For legacy systems, the license key system works as designed (strict, no piracy loopholes). For new projects, avoid 6.5 entirely—you can’t legally obtain a new key anymore. Short version for a comment or forum post: "vCenter 6.5 licensing is typical VMware—strict and exact. The key must match the edition (Standard, Foundation, or ROBO). Note that Broadcom no longer sells new 6.5 licenses, so you’ll need an existing perpetual key or upgrade to 8.0. Also, the 60-day trial offers no extensions. Works fine, but don’t expect any licensing flexibility."

Rating: 3/5 Stars

We’ve been running vCenter 6.5 for several years, and while the appliance (VCSA) is stable, the is where you need to be very careful.