How do you deal with windows licensing with VMs

[Pondlife]

For those who run windows VMs under Mac OS/Linux etc, how do you deal with windows licenses?

Do you need/buy one per VM? Do you install but not activate?

Whats the best way to do this?

Cheers

Pondy.

[doodab]

Depends on the windows version i.e. Server 2008 Enterprise is licensed for up to 4 VM instances + the host.

For windows 7 pro the license says

Instead of using the software directly on the licensed computer, you may install and use the software within only one virtual (or otherwise emulated) hardware system on the licensed computer.

so it sounds like you are supposed to have one license per VM. Personally I use the action pack so I have enough licenses.

License Terms

[Sysman]

so it sounds like you are supposed to have one license per VM. Personally I use the action pack so I have enough licenses.

License Terms

Useful link thanks. From memory the Home Premium license made it pretty clear that you are only supposed to have one copy on your system.

Approximately how much does the Action Pack cost? Is it an annual thing?

[VectraMan]

I've used the same XP retail CD in 5 or 6 VirtualBox VMs, and never had any problem activating them or running the "genuine advantage" upgrades. I guess the "hardware" is the same, so it's okay.

Strictly speaking you shouldn't do that. But it's rare that I've had a reason to use more than one at a time; usually they're used for testing so really it's the same as having one installed OS in a couple of different configurations. And at some point in the past I paid for one retail XP that I'm not using anywhere else.

Watch out for OEM CDs. I have Dell OEM XP and Vista CDs, but neither will activate in a VM. Even if they could, technically OEM CDs can only be used with the (physical) computer they were supplied with.

[doodab]

Approximately how much does the Action Pack cost? Is it an annual thing?

Yep, it's £319 plus VAT a year. That includes 10 x windows desktops with office and all the rest & all the servers, SQL, exchange and so on.

[Pondlife]

Watch out for OEM CDs. I have Dell OEM XP and Vista CDs, but neither will activate in a VM. Even if they could, technically OEM CDs can only be used with the (physical) computer they were supplied with.

That's me screwed then.

[Sysman]

Yep, it's £319 plus VAT a year. That includes 10 x windows desktops with office and all the rest & all the servers, SQL, exchange and so on.

Thanks. That's the same order of magnitude as the full retail price of Ultimate (who actually pays that?), but is much more suitable for my purposes.

[TheFaQQer]

That's me screwed then.

Not necessarily.

On one machine that I had, I rebuilt it but didn't have the install CD. So, I downloaded a copy (not hacked) from a dodgy site. It wouldn't accept my licence key as being genuine though (licence was for XP pre-SP, install CD was SP2). IN the end, I got an XP licence key online (from a dodgy site) so that I could install the OS. I then downloaded the official MS key changer from their site, and entered the old key, which it accepted.

So I ended up with the right version of XP, using my licence, but it was a difficult trek to get it installed.

[Sysman]

Not necessarily.

On one machine that I had, I rebuilt it but didn't have the install CD. So, I downloaded a copy (not hacked) from a dodgy site. It wouldn't accept my licence key as being genuine though (licence was for XP pre-SP, install CD was SP2). IN the end, I got an XP licence key online (from a dodgy site) so that I could install the OS. I then downloaded the official MS key changer from their site, and entered the old key, which it accepted.

So I ended up with the right version of XP, using my licence, but it was a difficult trek to get it installed.

If using Windows 7 or Vista, they come with default licence keys which can be used for unattended installations. These last 30 days and can be "rearmed" up to 4 times for a total of 120 days.

Default Windows 7 and Vista Product Keys

Windows Server 2008 was extended sometime last year to give 60 days between rearming, giving a total of 240 days.