You must assign a license to a vCenter Server system before its evaluation period expires or its currently assigned license expires. If you upgrade, combine, or divide vCenter Server licenses in Customer Connect, you must assign the new licenses to vCenter Server systems and remove the old licenses.

Prerequisites

  • To view and manage licenses in the vSphere environment, you must have the Global.Licenses privilege on the vCenter Server system, where the vSphere Client runs.

Procedure

  1. In the vSphere Client, navigate to the vCenter Server instance.
  2. Select the Configure tab.
  3. Under Settings, select Licensing.
  4. Click Assign License.
  5. In the Assign License dialog box, select the task that you want to perform.
    • In the vSphere Client, select an existing license or select a newly created license.
    Task Steps
    Select an existing license Select an existing license from the list and click OK.
    Select a newly created license
    1. Click the New License tab.
    2. In the Assign License dialog box, type or copy and paste a license key.
    3. Enter a name for the new license and click OK.

      Details about the product, product features, capacity, and expiration period appear on the page.

    4. Click OK.
    5. In the Assign License dialog box, select the newly created license, and click OK.

Results

The license is assigned to the vCenter Server system, and one instance from the license capacity is allocated for the vCenter Server system.