

You cannot use the features that remained unused before the license expiration.“Disable VMware ESX” is the warning message that is displayed when you open your VMware vSphere Client after the 60-day evaluation period has expired without typing in a new license key for your free VMware vSphere Hypervisor 5 install.

You cannot change the current configuration of the features that are in use.

All powered on virtual machines continue to work, but you cannot power on virtual machines after they are powered off. License and Evaluation Period Expiryįor ESXi hosts, license or evaluation period expiry leads to disconnection from vCenter Server. An evaluation mode license provides all features of the highest vSphere product edition.Īfter you assign a license to an ESXi host, at any time before the evaluation period expires, you can set the host back to evaluation mode to explore the entire set of features available for the remaining evaluation period.įor example, if you use an ESXi host in evaluation mode for 20 days, then assign a vSphere Standard license to the host, and 5 days later set the host back to evaluation mode, you can explore the entire set of features available for the host for the remaining 35 days of the evaluation period. Evaluation ModeĪfter you install ESXi, it operates in evaluation mode for up to 60 consecutive days.

Each vSphere license has a certain capacity that you can use to license multiple physical CPUs on ESXi hosts. ESXi hosts are licensed with vSphere licenses.
