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How Windows Server entitlements work - Amazon Elastic VMware Service
Windows Server entitlement componentsSetup workflow for Windows Server entitlements

How Windows Server entitlements work

With Windows Server entitlements, you can consume Windows Server licenses for the virtual machines (VMs) running in your Amazon EVS environment, directly through AWS and on a pay-as-you-go basis. This topic describes the resources and workflow involved.

Windows Server entitlement components

Windows Server entitlements use the following resources.

EVS vCenter connector

An EVS vCenter connector establishes a persistent connection between Amazon EVS and vCenter Server. Amazon EVS uses the connector to identify your VMs and monitor their Windows Server entitlement usage.

Windows Server entitlement

With an entitlement, you get AWS-offered Windows Server licensing coverage for a specific VM. After you create an entitlement, Amazon EVS monitors the VM’s Windows Server license usage so that you can consume licenses on a pay-as-you-go basis.

Windows Server activation

The process of activating Windows Server on your entitled VMs against an Amazon EVS activation endpoint that you create in your VPC. You perform this activation yourself. For more information, see Activating Windows Server on entitled VMs.

Setup workflow for Windows Server entitlements

Before you begin, make sure that you meet the requirements in Prerequisites for Windows Server entitlements.

To use Windows Server entitlements, complete the following steps:

  1. Create a vCenter connector so that Amazon EVS can communicate with your vCenter Server appliance. See Creating a vCenter connector.

  2. Create Windows Server entitlements for the VMs you want to cover. See Creating Windows Server entitlements for your VMs.

  3. Activate Windows Server on the entitled VMs. See Activating Windows Server on entitled VMs.

After you set up Windows Server entitlements, you can also do the following: