VMware Perpetual License End of Availability: What Broadcom Ended, What Still Works, and What Happens When Your Support Expires
VMware perpetual licenses are end of availability, not end of life — and the distinction is the whole story. When VMware moved to subscription-only licensing under Broadcom (announced December 2023, detailed January 2024), it stopped selling perpetual licenses and Support and Subscription (SnS) renewals. The licenses you already own remain valid: ESXi hosts and vCenter Server keep running, and support continues through the end of your existing SnS contract. What ends at that contract's expiry is access — to patches, to new versions, to a support request — with one narrow exception: zero-day patches (CVSS 9.0 and above) for vSphere 8.x, which Broadcom supplies even to expired perpetual customers. A perpetual license with lapsed SnS is a working but unpatchable vSphere.
This page is the reference for what was actually ended, what a perpetual holder keeps and loses, the vSphere version dates that compound the problem (vSphere 7.0 passed end of general support on October 2, 2025), how to read your own entitlement, and the four real options. Per-version detail lives on the ESXi and vCenter Server product pages.
Key Dates at a Glance
- VMware perpetual licensing and SnS renewals: end of availability announced 2023-12-11; product-by-product EOA list published 2024-01-22
- Zero-day patch program for perpetual customers with expired SnS (vSphere 8.x, CVSS ≥ 9.0): announced 2024-04-15; Broadcom portal registration from 2024-05-06
- vSphere 7.0 (ESXi and vCenter Server): end of general support 2025-10-02
- vSphere 8.0: end of general support 2027-10-11
- vSphere 9.0: end of general support 2027-09-17
- vSphere 9.1: released 2026-05-12; end of general support 2028-08-12
vSphere EOL Risk Scores
An end-of-life date on its own does not tell you how urgent a version is. We publish an EOL Risk Score (0–100) for every tracked version, combining how long past — or how close to — end of life it is, the attack surface of the software class, whether CISA lists the product in its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog, and whether commercial extended support exists. ESXi is a hypervisor with a long KEV history (ESXiArgs, several vCenter RCEs), so even supported versions start from an elevated baseline.
| Version | EOL Risk Score | What drives it |
|---|---|---|
| ESXi 7.0 | 60 | End of general support October 2, 2025; hypervisor attack surface; KEV exposure; no zero-day patch entitlement for perpetual holders. |
| ESXi 8.0 | 30 | Supported to October 11, 2027; the supported-hypervisor baseline. |
| ESXi 9.0 | 30 | Supported to September 17, 2027. |
Scores update automatically at every site build; the methodology is on the EOL Risk Score page.
What Broadcom Actually Ended
Broadcom's knowledge base and the January 22, 2024 VMware Cloud Foundation blog post list more than fifty standalone products and SKUs at end of availability: perpetual licenses for vSphere Enterprise Plus, Standard, ROBO and Desktop; standalone vSAN and NSX; the Aria (formerly vRealize) suite; Cloud Director; Tanzu Kubernetes Grid; and the SnS renewals, hybrid purchase program and subscription purchase program that went with them. The replacements are per-core subscriptions: VMware Cloud Foundation (the full stack), VMware vSphere Foundation, and for smaller sites vSphere Standard and vSphere Essentials Plus Kit, with add-on services for storage, security and disaster recovery.
Broadcom's own wording for existing customers: if you purchased an end-of-availability product and are not up for renewal, no immediate action is required, and support continues through the duration of your support contract. At renewal, the conversation is about which subscription replaces it.
What Happens When SnS Expires on a Perpetual License
| Keeps working | Ends at SnS expiry |
|---|---|
| ESXi hosts and vCenter Server operate normally — Broadcom states there is no automated shutdown or disconnection on contract expiry. The underlying software entitlement is not revoked. | Support-portal access to new patches, security updates and major/minor releases (restricted to accounts with active SnS); the ability to open a support request; major-version upgrades, which require active SnS for license conversion. |
The consequence Broadcom names directly: security posture is at risk, because patches cannot be retrieved. The exception is the zero-day program below.
The Zero-Day Patch Exception (vSphere 8.x Only)
Announced April 15, 2024: Broadcom provides all perpetual-license customers, including those with expired support contracts, with “zero-day” patches — defined as fixes for Critical Severity Security Alerts with a CVSS score of 9.0 or greater — for vCenter Server and ESXi 8.x. Patches are obtained through the Broadcom support portal; registration has been open since May 6, 2024. Excluded: important-severity and lower security fixes, non-security updates, and every version below 8.x. For a perpetual 7.0 estate — which is also past general support since October 2, 2025 — there is no patch path at all.
The Version Dates That Compound the Licensing Question
| Version | Released | End of general support | Status (Aug 2026) |
|---|---|---|---|
| vSphere 9.1 | May 12, 2026 | Aug 12, 2028 | Supported |
| vSphere 9.0 | Jun 17, 2025 | Sep 17, 2027 | Supported |
| vSphere 8.0 | Oct 11, 2022 | Oct 11, 2027 | Supported |
| vSphere 7.0 | Apr 2, 2020 | Oct 2, 2025 | EOL |
| vSphere 6.7 | Apr 17, 2018 | Oct 15, 2022 | EOL |
| vSphere 6.5 | Nov 15, 2016 | Oct 15, 2022 | EOL |
Two clocks, then: the licence's support contract and the product's lifecycle. A perpetual 8.0 licence with active SnS is fully supported to October 2027; the same licence with lapsed SnS gets zero-day patches only; a 7.0 licence gets nothing either way. The full ESXi lifecycle, including Broadcom's support-phase changes, is in VMware ESXi & vSphere end of life in the Broadcom era.
How to Check Your Own Position
- Licence type and SnS end date: the entitlement in the Broadcom support portal (support.broadcom.com) — this is the date that decides patch access.
- Installed keys: vCenter → Administration → Licensing. Perpetual keys show no expiry; that tells you nothing about the support contract.
- Version:
vmware -von an ESXi host, or the build shown in vCenter's Summary; reconcile against the table above.
Across an estate, the EOL Checker maps each ESXi/vCenter version to its dates; the Stack Scanner flags the hypervisor alongside the guest operating systems, which have their own clocks.
Your Four Options
- Subscribe before SnS lapses. VCF, VVF, or vSphere Standard / Essentials Plus. Preserves support, patches and upgrade rights; the per-core price is the negotiation.
- Stay perpetual and contain. Legitimate for estates being retired: no new features, no support, zero-day-only patching on 8.x, compensating controls (management-network isolation, no internet-facing vCenter, strict admin access), and a firm migration date.
- Third-party support. Independent vendors sell support and, for some versions, security maintenance for off-contract and end-of-life VMware estates — a bridge during a platform decision. See extended support options.
- Migrate off vSphere. Hyper-V/Azure Local, Nutanix AHV, Proxmox VE, OpenShift Virtualization or public cloud; the one route that ends both clocks, and the one with the longest lead time.
The right choice follows the usual question: how many more years does this estate need to run? Under a year, contain or third-party; one to three, subscribe or migrate once; indefinitely, decide the platform now, before the next SnS renewal decides it for you.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are VMware perpetual licenses end of life?
They are end of availability, not end of life. Broadcom stopped selling perpetual licenses and Support and Subscription (SnS) renewals when VMware moved to subscription-only licensing, announced in December 2023 and detailed in January 2024. Licenses already purchased remain valid: the software keeps running, and support continues through the end of the existing SnS contract. What ends at renewal is the ability to buy more support — the replacement is a subscription (VMware Cloud Foundation, VMware vSphere Foundation, or the smaller vSphere Standard / Essentials Plus offers).
What happens when my VMware support (SnS) contract expires on a perpetual license?
Broadcom's knowledge base is explicit: ESXi hosts and vCenter Server keep operating normally; there is no shutdown or disconnection. What stops is access — the Broadcom support portal no longer serves patches, security updates or new versions to accounts without active SnS, you can no longer open a support request, and major-version upgrades require active SnS for license conversion. In other words, a perpetual license with expired SnS is a working but unpatchable vSphere.
Do I still get security patches on a perpetual license with expired support?
Only the most severe ones, and only on vSphere 8.x. Since April 15, 2024 Broadcom provides all perpetual-license customers, including those with expired SnS, with zero-day patches — defined as fixes for Critical Severity Security Alerts with a CVSS score of 9.0 or higher — for vCenter Server and ESXi 8.x, via support.broadcom.com registration (available since May 6, 2024). Important-severity fixes, non-security updates and vSphere 7.x and older are not covered.
When does vSphere 7 reach end of life?
vSphere 7.0 (ESXi and vCenter Server) reached end of general support on October 2, 2025. vSphere 8.0 runs to October 11, 2027, vSphere 9.0 to September 17, 2027, and vSphere 9.1 (released May 12, 2026) to August 12, 2028. A perpetual 7.0 estate is therefore doubly exposed: the product itself is past general support, and the zero-day patch program does not cover 7.x.
What replaced VMware perpetual licenses?
Per-core subscriptions: VMware Cloud Foundation (the full stack — vSphere, vSAN, NSX, Aria/VCF Operations), VMware vSphere Foundation (vSphere with vSAN and operations for data-center estates), and for smaller deployments vSphere Standard and vSphere Essentials Plus Kit, with add-ons for storage, security and disaster recovery. More than fifty standalone SKUs, including vSphere Enterprise Plus, standalone vSAN and NSX, Aria Suite and Tanzu Kubernetes Grid, went end of availability.
How do I check whether my vSphere licenses are perpetual and when support ends?
In the Broadcom support portal the entitlement shows the license type and the SnS end date; in vCenter, Administration → Licensing lists the installed keys and their expiry (perpetual keys show no expiry but do not indicate the support contract). The support-contract date, not the key, is the one that decides patch access — reconcile it against the portal before it lapses.
What are my options when SnS on a perpetual license runs out?
Four: move to a Broadcom subscription (VCF, VVF or vSphere Standard/Essentials Plus) before the contract ends, which preserves support and patches; stay perpetual and run unpatched apart from 8.x zero-day fixes, with compensating controls; buy third-party support for the vSphere estate from vendors who sell it for end-of-life and off-contract VMware; or migrate the workloads off vSphere. See our extended support options page for how third-party programs work.