No doubt VMware is the pioneer in virtualization world. VMware can be used either premium or free based on licensing. In the previous article, I discussed how to install VMware ESXi on a physical server or machine and then I also discussed how to get VMware ESXi free license from VMware website. Getting VMware ESXi license key either premium or free, we may sometimes get confused how to assign the license key in VMware ESXi host. So, in this article I will show the steps to assign VMware ESXi license key on VMware ESXi 7 Hypervisor.

Steps to Assign VMware ESXi License Key

After getting VMware ESXi license key either premium or free, we need to assign the license key in our ESXi host. The following steps will show how to assign license key in VMware ESXi host from web console.

Login to ESXi web client with root user credentials and then go to Navigator panel and click on Manage link. Manage panel will appear in the right side of the ESXi Web Console.

From the Manage web panel, click on the Licensing tab. The Licensing tab will show the current license and it features. After installing ESXi 7 if do not assign any license key yet, you will find that your ESXi host is in Evaluation Mode. In evaluation mode, you can use all the features offered by VMware ESXi but maximum 60 days. So, you can do any R&D in ESXi Host within this period. When the evaluation period will be expired, all the VMs will be shut down and you cannot power on any VM without assigning license key.

To assign new license key in VMware ESXi Host, click on Assign license link or [click on Action and then click on Assign license option] from Licensing tab. Assign license pop up window will appear where you will be asked to put your license key.

So, put your license key in License key input box and then click on Check license button. If your license is valid, you will get validation success message and the Check license button will turn into Assign license button. Click on Assign license button to apply this license.   

Your license will now be applied and the features related to this license key will be shown in Licensing tab. You will also find a Remove license button to remove your assigned license anytime.

How to assign VMware ESXi license key has been discussed in this article. I hope you will now be able to assign your ESXi license key following the above steps. However, if you face any confusion to assign ESXi license key, feel free to discuss in comment or Contact me from Contact page. I will try my best to stay with you.