Download free version of esxi

Then we are free to do anything with the clones without causing any disruption to production. Note that free ESXi can still use snapshot function, so we can easily rollback any deployments if required. The main challenge of DR test is to synchronize changes between the primary site and DR site.

Fire up the tools, select This local machine as the source and activate the option Synchronize changes , but untick the option the Perform final synchronization. Free version of ESXi is not designed for large host production servers. In addition to that, you can also use the help of 3rd party software to minimize the risk when the situation becomes more critical. VMware Data Recovery uses this technology and so can developers of backup and recovery software. Using Iperius Backup, you can protect your virtual machines with an high-efficiency incremental backup, that can save only the used space on virtual disks.

It is the same ESXi image that is used for the paid version with all features and functions are unlocked for 60 days. Then select Assign a new license key to this host as shown below.

Yes No. VMware vSphere Hypervisor 7. Connect Support View the top articles related to troubleshooting and support for this product. Or add one of our popular tags:. As of ESXi 6. This would be a pretty bare bones installation, but it would get ESXi up and running for you. After you have ESXi installed , you will still need a licence, even though it is free!

Remember, when you install ESXi, by default the evaluation license is active. The evaluation licence gives you access to all ESXi features, but after 60 days will stop working. This means after 60 days you will start seeing all sorts of problems in your environment had you not applied a licence. To get a license, you will need to visit the VMware vSphere Hypervisor download center , create an account and request your free ESXi license.

In the current example ESXi was installed on the 18 th of January and the expiration date is the 19 th of March. A full list of features available for the day evaluation period is displayed on this page in the features section. The license key is displayed as 25 zeros in this case. Click Assign License and enter your key 25 symbols. Click the Check License button, and if your license key is valid, click Assign license.

The expiration date is changed to Never. The first visual difference you may notice is displayed in the screenshots above.

If you want to see more detailed licensing info, use a console. Enter the following command to view your license and available features:. In the screenshot below you can see the output of this command for ESXi running in the free mode and for ESXi running in the evaluation mode. A list of available features is much longer for the ESXi server that is running in the evaluation mode.

Depending on your environment, some restrictions may be unnoticeable for you while others can be critical:. You can ask the VMware community for support, and with any luck, you can find a solution for resolving your issue.