Files

Mike Swanson 7c8488ad14 sync: Auto-sync from acg-guru-5070 at 2026-03-19 19:25:24

Synced files:
- Session log 2026-03-19 updated (autostart, ScreenConnect, Flarum forum, theme, Node.js)
- docs/forum-posts/ recovered from old btrfs home (7 forum post guides)

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

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

2026-03-19 19:26:44 -07:00

2.5 KiB

Raw Blame History

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

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:

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:

# 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

2.5 KiB Raw Blame History