Licensing in VMware Cloud Foundation 9.0

VMware Cloud Foundation 9.0 makes it easy to run private clouds. The new VCF 9.0 version features numerous improvements, including a simpler method for managing licenses. With a unified view in VCF Operations, users can easily manage licensing for their VMware Cloud Foundation infrastructure. VMware Cloud Foundation 9.0 introduces significant licensing improvements that reduce the complexity and processes required for license validation and compliance of VMware Cloud Foundation environments. In the past, licensing was a more manual process that required multiple version-specific licensing keys that previous users applied to each respective VMware vCenter server, ESX host, and component. With the release of VCF 9.0, licensing is not only simplified and transparent but also becomes more scalable, enabling organizations to efficiently manage their private cloud environments with a single licensing file. VMware vSphere Foundation (VVF) 9.0 environments also benefit from the licensing improvements in VCF 9.0.

VMware Cloud Foundation Operations, which is included with VMware Cloud Foundation, provides a comprehensive overview of the VCF 9.0 license allocation and usage in a customer’s private cloud, eliminating the need to log in to each component individually to view licensing information. VMware Cloud Foundation Operations also provides a view of the older licenses that are pre-version 9.0 as well.

VMware Cloud Foundation 9.0 has adopted a streamlined licensing model:

There is a single license file that eliminates the need to manage multiple license keys for different VCF components, as was previously required, simplifying the process for customers.
Eliminates the need for multiple and, in some deployments, thousands of license keys.
Eliminates the need for individual license keys tied to specific software releases.
Simplifies the process for customers to share required license consumption reports with Broadcom.
There are two modes of deployment for licensing. The two modes are a connected mode for non-air-gapped networks and a disconnected mode for air-gapped networks.

Figure 1. Licensing in VMware Cloud Foundation 9.0.

Licensing in VCF 9.0 simplifies the process for customers, making it easier to manage their environment. It offers improved visibility of all licenses while enhancing simplicity and efficiency. As a result, licensing becomes a more straightforward task rather than a burdensome chore.

VMware Cloud Foundation 9.0

A single license file covers the VCF environment

Licensing consumption data is required to be shared with Broadcom

The license file supports:
1. VMware Cloud Foundation Cores
2. vSAN TiBs
3. Private AI Foundation
4. VMware vSphere Foundation Cores
5. VMware Cloud Foundation Edge Cores

Add-on Services using the License File:
Private AI Foundation and for additional vSAN for customers who need more than the 1.0 TiB included with each VCF core

Add-on Services using License Keys:
VMware vDefend Firewall, VMware Avi Load Balancer, VMware Tanzu Platform, VMware Data Services Manager

SaaS:
VMware Live Recovery

Bundles using License Keys:
VMware Telco Cloud Platform

No version specific licensing
No license key upgrade required from version 8.x to version 9.0

Licensing with the Business Services console is found at the Broadcom Support Portal and in this area within the support portalvcf.broadcom.com

Table 1. Licensing with VMware Cloud Foundation 9.0.

Licensing in VCF 9.0 automatically gathers license usage information into a file that customers can send to Broadcom through the connected model or the disconnected model. This licensing information is available to the customer, so it can help by offering insights into their license consumption. The license usage information lets customers make informed decisions across their VCF infrastructure and how their licenses are allocated. Using APIs, a customer can automate some of the license usage process.

There are several VCF 9.0 APIs for licenses with VCF Operations. For VMware Cloud Service Providers (VCSP) from the VCF Business Services console, there are APIs for GET download VCF Operations license file(s), POST consumption of licenses for usage upload, and GET status of usage upload.

Modes:

Connected: Connected mode is easiest for the customer, as within every 180 days, a customer needs to click one button to send in their license usage information.

Disconnected: Customers with disconnected mode will have to manually upload their license usage file to the Broadcom support portal vcf.broadcom.com, then download the license file to VCF Operations within every 180 days to stay compliant with licensing.

Enhanced tracking and compliance with VMware Cloud Foundation Operations provide customers with a comprehensive view to easily track their licensing requirements. Organizations can quickly view their current licensing status of used capacity as well as total capacity to help ensure license compliance. The easier licensing not only boosts operational efficiency but also reduces the risk of compliance issues. The scalability offered by VCF 9.0 enables businesses to adapt their licensing as they grow and their infrastructural needs evolve without the complexity of managing an unwieldy number of license keys. Whether scaling up or down, the new VCF 9.0 licensing process remains smooth and manageable.

This improvement simplifies the overall licensing process for customers, reducing not just the number of items to track, but also helping customers become compliant across their various subscriptions.

VCF 9.0 licensing is operationally easier, making it easy to meet the needs of customers deploying VCF. License keys for separate subscriptions of the same product often had to be combined into a single key, which was then sometimes split into pieces of the correct size for each deployment. The improvement with VCF 9.0 is that the quantities of all subscriptions for a single product are automatically combined into a single aggregate capacity that can be utilized on multiple vCenters without the need for splitting.

If a customer has multiple subscriptions of the same type, such as three different VCF subscriptions purchased at other times, in VCF 9.0, all of their license capacities are combined. This means the customer only needs to manage the total VCF license capacity rather than each license subscription. This is an example of how license management in VCF 9.0 is easier. It’s not just about simplifying merging and splitting; often, those actions become unnecessary because of the overall ability of VCF 9.0 to perform capacity pooling. VCF 9.0 supports auto-pooling which aggregates licenses, which eliminates the need to merge licenses as customer’s licensing needs can now with VCF 9.0 be easily spread or reduced across multiple environments.

In VMware Cloud Foundation 9.0, Private AI Foundation and vSAN are both supported with the new licensing file approach. The other add-ons will continue to use license keys via the support.broadcom.com site. There is also support for license portability for customers to use an approved hyperscaler with their VCF licenses.

Figure 2. Once a VMware Cloud Foundation license is purchased, a customer can log in to the Broadcom support portal vcf.broadcom.com to manage their version 9.0 license entitlements.

Figure 3. After customers deploy their VMware Cloud Foundation environment, they can then log in to VMware Cloud Foundation Operations to register their VMware Cloud Foundation environment. Clicking the “Start Registration” button will launch within the Broadcom support portal. Within the Broadcom support portal, there is a location vcf.broadcom.com. Once installed, VMware Cloud Foundation runs in evaluation mode. The evaluation mode length of time has increased from 60 days to 90 days in VCF 9.0. This more extended evaluation period will give more time for customers to license their VMware Cloud Foundation environment.

Figure 4. This is where customers can select the licenses that they want to use with their VMware Cloud Foundation Operations. A customer can view the available compute core licenses and storage TiB licenses they have. A customer with an extensive global deployment of VMware Cloud Foundation may have multiple instances of VMware Cloud Foundation Operations. A VCF user may want to deploy and allocate some licenses to one particular VMware Cloud Foundation Operations and a different set of licenses to a different instance of VMware Cloud Foundation Operations. VMware Cloud Foundation 9.0 makes it easier to split the capacity of their license into multiple separate licenses and not use all of their licenses on one particular VMware Cloud Foundation instance.

Figure 5. This shows a summary of the licenses a customer has added to their VCF environment.

Figure 6. At the completion of the registration wizard, copy the provided activation code to provide a secure process to associate the VCF Operations instance with the Broadcom support portal vcf.broadcom.com. For disconnected sites, a license file will be available to download from the Broadcom support portal vcf.broadcom.com and then import into VCF Operations.

Figure 7. To complete the registration, paste the activation code into VMware Cloud Foundation Operations.

Figure 8. A customer can assign the licenses available on their VCF Operations to one or more vCenters. All the vCenters and the ESX hosts managed by those vCenter instances will then be automatically licensed.

In the new licensing, one other notable change in VCF 9.0 is that the evaluation period has increased from 60 days to 90 days. This gives customers more time to evaluate the VMware Cloud Foundation offering.

It’s important to note that the License Usage File exclusively gathers this specific information and, for clarity, does not collect Personal Data and Customer Data.

The License Usage File only records the following license usage data points:

The usage generation timestamp
Utilization details for both post-version 9 and pre-version 9 licenses
The unique VCF Ops instance ID
A unique identifier for the usage report
A list of post-version 9 licenses added to VCF Operations but currently unused
Any detected usage anomalies

NOTE: To create transparency and trust, Broadcom’s new framework is architected in a way to enable these capabilities:

1) Customers can use a JWT decoding tool to view the license file

2) The License file includes an encrypted digital signature used to validate the license file integrity

The release of VCF 9.0 has significant improvements in simplifying and scaling licensing for private cloud environments. Managing licenses is much easier now as customers may need to allocate licenses across global locations as well as across development, test, or production. By transitioning to a secure license file and reducing the number of licenses to manage, VMware Cloud Foundation customers can now confidently navigate their licensing requirements, ensuring compliance with ease while focusing on scaling their private cloud operations. Watch the videos below, as well as read the resources below to learn more about how licensing in VMware Cloud Foundation 9.0 is simpler and easier.

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