![]() ![]() Boot Runner 3 also includes customization options to make the startup selection screen easier for end users to both find and start the OS environment they need. But it’s not a home lab.Boot Runner 3 supports physical startup volumes as well as virtual machines, making it easy to offer selections of any combination of macOS, Windows, Linux, and other systems installed natively or in a virtual machine. Note that hosted labs, like VMware’s Hands on Labs, require no licensing commitment from the user. If I’ve missed an affordable way to get VMware licenses for a home lab, please let me know. The only option in previous years was to use the trial licenses or bug a channel partner for the quarterly sales / demo keys, which wasn’t a legit way to do it (but people do it). These days it’s easier than ever to get VMware licensing. I guess there has to be some perks, eh? □ Thoughts I will admit that some of my licenses were granted to me directly from VMware to kick the tires with their products, such as VMware NSX, which was granted as part of my VCDX-NV efforts. If you want completely free licensing, you’ll have to settle for 60 day trial licenses from VMware. At that point you can purge the old keys. You simply renew, get new license keys, add them to vSphere, and then migrate your products over to the new keys. It’s worth noting that both the vExpert and EVALExperience licenses do not require lab re-builds when the licenses expire. VMUG Advantage includes a number of other benefits – such as discounts on Workstation or Fusion, VMware courses, certification exams, VMworld, and more. EVALExperience grants a large chunk of licensing for one year. The cost is fairly low, around $200 USD, and you can always find a discount code if you attend a VMUG UserCon or purchase with a group of people. If that doesn’t tickle your fancy, the second option is becoming a VMUG Advantage member to gain the EVALExperience benefit. ![]() Access to vetted VMware & Virtualization content for your social channels.Featured in a public vExpert online directory. ![]() Blogger early access program for vSphere and some other products.Private briefings from tier 1 alliance partners.365-day eval licenses for most products.Access to private betas (subject to admission by beta teams).Exclusive gifts from various VMware partners.Access to a private directory for networking, etc.Permission to use the vExpert logo on cards, website, etc for one year.I’ll leave it to you to decide if this path is appealing. In my specific case, the VMware Certified Design Expert (VCDX) certification grants vExpert status (so long as I remember to submit an application), although I previously submitted by way of community contributions (blogging, podcasting, presenting, and whatnot). Each year, the vExpert program doles a year’s worth of free licensing to each member. The vExpert ProgramĪll of my VMware vSphere licensing comes from a single source: being a VMware vExpert. Next, let’s talk about the VMware software running in my home lab servers. Plop them on your desktop or a laptop with some horsepower. If you’re new to building a home lab, these are the only two pieces of software you need to get started. I also purchased the VMware Workstation license for Vagrant – because it’s awesome and I support HashiCorp. If you’re not keen to buy the software, there are often gift-card looking giveaways that contain a single-use license for Workstation (PC) and Fusion (Mac) at VMware User Group (VMUG) and VMworld events. It’s a great way to perform ad-hoc virtualization on my desktop, and was my primary platform when teaching courses for Pluralsight. I own copies of VMware Workstation that were purchased using my own monies across various releases (I’m still using version 10 right now). Not everyone can be as rich as this shark with a monocle Desktop Software While I’ve answered questions on this in various pockets of the Internet, I’ve not yet dedicated a post to licensing. While it’s fun to design, build, and operate a home lab, there are other costs to consider for software and licensing. I recently received an email from a gentleman named Steve asking about licensing costs for the VMware software in my home lab.
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