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Downgrading new VMware vSphere Foundation (VVF) or VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) licenses to 7.x

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When you access your new VMware vSphere Foundation (VVF) or VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) license in the Broadcom Support Portal (BSP), it is delivered using the new solution license key type  which can activate multiple components within a VVF or VCF deployment.

By default, VVF and VCF licenses will come entitled for latest vSphere 8.0 Update 2b and VCF 5.1.1 respectively, because those are the minimum versions that support the new solution license key type. With that said, users can also downgrade their existing VVF and VCF licenses to support earlier vSphere 8.x and 7.x releases using the BSP license management system, which was something I had recently learned about and went through the process myself, so here is what it looks like end-to-end.

Note: License downgrade requires both user downgrade permissions in the BSP license management as well as using non-NFR licenses, which can obtained through the BSP self-service "Trials and Beta" or internally for employees. For NFR licenses, downgrade is not available.

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No entitlements needed for these popular VMware downloads on Broadcom Support Portal (BSP)

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As users are getting more familiar with the new Broadcom Support Portal (BSP), especially for downloading VMware software, an active entitlement is required for most downloads.

UPDATE (03/25/24) - Here is a direct link to all the Free downloads on the BSP https://support.broadcom.com/group/ecx/free-downloads

Note: If you are new to Broadcom Support Portal (BSP), be sure to check out my recent blog post on tips for navigating and downloading from BSP.

However, there are a number of VMware downloads that do NOT require an entitlement at all. After the exciting news from the VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) Division on our Desktop Hypervisor Products (Workstation Pro and Fusion Pro) being available, completely FREE for personal use, I wanted to highlight other popular VMware downloads that also do not require an entitlement and more importantly where to navigate within the BSP site to download.

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Tips for navigating and downloading from new Broadcom Support Portal

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The Broadcom Support Portal (BSP) is most likely a new interface for many including myself after the planned VMware by Broadcom Day 2 Transition, which was completed on May 6th, 2024. The BSP is used for more than just support, it is the single place for managing your entitlements/licenses, software downloads, trials, security advisories, knowledge base articles and engaging with the community.

Tip: I have also put together a list of Useful Links for VMware by Broadcom Day 2 Transition in case you have not seen this handy resource.

Note: I know some users are still reporting entitlement issues, you can reach out to support or contact your account team who may be able to assist if you are still unsure. I know several users reported entitlements were finally in their account towards the end of last week, so it may just take a bit longer than expected. I have also seen some of the links on BSP throw 404, but after refreshing it once more, it loads and this might be due to some residual issues with our new CDN provider, CloudFlare.

It definitely took me the whole week to get familiar with the BSP, especially knowing where and how to find things, which was not always the most intuitive. I have been compiling some notes and various tidbits that I have learned over this past week and I wanted to share this in case it can help our customers, partners and colleagues to quickly ramp up on using the BSP.

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