HERE IS AN UPDATE:
Archived! Please read the update above!
VMware is providing a free license for their Hypervisor product and you can get one also. All you need to do is create a free account in the Customer Connect portal. The license you will receive is 100% identical to the paid version but with some software limitations. If you already have a free license key for an older version, you can generate a new key for ESXi 7.0.
To create an account:
- Go to the Customer Connect Log In page.
- Click the Sign up now link below the Sign In button.

- Enter the mandatory fields (email address, password, first name, last name, etc.).
- Complete the registration form.
- Enter the Captcha code provided.
- Agree to the terms and conditions.
- Click Register.
IMPORTANT: The Next Step: Check Your Email page displays information about activating your profile. Do not close this page.
- An “Activate your account” email will be sent to you by The VMware Team <donotreply@vmware.com>, where you will be provided with a 6 Digit Authentication Code.
- Please note each code you request will be valid for 20 minutes.
- The Authentication Code re-send option allows for 3 total attempts, before a security soft-lock*** to your profile.
- Once the Authentication Code is received, you must go back to your web browser, onto the Customer Connect Portal, and enter the 6 digit code received.
- Check your junk or spam folder. Add donotreply@vmware.com to your email contacts list or allowlist or ask your IT department to add donotreply@vmware.com to their email allowlist.
- Click Resend Email to have the activation email resent.
To download and license ESXi:
- Go to VMware vSphere Hypervisor (ESXi) Download Center.
- From the Select Version drop-down, select the version
- Click Download.
- If prompted, log in to your Customer Connect profile.
- Complete the VMware vSphere Hypervisor Registration form. After completion, an activation email is delivered to your inbox.
- Navigate to the activation email.
- Click Activate your VMware ESXi License and access your download. This gives you the serial key for vSphere Hypervisor. You can also access your license key by following this link.
- Links for versions 6: https://customerconnect.vmware.com/en/group/vmware/evalcenter?p=free-esxi6
- Links for versions 7: https://customerconnect.vmware.com/en/group/vmware/evalcenter?p=free-esxi7
Viewing the License for free Hypervisor (ESXi 6.x & 7.x):
- Log in to Customer Connect.
- Click Products and select My Download History.
- Click + under VMware vSphere Hypervisor to open the details of the product.
- Click View downloads and licenses. Alternatively, you can access your license key by following this link .
Licensing a vSphere Hypervisor (ESXi 6.0) host:
- Log in to the ESX/ESXi host using VMware vSphere Client.
- Click the Configuration tab.
- Click Licensed Features under Software.
- Click Edit under Licensed Features.
- Select Assign a new license key to this host.
- Press Enter and enter the License Key.
- Click OK.
Licensing a vSphere Hypervisor (ESXi 6.5 or later) host:
- Enter the host’s IP address (https://<ip-of-your-host>/) into a supported browser and click Search.
- Log in to the ESX/ESXi host using your credentials.
- Click Manage > Licensing.
- Click Assign License.
- Enter the license key in the text box.
- Click Check license.
- Review the license keys and click Finish.
Some Limitations:
- No commercial support.
- No vCenter management, hosts cannot be added to vCenter.
- Some API functionality is missing (API is read-only).
- No physical CPU limitation.
- The number of logical CPUs per host: 480.
- Maximum vCPUs per virtual machine: 8.
- The license is restricted to 100 Physical Servers deployments.
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