When you purchase, split, or merge license keys in the Broadcom Support Portal, you must use the new keys to license assets in your vSphere environment. You must go to the vSphere Client and create a license object for every license key. A license is a container for a license key of a VMware product.

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. Click Menu > Administration.
  2. Expand Licensing and click Licenses.
  3. On the Licenses tab, click ADD.
  4. On the Enter licenses keys page, enter one license key per line, and click Next.
    The license key is a 25-symbol string of letters and digits in the format XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX. You can enter a list of keys in one operation. A new license will be created for every license key that you enter.
  5. On the Edit license names page, rename the new licenses as appropriate and click Next .
  6. On the Ready to complete page, review the new licenses and click Finish.

Results

A new license is created for every license key that you entered.

What to do next

After you create the new licenses, you can assign them to assets. Assign the new licenses to hosts, vCenter Server systems, or other products that you use with vSphere. You must not keep unassigned licenses in the inventory.