Windows Server 2019 Host and VM licensing using vmware

Question

Windows Server 2019 Host and VM licensing using vmware

Osama Aftab 21

Hi,

Following is my scenario to understand fully Microsoft licensing model before procuring Windows Server licenses:

There will be Two Physical Servers in infrastructure and each server contains 4 Processors. Each processor is loaded with 8 Cores. So, in total 4 processors * 8 cores = 32 Cores in 1 server and 2 servers will have 64 cores in total which needs to be licensed. Around 30 virtual machines will be deployed on both physical servers. So, it is better to go with Windows Server Datacenter edition because of 15+ VMs. Total 4 Windows Server Datacenter edition (16 core pack) licenses are required to cover all the cores.
VMware will be used as hypervisor and all VMs will be deployed on VMware.

Questions:

Microsoft AVMA tool is available to activate the VMs deployed on physical host with Microsoft Hyper-V + if Datacenter license is also applied in physical host OS. How we will apply the Datacenter license in VMware case and also how to activate the VMs deployed in VMware because Hypervisor layer is different from Microsoft Hyper-V.
There will be one Datacenter product key as per my assumption for all the cores, if the answer is yes then we put the same key in each VM CMD slmgr /ipk <datacenter key> OR slmgr /ipk <AVMA key> provided by Microsoft? in this article: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/get-started/automatic-vm-activation
What type of key we will use to activate 30 VMs, KMS or MAK or AVMA provided by Microsoft?
As per my knowledge, there is no Software Assurance for Windows Server licenses. So, if all the cores of both servers are covered and both servers are in cluster mode then it means VMs can be moved from 1 server to another without any restrictions?

Thanks.

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Answer 1

Anonymous

Some general info regardless of the hypervisor used

Each host needs to be licensed.
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.
DataCenter Edition provides rights for unlimited Operating System Environments or Windows Servers containers with Hyper-V isolation when all physical cores in the server are licensed.
1 AVMA keys can be used only when the host is DataCenter edition, so with any other hypervisor you'll activate guests using the purchased product key. There's may be a big advantage to using a DataCenter host. For one using the AVMA product keys makes activation a much simpler process plus the guests can be anything from 2012 R2 up to 2019 operating systems.
2 You'll use the DataCenter product key for guest activation
3 If you're buying retail then the product key will be MAK
4 Should not be a problem.

--please don't forget to upvote and Accept as answer if the reply is helpful--

Anonymous

2022-02-10T16:53:40.79+00:00

Just checking if there's any progress or updates?

--please don't forget to upvote and Accept as answer if the reply is helpful--
Osama Aftab 21 Reputation points

2022-02-11T06:09:26.387+00:00

Thanks for prompt reply @Anonymous

All points are clear and I understand very well. Please guide me about 1 last point related to MAK key: If we apply the same MAK key in 30 guest VMs then the activation count number will increase in Microsoft Volume License Service Center portal? e.g. if we procure 4 DC licenses and we apply same key 30 times in VMs then on portal the count will be 4 OR 30 after activation of all VMs?

I hope you understand the question. Thanks.
Anonymous

2022-02-11T13:42:56.263+00:00

If you're buying volume licenses, then you could use KMS
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/get-started/kms-create-host
Benjamin Akuffo 1 Reputation point

2022-09-28T12:08:07.797+00:00

Hello DSPatrick,
I find myself in a similar case but we bought retail license through CSP and the VMs are Standard edition.
On each Standard edition VM, Can I just CMD slmgr /ipk <datacenter key> unlimited times ?
Will it make a difference if the VMs were previously activated with a KMS key which is no more valid ?

Thanks for your help.
Osama Aftab 21 Reputation points

2023-05-19T07:06:07.13+00:00

@Anonymous , I am back with another query regarding above question you answered. We purchased the licenses as per the Physical Servers Cores and it is meeting the compliance now but there is a problem kind of similar to Behjamin. We are using VMWare at Hypervisor layer and almost 100 VMs are deployed on it. Now we have to activate the VMs (installed OS is Windows Server 2019 Datacenter). I created a new VM and install the KMS feature to activate the VM as host so that all the other VMs (100) can be activated through this VM, but when I logged in to Microsoft portal to get the KMS key, there is only 1 key appearing in portal and most probably it is MAK key as when I try to enter the in KMS, it is not accepting the key. I did some R&D and found that we bought the license through CSP and it is only offering MAK keys. Now can you please guide what is the best way to activate all the VMs using MAK key? Please note, there is no Internet access on all the VMs. we purchased 8 Datacenter licenses as all Physical Servers cores are meeting the compliance criteria.
Waiting for your response. Thanks.
Anonymous

2023-05-19T12:18:36.2266667+00:00

It sounds like you're wanting to use the KMS service as a replacement for AVMA activation method which I don't think is going to work, but you can certainly reach out to them here to ask.

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/supportrequestform/2afa6f15-b710-db46-909a-8346017c802f?sl=en&sc=US

Answer 2

PeterB 1

Hello, I have an additional question to this topic:

The basic licensing requirements seems clear to me.

If we have a Cluster of 4 VMWare ESXi Hypervisors with 2 physical CPU's per host and 16 physical cores per CPU we would need eight Windows Server Datacenter licenses in total.
It is allowed to run as many virtual machines in this environment as it is possible within the boundaries of the physical hardware.

My question is, does it make a difference if the operating systems of the virtual machines are Windows Server Standard or Windows Server Datacenter edition? So would licensing as described above with 8 Windows Server Datacenter licenses cover the operation of, let's say, 30 virtual machines also running Windows Server Datacenter as a guest operating system? OR do I miss something here?

Thanks for any help or suggestion

Benjamin Akuffo 1 Reputation point

2022-12-26T08:00:23.937+00:00

Here is what I can add from my experience on similar situation:

1- It doesn't matter whether the VMs are Standard or Datacentre so long as the hosts are licensed with Datacentre.
2- Yes it can cover 30 even if all are Datacentre; just make sure all cores on the hosts are fully licensed.

If you are activating via AVMA, you will use the appropriate AVMA guest keys
If you are doing so with the original MAK key, you will hit the threshold at 30, but you can raise a ticket for support to extend the threshold for you
If your host is VMWare, then your best bet is to activate via KMS. If you don't have KMS because you purchased via retail or CSP, then you have to try your luck pushing support to get you KMS key.

Thanks

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Windows Server 2019 Host and VM licensing using vmware

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