Understanding licensing for Server 2016
- Thread starter Huy Le
- Start date
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while server 2016 licencing is a bit different from the past. it still similar enough.
if I understand it properly
the only other role you can run on a base (HOST on baremetal ) install is File Server role.
this allows you to use the local storage of the physical machine to be shared for the rest of the framework and eliminate need for SAN and other external storage solutions. nothing else is allowed if you are running Hyper-V role on the bare metal.
so in regards to OP:
you can legally install Server 2016 Essentials instance on bare metal.
add a File Server role and Hyper-V role to it and add a single VM with Server 2016 essentials running on it.
all other roles that you need can be added to the VM instance on the server.
the AD/DC role can only be added to the VM instance on THAT server. it can not be added to the HOST.
not that said, the licence does not prevent you from adding other VMs to the server, however if the VM OS is windows it needs it's own licence to be activated.
as far as I can tell there is no mechanism to stop you from creating and running the VM in the Host OS
just the fact that the VM OS will not activate if a valid license is not entered in registration module.
the one (1) VM of Essentials 2016 server will auto activate using the Host lic. key against host lic. activation server.
if you splurge for Standard Lic. you get two(2) VMs that will auto activate against Host.
also , and I am not sure if it works for essentials but if I have to guess it does not, with standard SKU
you can add additional standard lic. keys to the host to increase VM count if needed. each additional Lic gives you 2 VM rights. but I would count the total number of Windows VM planned, as at some point it simply more cost effective to get a Datacenter lic than playing with Standard.
by all counts if your needs will push you over 14 VM per host get the Datacenter lic.
simple math for MS Windows VMs on single Host per licence: (you can run any number of non windows VM as they require their own activation and licencing )
Datacenter = $6,155 any number of VMs
Standard = $882 == > 2 VMs per Lic so a 14 VM will require 7 standard lic (2x7=14) 882x7 = 6,174
Something to be careful with in regards to Microsoft licensing: There's very little (if any) code in the products that stops your from violating your licensing terms. You could, in theory, take a single standard server license, install it a hyper-V host (full server std with only the hyper-v role) and then install (and activate!) 50 copies of server std in VM's using the same license key.
Obviously, that's not legal if more than 2 of those VM's are actually running at a time.
(I don't know if MS has anything on their activation servers that will eventually stop the activations or what. I've "activated" the same server standard license key dozens of times without any problem, but I frequently create a server VM, use it for testing for a couple of days, and then delete it - so I'm always running less than 2 VM's using the same key.)
It's up to YOU to know what you have running at a given moment and keep yourself in compliance. I believe it's legit to have those 50 activated VM's created, as long as only 2 are running at a given moment. Of course, anything that has different licensing is different.
Disclaimer: I'm not a lawyer, and the above is only the opinion of someone who doesn't really know what they're talking about in regards to licensing.
Getting back to Server Essentials... it's different from Server Standard in that it actually does do some checking on itself. I don't think it does license key/activation limit checks, but because Essentials always wants to be the King and Lord of the entire Domain, and will eventually shut itself down if it isn't, there isn't much point in trying to get several different copies running on the same domain (using the same key or not.)
Obviously, that's not legal if more than 2 of those VM's are actually running at a time.
(I don't know if MS has anything on their activation servers that will eventually stop the activations or what. I've "activated" the same server standard license key dozens of times without any problem, but I frequently create a server VM, use it for testing for a couple of days, and then delete it - so I'm always running less than 2 VM's using the same key.)
It's up to YOU to know what you have running at a given moment and keep yourself in compliance. I believe it's legit to have those 50 activated VM's created, as long as only 2 are running at a given moment. Of course, anything that has different licensing is different.
Disclaimer: I'm not a lawyer, and the above is only the opinion of someone who doesn't really know what they're talking about in regards to licensing.
Getting back to Server Essentials... it's different from Server Standard in that it actually does do some checking on itself. I don't think it does license key/activation limit checks, but because Essentials always wants to be the King and Lord of the entire Domain, and will eventually shut itself down if it isn't, there isn't much point in trying to get several different copies running on the same domain (using the same key or not.)
I am not sure how do you activate the same licence again and again.
in my experience , when I was testing the initial Hyper-V setup etc. ,
when I run several VMs on a Standard Lic. only 2 would activate when I applied the licence code. the rest would say not activated or something to that accord.
since my setup was always over 2 VM limit , that was kind of the point of my testing to see if I can setup what I need, it made think ahead and read the MS licencing schema end to end, as well as going through a myriad of forums and posting boards seeking the info.
all that research, point out that the activation code on VM looks first to the Host for activation, if host says it ok it works. so if I downgrade my Host Lic. to Standard tomorow most of my VMs will reset to not activated status on the next test. i.e. within a day at best, within about an hour at worst.
BUT it only works if I am running the same version of OS as the HOST.
the license gives you a set number of instances of the HOST OS not anything else.
so if you are running Server 2016 on HOST you have a legal right to run the same instance (same licence applied) in VM on that host. any other OS i.e. any MS Windows XP/7/8/10/ ??? or older versions needs it's own License and also uses it's own activation schema. the host keeps count of the VMs it has rights to activate and will reject any over the limit. if you have the License server on the network than the host will validate the status
It's fairly simple. I install server 2012R2 from ISO into a VM, I type in the key when it prompts, and after the install is completed, it says its activated when I check. A few days later (when I'm done with the VM), I delete it. I'm still in compliance with the licensing as I never have more than 2 active VM's with a given license key.
I could make the entire process easier on myself if I'd just save the vhd(x) and re-use it, but for some reason I feel better with a new install each time I test something.
I see, my ISO does not ask for key on install.
I have to run this in admin PS
"DISM /online /Set-Edition:[<ServerDatacenter>OR <ServerStandard>] /ProductKey:XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX /AcceptEula"