ESXi Evaluation Period
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@scottalanmiller said in ESXi Evaluation Period:
Outside of the open source space, what doesn't require a license key in the enterprise space?
Which Microsoft ones do? I use Visual Studio Community Edition, and that installed without a licence key. SQL Server Express doesn't require one IIRC. Erm, I don't think I use any other free Microsoft software. I'll have a think.
Other free software I use: Veeam B&R - that doesn't require a licence key.
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@Carnival-Boy said in ESXi Evaluation Period:
@scottalanmiller said in ESXi Evaluation Period:
Outside of the open source space, what doesn't require a license key in the enterprise space?
Which Microsoft ones do? I use Visual Studio Community Edition, and that installed without a licence key. SQL Server Express doesn't require one IIRC. Erm, I don't think I use any other free Microsoft software. I'll have a think.
Other free software I use: Veeam B&R - that doesn't require a licence key.
That's because the key is embedded in these products
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@Carnival-Boy said in ESXi Evaluation Period:
Which Microsoft ones do? I use Visual Studio Community Edition, and that installed without a licence key.
Right... that's the Community edition, the free one. Not an enterprise NOR paid for product.
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@Carnival-Boy said in ESXi Evaluation Period:
SQL Server Express doesn't require one IIRC. Erm, I don't think I use any other free Microsoft software. I'll have a think.
Again, not enterprise, not supported and not trail/eval. These are fully free hobby to SMB level products without support. Nothing like ESXi.
So you can see from your examples how completely dramatically it should have stood out to the OP that this was labeled "eval" not "free."
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@Carnival-Boy said in ESXi Evaluation Period:
Other free software I use: Veeam B&R - that doesn't require a licence key.
Again, free. He specifically chose a non-free product for eval.
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@scottalanmiller said in ESXi Evaluation Period:
Again, not enterprise, not supported and not trail/eval. These are fully free hobby to SMB level products without support. Nothing like ESXi.
Eh? ESXi Free is not enterprise and doesn't come with support. Exactly the same.
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He didn't "try ESXi free" he installed the fully working 180 trial of ESXi.
Completely different products.
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I thought there was only one product and the licence determines which features are unlocked? How do you install the 'free version' rather than the 'trial version'? I've only ever download one product AFAIK.
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Different link to a different product.
But it is there.
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@Carnival-Boy said in ESXi Evaluation Period:
I thought there was only one product and the licence determines which features are unlocked? How do you install the 'free version' rather than the 'trial version'? I've only ever download one product AFAIK.
For all of their products you go to the web site and apply the license key that you want. It's a necessary part of every VMware ESXi installation. I believe that you are correct, that if you install any of them without getting the necessary key it lets you evaluate, but makes it incredibly clear that you don't have a valid install to use for anything as it is just an eval, not the free version.
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@Carnival-Boy said in ESXi Evaluation Period:
Eh? ESXi Free is not enterprise and doesn't come with support. Exactly the same.
But he didn't install ESXi Free. He installed the eval. So nothing like any of the examples that you gave. Each of those you install the "free" product and that's all that there is. They are not free evals of the commercial product.
ESXi Free and ESXi Eval are not the same product. If your examples were applicable, we would not be having this conversation because he would have installed ESXi Free Community edition and not have had this issue.
He did not, he installed an eval, not a free product.
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I've looked around the VMware site and I can't find different products. It all seems to link to the same ISO.
Veeam B&R is the same as far as I was aware - one product. Again, I don't know of any way to install a separate "free" version of Veeam B&R. They appear to be the same product.
I don't want to get into an argument over it. If you say they are different products that's fine. I've never paid that much attention.
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@Carnival-Boy said in ESXi Evaluation Period:
I've looked around the VMware site and I can't find different products. It all seems to link to the same ISO.
That may be, but it requires a license in every use case. Nothing like your examples which provide a direct, clearly free alternative product. In this case, it offers a very clear "must be licensed no matter what" product.
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@Carnival-Boy said in ESXi Evaluation Period:
Veeam B&R is the same as far as I was aware - one product. Again, I don't know of any way to install a separate "free" version of Veeam B&R. They appear to be the same product.
That may be the case, these cases do exist. But in that case it is "Free by Default" and "License for More" not "Eval by Default" and "License for any use".
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@Carnival-Boy said in ESXi Evaluation Period:
I don't want to get into an argument over it. If you say they are different products that's fine. I've never paid that much attention.
Whether they are different or not really doesn't matter. He didn't get the free product and what he did get made it super clear that he couldn't use it. No real grey area at all.
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I'm hoping he'll respond. I was under the impression he just wants to know how to install a licence key for the free version so he can get his VMs powered up because he didn't realise that you have to install a key. But maybe not. I never know what these posters think!
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@Carnival-Boy said in ESXi Evaluation Period:
I'm hoping he'll respond. I was under the impression he just wants to know how to install a licence key for the free version so he can get his VMs powered up because he didn't realise that you have to install a key. But maybe not. I never know what these posters think!
I tried to lay out that there were three options and one of them was that. I have a feeling that he is going that route but... who knows. My only reasonable guess is that someone told him about the free version and he thought that if he put his head in the sand that things would fix themselves. Now they haven't and he's panicking.
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I joined this community yesterday and I've already seen over 10 posts bashing people over on SW. I'm curious, why?
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@Jstear said in ESXi Evaluation Period:
I joined this community yesterday and I've already seen over 10 posts bashing people over on SW. I'm curious, why?
The discussions held here generally aren't to bash, although it can come across as such. My post here wasn't to bash, but to understand how you would download the wrong product and not know it for half of a year.
Which is what this person has done. It's just mind boggling how that could occur.
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@DustinB3403 I haven't read the OP, nor know the OP, but I think a lot of times people get thrown into these roles and get told they need X, when in reality they need Y. The issue with this is they honestly have no idea what they need and have don't even think about licensing, especially when they see "FREE".
