How to manage Windows licenses for virtual machines on your Hosted Private Cloud infrastructure

The OVHcloud Control Panel now includes a new feature, which allows you to:

• View the number of Windows virtual machines requiring a license.
• Instantly activate a license on eligible VMs from the interface.

This gives you better visibility, reduces the need for API calls, and helps ensure compliance with Microsoft licensing requirements.

Requirements

• A VMware on OVHcloud service.
• At least one virtual machine running a Windows operating system.
• You must have activated the Windows licenses in your OVHcloud Control Panel. See the "Windows license" section of our Introduction to the VMware on OVHcloud Control Panel guide for more information.
• Allow outgoing TCP connections on port 1688 from licensed VMs to kms.ovh.us in your firewall settings.

OVHcloud Control Panel Access

• Direct link: VMware vSphere
• Navigation path: Hosted Private Cloud > Managed VMware vSphere > Select your vSphere

Instructions

Activate and monitor Windows licenses directly from the OVHcloud Control Panel

Check your Windows license usage in the Control Panel

1. Go to the Hosted Private Cloud section of your OVHcloud Control Panel and click Managed VMware vSphere.
2. Select your service, then open the Datacenter tab.

Here, you will find:

• The total number of VMs running in your datacenter.
• The number of Windows VMs (requiring a license).
• The number of declared Windows VMs (licensed by OVHcloud).

Understand the two Windows license management modes

There are two scenarios:

• Case 1: You bring your own Microsoft license (BYOL):
  • No action required in the interface.
• Case 2: You want OVHcloud to license the VM:
  • The VM license must be activated in the OVHcloud Control Panel for it to be billed properly.

Activate a Windows license from the OVHcloud Control Panel

1. Click your Datacenter, and go to the Virtual Machines tab.
2. Locate the VM that needs to be licensed.

3. Click the more options ... button on the right, then click Activate licence.

   

4. Choose the appropriate license from the dropdown menu.
5. Click Enable to confirm the action.

When you install a Windows Server operating system, the product key – also known as a KMS (Key Management Service) key – may not be installed correctly. In such cases, the operating system has been installed with a 120-day trial key. Once this time period elapses, the operating system can no longer be used.

Manage licenses using the OVHcloud API

If you prefer to automate or integrate Windows license management into your workflows, you can use the OVHcloud API to list, assign, update, or remove licenses on your virtual machines.

List virtual machines with a license

You can quickly check which virtual machines in your infrastructure are licensed via the OVHcloud API:

Return example:

[
    {
        "vmId": 1074,
        "name": "my-win2019-vm",
        "guestOsFamily": "windows2019srv_64Guest",
        "license": "windows 2019 Standard Core"
    }
]

Verify the license of a virtual machine

You can check the license currently associated with one of your virtual machines via the OVHcloud API:

If no license is attached to it, the license field value will be null.

Return example:

{
    // ...
    "guestOsFamily": "windows2019srv_64Guest",
    "license": "windows 2019 Standard"
}

Update the license of a virtual machine

You can update the license associated with one of your virtual machines via the OVHcloud API:

Unlicense a virtual machine

You can delete the license associated with one of your virtual machines via the OVHcloud API:

Go further

For more information and tutorials, please see our other Hosted Private Cloud support guides or explore the guides for other OVHcloud products and services.