Assign a License to Multiple Assets to assign a license to multiple assets.

    After different licenses are assigned to all assets, the original license key, which is no longer valid, can be removed from all the domains using vCenter Server. See Remove Licenses.