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Machine: acg-guru-5070
Timestamp: 2026-03-19 19:25:24

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.6 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>

docs/forum-posts/esxi8-evaluation-license-reset.md

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+# Fix: Reset Expired ESXi 8 Evaluation License via SSH
+
+## Environment
+- VMware ESXi 8 (two hosts)
+- License: Evaluation mode (60-day trial expired)
+
+## Problem
+
+ESXi evaluation period expired. The web UI shows license warnings and functionality is restricted. VMs may not auto-start after host reboots.
+
+```
+vim-cmd vimsvc/license --show
+# diagnostic = Evaluation period has expired, please install license.
+# expirationHours = 0
+# expirationMinutes = 0
+```
+
+## Fix
+
+### Step 1: Enable SSH (if not already)
+In ESXi web UI: **Host** → **Actions** → **Services** → **Enable SSH**
+
+### Step 2: SSH in and Reset
+
+```bash
+ssh root@<esxi-host-ip>
+
+# Remove current license config and restore default
+rm -r /etc/vmware/license.cfg
+cp /etc/vmware/.#license.cfg /etc/vmware/license.cfg
+
+# Restart services to pick up the change
+/etc/init.d/vpxa restart
+/etc/init.d/hostd restart
+```
+
+**Note:** After restarting hostd, the web UI will be unavailable for 15-30 seconds while it comes back up.
+
+### Step 3: Verify
+
+Wait ~15 seconds for hostd to fully start, then:
+
+```bash
+vim-cmd vimsvc/license --show
+```
+
+Expected output:
+```
+serial: 00000-00000-00000-00000-00000
+vmodl key: eval
+name: Evaluation Mode
+total: 1
+used: 1
+[evaluation] = License has not been set, evaluation Period in effect.
+[expirationHours] = 1440
+[expirationMinutes] = 0
+[expirationDate] = <60 days from now>
+```
+
+## Automation via Expect (for remote execution)
+
+If you need to script this from a Linux workstation and `sshpass` doesn't work with ESXi's keyboard-interactive auth (common issue), use `expect`:
+
+```bash
+# Install expect (Arch)
+sudo pacman -S expect
+
+# Run reset
+expect -c '
+spawn ssh -o StrictHostKeyChecking=no -o PubkeyAuthentication=no root@192.168.0.122 \
+  "rm -r /etc/vmware/license.cfg && cp /etc/vmware/.#license.cfg /etc/vmware/license.cfg && /etc/init.d/vpxa restart && /etc/init.d/hostd restart"
+expect "Password:"
+send "your_password_here\r"
+expect eof
+'
+```
+
+**Note on sshpass:** ESXi 8 uses `keyboard-interactive` authentication, not `password` auth. `sshpass` fails with exit code 5 even with correct credentials. `expect` handles keyboard-interactive properly.
+
+## Important Notes
+
+- This resets the 60-day evaluation timer — it does not provide a permanent license
+- The reset can be repeated when the evaluation expires again
+- VMs configured to auto-start should resume normal operation after the license is active
+- If you have a legitimate license key, apply it via the web UI instead: **Manage** → **Licensing** → **Assign license**