Microsoft licensing options for Windows Server

This document describes the available Microsoft licensing options for running Windows Server virtual machine (VM) instances in your Google Cloud VMware Engine private clouds.

If you want to run Windows Server VMs in your VMware Engine private clouds, then you must license the VMs by doing one of the following as described in this document:

  • Use existing Windows Server licenses purchased before October 1, 2019.

  • Buy on-demand Windows Server licenses directly from Google.

  • Mix Bring Your Own License (BYOL) and on-demand Windows Server licenses.

Limitations

You can only enable Windows Server on-demand licenses in your private clouds. SQL Server on-demand licenses aren't supported.

Choose your licensing option

By default, the Windows Server VMs in your VMware Engine private clouds aren't licensed. You must license the Windows Server VMs by doing one of the following:

  • Bring your own Windows Server licenses

    If you bought Windows Server licenses with dedicated hardware requirements before October 1, 2019, then you can use those licenses within your private clouds. Using already purchased licenses might be more cost-effective than buying on-demand Windows Server licenses from Google as you have more flexibility in licensing the underlying physical CPU cores. However, you're responsible for complying with the terms of your license agreement and reporting license usage to Microsoft.

  • Buy on-demand Windows Server licenses from Google

    You can buy on-demand Windows Server licenses from Google for your private clouds. If you buy on-demand licenses from Google, then Google Cloud ensures compliance with the licensing requirements and automatically reports license usage to Microsoft.

  • Use a combination of BYOL and on-demand Windows Server licenses

    You can use a combination of BYOL and on-demand Windows Server licenses in a private cloud, where all licenses up to Windows Server 2019 are BYOL and Windows Server 2022 VMs use on-demand licenses from Google. You are responsible for providing your own licenses for all Windows Server versions 2019 and older in your private cloud. Google supplies on-Demand licenses only for vCPUs running Windows Server 2022.

Bring your own Windows Server licenses

If you own Windows Server licenses that require dedicated hardware requirements and were purchased before October 1, 2019 (with product release dates before this date), then you can use these existing licenses within your private clouds.

To bring a Windows Server license to your private clouds, make sure of the following:

  • The license purchase date must be earlier than October 1, 2019.

  • The release date of the licensed product must be earlier than October 1, 2019.

  • You must bring images. If you have questions during the import or migration process, then contact Google Support.

  • You are responsible for activating your licenses and complying with your licensing agreements.

  • You are responsible for reporting the usage of your licenses.

  • You must license all physical CPU cores in the underlying servers within your VMware Engine nodes regardless of the number of custom CPU cores. The following table shows the number of CPU cores to license based on the stock keeping unit (SKU):

    SKU Number of physical CPU cores to license
    GCVE Storage Only Node 0
    VMware Engine Gen 2 Mega Storage Only VCPU Node 0
    VMware Engine Gen 2 Standard Storage Only VCPU Node 0
    Standard 72 VCPU Node 36
    VMware Engine Gen 2 Mega 80 VCPU Node 64
    VMware Engine Gen 2 Mega 96 VCPU Node 64
    VMware Engine Gen 2 Mega 112 VCPU Node 64
    VMware Engine Gen 2 Mega 128 VCPU Node 64
    VMware Engine Gen 2 Standard 96 VCPU Node 64
    VMware Engine Gen 2 Standard 128 VCPU Node 64

Buy on-demand Windows Server licenses from Google

You can purchase on-demand Windows Server licenses directly from Google and use them within your VMware Engine nodes. After you've purchased and enabled the on-demand licenses in your private clouds as described in this section, any Windows Server vCPUs running in those private clouds are considered to be licensed by Google.

To purchase on-demand Windows Server licenses directly from Google and enable them in your private clouds, do the following:

  1. Install the VMware tools on all running Windows Server VMs in your private clouds. For more information, see How to install VMware Tools in the Broadcom documentation.

  2. In vCenter, verify that the Guest OS Family and Guest OS Version settings are correctly configured for each VM. When performing an in-place update or upgrade of the guest operating system, follow VMware's guidelines at VMware recommendations, best practices, and scope of support for Guest Operating System in-place update/upgrade to update the Guest OS Version to the newly installed version under VM Options > General Options.

  3. To receive a startup script to use on the Windows Server VMs in each private cloud that you want to enable the on-demand licenses on, do one of the following:

    • Contact your Technical Account Manager (TAM).

    • Create a support case. For each private cloud that you want to enable the on-demand licenses on, include the following in the support case:

      • The number of the project where the private cloud is located.

      • The name of the private cloud.

      • The region where the private cloud is located.

      • Specify All SPLA as the licensing mode.

  4. Add the startup script to all running Windows Server VMs in your private clouds.

After you've enabled the on-demand licenses, you must bring your own Windows Server OS images. Google Cloud verifies that the on-demand licenses comply with the licensing requirements, and it automatically reports license consumption to Microsoft.

Use a combination of BYOL and on-demand Windows Server licenses from Google

On VMware Engine, if you upgrade your VMs to a new version of Windows Server released on or after October 1, 2019 (such as Windows Server 2022), you should use on-demand licenses from Google. BYOL is not permitted for these newer versions.

If your private clouds run Windows Server images using BYOL, you can switch to this on-demand licensing mode to upgrade to Windows Server 2022. When you use this mode, you remain responsible for providing your own licenses for all instances running Windows Server versions 2019 and older in your private cloud. Google provides on-demand licenses only for vCPUs running Windows Server 2022. All vCPUs running Windows Server 2022 incur charges, and the consumed on-demand licenses are reported to Microsoft to verify compliance with licensing requirements. To get started, do the following:

  1. Install the VMware tools on all running Windows Server VMs in your private clouds. For more information, see Install VMware Tools in VMware products.
  2. On vCenter, make sure Guest OS Family and Guest OS Version are set correctly for every VM. Follow VMware guidelines at VMware (recommendations, best practices and scope of support) for Guest Operating System in-place update/upgrade to change Guest OS Version to the new installed version under VM Options > General Options.
  3. To receive a startup script to use on the Windows Server VMs in each private cloud that you want to switch to using on-demand licenses, do one of the following:
    • Contact your Technical Account Manager (TAM).
    • Create a support case. For each private cloud that you want to enable the on-demand licenses on, include the following in the support case:
      • The number of the project where the private cloud is located.
      • The name of the private cloud.
      • The region where the private cloud is located.
      • Specify Mixed mode / Windows Server 2022 support as the licensing mode.
  4. Add the startup script to all running Windows Server VMs in your private clouds.

Supported transitions

The following table lists the supported transitions for licensing options:

From To Allowed? Impact or Action
BYOL (default state on new private clouds) On-demand Licenses from Google Yes Customer starts paying for licenses for all Windows Server vCPUs in the private cloud
BYOL On-demand licenses from Google only for Windows Server 2022 Yes Customer starts paying for licenses for all Windows Server vCPUs running 2022 in the private cloud
On-demand licenses from Google BYOL Not recommended Delete the private cloud and start as BYOL
On-demand licenses from Google only for Windows Server 2022 On-demand licenses from Google Yes Customer starts paying for licenses for all Windows Server vCPUs in the private cloud
On-demand licenses from Google only for Windows Server 2022 BYOL Not recommended Delete the private cloud and start as BYOL

Pricing

Pricing for Windows Server licenses varies based on your chosen licensing option as follows:

  • If you bring your own Windows server licenses, then you incur charges according to your agreements with Microsoft.

  • If you purchase on-demand Windows Server licenses from Google, then Google Cloud charges you for each running Windows Server vCPU in your private clouds per the pricing for Windows Server OS images.

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