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Windows 2019 datacenter licensing and VMWARE ESXi

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Question

Friday, May 10, 2019 4:25 PM | 1 vote

Hi,

I have 3 Vmware ESx physical servers running various guests with different OS versions.
I need understand how 2019 licensing works if i need to install one 2019 Datacenter VM on one of them.

  • Do i have to buy one license for the CPU where i'll install the 2019?
  • What if i need to move that 2019 VM between those machines?
  • What if the ESXi machine where i move the VM has more CPU than the original one?
  • What if i need to build a second VM on the same server runnnig the first one?
  • If i need to move one of the 2 2019VM to another server, do i have to buy another CPU license?

Thanks, guys. 

All replies (2)

Friday, May 10, 2019 6:55 PM âś…Answered | 2 votes

You'll need to license each physical host according to core count and the max number of VMs that could be on it even for one second. In the case of DataCenter licenses the VM count is not an issue. You can only use AVMA activations when you install a DataCenter host. In your case (ESXi) just reuse the same key to active virtual machines on that host.

  • A minimum of 8 core licenses is required for each physical processor and a minimum of 16 core licenses is required for each server.
  • Core licenses are sold in packs of two.
  • Standard Edition provides rights for up to 2 Operating System Environments or Windows Servers containers with Hyper-V isolation when all physical cores in the server are licensed. For each additional 1 or 2 VMs, all the physical cores in the server must be licensed again.

http://download.microsoft.com/download/3/D/4/3D42BDC2-6725-4B29-B75A-A5B04179958B/WindowsServer2016VirtualTech_VLBrief.pdf

https://download.microsoft.com/download/7/C/E/7CED6910-C7B2-4196-8C55-208EE0B427E2/Windows_Server_2019_licensing_datasheet_EN_US.pdf

 

 

Regards, Dave Patrick ....
Microsoft Certified Professional
Microsoft MVP [Windows Server] Datacenter Management

Disclaimer: This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties or guarantees, and confers no rights.

Friday, May 10, 2019 4:39 PM

Hello!

Please note that this is a technical forum, licensing questions are best directed a trained Microsoft licensing specialist. You can also find a specialist at your authorized Microsoft reseller or you can contact Microsoft directly over here: www.microsoft.com/licensing

Windows Server 2019 Datacenter and Standard editions are licensed by physical cores. Licenses are sold in
*2-packs and 16-packs. *

You'll find quite a lot of information from the Windows Server 2019 Licensing Datasheet in the link below:

Licensing Windows Server 2019

Best regards,
Leon

Blog: https://thesystemcenterblog.com LinkedIn: