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License metadata (opt-in)

Add --include-licenses to a capture to record vSphere license products, usage, expiry and assignments for a licensing review. It is read-only and off by default, and license keys are never stored.

vsfleet capture run --all-contexts --include-licenses
vsfleet export rvtools --file estate.xlsx               # adds vLicense

Without the flag, vsfleet reads no license data and the export has no vLicense sheet.

What is collected

For each license: name, edition, cost unit, total, used, expiry and features. For each assignment: the host, cluster or vCenter holding it. Free-text labels are not collected. Records get IDs such as license-001 that are only meaningful within one capture.

License keys are never exposed

Keys are used in memory to match assignments, then discarded. They cannot appear in the database, CLI output, exports, or sharing profiles. vLicense keeps a Key column for RVTools alignment, always [redacted].

Coverage: unavailable is not zero

An account without license privileges may get an empty answer rather than an error. Every vCenter holds at least an evaluation license, so vsfleet reports zero records as unavailable, not empty.

Status Meaning
success Licenses and assignments were read
partial Licenses were read but assignments were not
unavailable Access denied, unsupported, or no records
failed The context could not be reached

The status appears in vsfleetCoverage, describe capture, and on stderr. An incomplete license collection makes the capture partial.

Privileges

Grant Global.Licenses at the vCenter root. The built-in ReadOnly role lacks it, so use ReadOnly plus that privilege.

The export

vLicense follows RVTools' column order: Name · Key · Labels · Cost Unit · Total · Used · Expiration Date · Features · VI SDK Server · VI SDK UUID · vsfleet Context. Expiry is a UTC date, and features are joined with ;. vsfleetLicenseAssignment lists which entity holds which license.

Interpreting the numbers

Used and Total count in the license's cost unit, such as CPUs or VMs, not hosts. Do not add assignments to usage. This is what vCenter reported at capture time, not a compliance verdict: compare it with your entitlement records.

Review checklist

  1. Capture with --include-licenses using an account with Global.Licenses.
  2. Check that every context's vLicense status is success.
  3. Export and hand the workbook to the reviewer.

Limits

These values have been checked only against the simulator, not a real vCenter or a real RVTools license sheet. Confirm privileges and values on your own version first.