Broadcom licensing is the set of terms under which Broadcom Inc. licenses the infrastructure software it has assembled through acquisitions: CA Technologies in 2018, the Symantec Enterprise Security business in 2019 and VMware in 2023.[25][26][24] For a software asset manager the three families behave very differently. VMware is sold as per-Core subscriptions with reporting obligations built into the software. The CA-heritage mainframe portfolio is licensed on machine capacity or on measured consumption. Symantec and Carbon Black are counted per device, user or endpoint.
The document model is shared. Each Broadcom product has Specific Program Documentation (SPD). The SPD applies “in addition to any terms and conditions referenced on the Broadcom quote, order form, statement of work, or other mutually agreed ordering document”, called the Transaction Document, under the applicable end user agreement.[1] The SPD version in force is the one published on legaldocs.broadcom.com on the date Broadcom accepts the Transaction Document. When a customer installs a later release supplied under support, the SPD current on the installation date applies to that release.[1] An effective licence position for Broadcom therefore starts with the order, then the dated SPD, and only then the product documentation.
Editions
Broadcom publishes no public price list. The product families and the way each is licensed are:
| Family | Main products | How it is licensed | Deeper article |
|---|---|---|---|
| VMware Cloud Foundation division | VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF), VMware vSphere Foundation (VVF), vSphere Standard, Enterprise Plus and Essentials Plus, VCF Edge | Subscription per physical Core, 16-Core-per-Processor floor (8 for VCF Edge)[1][3] | VMware vSphere and VMware Cloud Foundation licensing |
| VMware storage and add-ons | vSAN add-on, vDefend Firewall, Avi Load Balancer, VMware Live Recovery | Per TiB (vSAN), per Core (vDefend), per Service Unit (Avi), per protected VM and protected TiB (Live Recovery)[4][11][12][13] | VMware Cloud Foundation add-on licensing |
| VMware for service providers | VCF under the VMware Cloud Service Provider (VCSP) Program | Commit contracts metered in core usage per hour by the VCF usage meter[14] | VMware Cloud Service Provider Program |
| Mainframe software (CA heritage) | Tape, security, database, workload automation and development tools for z/OS | MIPS, MSU Capacity or CPU on the Order Form, or Mainframe Consumption Licensing[15][16] | Broadcom mainframe and CA enterprise software licensing |
| Distributed enterprise software | AIOps, Automation (AutoSys, Automic), ValueOps, DevOps | Product SPDs or a segment Portfolio License Agreement[18] | same |
| Symantec Enterprise and Carbon Black | Symantec Endpoint Security, Network Protection, PGP encryption, Identity Security, Carbon Black | Per managed device, per User, per Device, Server or User, per Endpoint[19][20][21] | Symantec and Carbon Black enterprise security licensing |
The VMware End-User Computing business (Horizon and Workspace ONE) is no longer a Broadcom product line. Broadcom agreed in February 2024 to sell it to KKR.[27]
Metrics
Each family keeps its own units, and Broadcom publishes no conversion between them.
- VMware. The primary metric is per Core, counted on every physical Core of each Server where the software is installed, including Cores deactivated in the BIOS. The purchased vSAN add-on is per TiB of raw physical storage claimed by vSAN.[1][4] VCF Edge has its own per Core row with a lower floor. Add-ons use Core (vDefend Firewall), Service Unit, Protected Virtual Machine and Protected capacity (TiB). Service providers are metered in Core usage per hour.
- Mainframe. MIPS and MSU Capacity measure the aggregate capacity of the computers at the customer site, including computers that can remotely access the licensed ones. CPU applies to distributed components.[15] Mainframe Consumption Licensing uses Total z/OS MSUs Consumed.[16]
- Security. Symantec Endpoint Security is metered per managed Device, physical or virtual.[19] Network Protection counts a User for every employee and authorized non-employee and for each 8 GB of traffic.[20] Carbon Black counts each Endpoint on which the Sensor Software is installed.[21] Portfolio agreements measure usage in Software Consumption Units.[22]
Counting / floors
The VMware Core count is the most common calculation. Required Core licences equal the Cores on the Server, subject to a minimum of 16 Core licences per Processor for VCF, VVF and the vSphere editions.[1][3] Broadcom’s educational examples show a single 8-core CPU needing 16 Core licences, and a host with two 24-core CPUs needing 48.[8] VCF includes 1 TiB of vSAN per licensed Core and VVF 0.25 TiB, as entitlements rather than purchased units.[1][2] The full rules, including the VCF Edge floor, pooling and rounding, are in VMware vSphere and VMware Cloud Foundation licensing.
Mainframe capacity metrics are rounded to the next even multiple of 10, and the CA-era CPU metric divides the cores of multi-core servers by eight and rounds up.[15] Symantec Endpoint Security counts each device with an applied policy against the subscription.[19]
Support and maintenance
For current VMware subscriptions, support is part of the licence. The VCF SPD states that the licence “includes entitlement to support and maintenance services” that may be used only for the licensed software, and not for former offers of its components that the customer licensed separately.[1]
Legacy perpetual VMware licences are handled differently. Broadcom states that “The expiration of the SnS does not revoke the underlying software entitlement”: hosts keep running and licensed features stay unlocked, but patches, updates, new releases and support requests require active Support and Subscription (SnS).[6] Current SPDs cap upgrades of legacy perpetual licences with active SnS at vSphere and vSAN 8.x and VCF 5.x.[1][3] Licence keys also depend on support status: when VMware portals moved to the Broadcom Support Portal in May 2024, only keys with an active support contract were migrated.[7] The history is set out in VMware perpetual licensing end of availability.
Virtualization & partitioning
Broadcom publishes no partitioning policy of the kind some database vendors use. VMware licensing counts physical Cores per Server, and a hardware partition or blade is treated as a separate Server. All VCF components may be used only on, or for, the same physical Cores where the vSphere Core licences are deployed.[1]
For mainframe software, the MIPS and MSU definitions count machine capacity, not the logical partitions where a product runs. The CA-era CPU metric has its own formula for virtual servers, based on the largest share of capacity allocated to a monitored operating system instance.[15] Mainframe Consumption Licensing replaces machine capacity with the hourly MSU utilisation of production z/OS LPARs.[16] In the security portfolio, virtual machines count like physical devices.[19]
Cloud / BYOL
VVF and the vSphere edition SPDs forbid use or deployment of the software on any Cloud Services, which excludes on-premises or colocation infrastructure where the third party has no access to the software.[2][3] VCF is the only primary VMware subscription with a bring-your-own-licence right, called License Portability. It allows the whole set of VCF components to be ported to Cloud Services on Broadcom’s list of Certified Cloud Services, with the customer remaining the licensee.[1][9] Portability does not apply to Value-Added OEM licences or to software licensed under the service provider programs.[1]
Ordinary subscriptions do not permit hosting for third parties beyond what the SPD calls Deemed Internal Purpose Applications. Providers that sell VMware-based services license VCF through the VCSP Program instead.[1][14] Symantec cloud services and Carbon Black Cloud are Broadcom-hosted, so bring-your-own-licence terms do not arise.
Programs
Broadcom’s commercial wrappers sit on top of the SPDs:
| Program | Scope | Catalog row |
|---|---|---|
| VCF License Portability | Bring-your-own VCF to Certified Cloud Services | License Portability |
| VMware Cloud Service Provider Program | Hosting VCF for third parties on commit contracts | VCSP |
| VCF per-core upgrade by Zero Dollar Order | Pre-2024 per-core subscriptions (Qualified Legacy Offerings) | Zero Dollar Order |
| Value-Added OEM Program | VCF sold with an OEM’s infrastructure | Value-Added OEM |
| Mainframe Consumption Licensing | Whole mainframe portfolio on hourly z/OS MSU consumption, baseline and annual true-up | MCL |
| Enterprise Software Portfolio License Agreement | Access to a whole enterprise software segment for a negotiated fee | Enterprise Software PLA |
| Symantec Portfolio License Agreements | Security segments measured in Software Consumption Units, reconciled yearly | Identity Security PLA |
The Enterprise Software PLA brief describes “unrestricted access to either our entire portfolio of Enterprise Software solutions, or to one or more specific segments”.[18] Under the Symantec Identity Security PLA, usage is reconciled at the end of each year and becomes the next year’s baseline.[22]
Audit and compliance
Broadcom relies heavily on reporting that the customer, or the software, supplies.
- VMware version 9. Customers who install, use or deploy VCF version 9 or later must provide a verified Compliance Report 180 days after the licence is registered and every 180 days after that. If a timely, unaltered report is not provided, management-plane features are degraded or blocked and support, including access to updates and upgrades, is suspended.[1]
- Mainframe. Under Mainframe Consumption Licensing, customers submit IBM’s SCRT report for ISV programs every month, and the standard true-up period is annual.[16] Licence keys under the License Management Program are advisory: after warning messages “the product continues operation”, so a running product is not proof of entitlement.[17]
- Security. Symantec endpoint products allow over-deployment in many cases, but Broadcom’s documentation warns that “You are still out of compliance even if the behavior is allowed” when a deployment exceeds purchased seats.[23]
Disputes since the VMware acquisition have concerned support renewals for perpetual licences and use beyond licensed quantities. See AT&T Services, Inc. v. Broadcom Inc., Rijkswaterstaat v. VMware and Broadcom and VMware LLC v. Siemens AG. Earlier cases include Hellwig v. VMware on the GPL and Computer Associates v. Altai on software copyright.
Recent licensing changes
- 2023-11-22. Broadcom completed the VMware acquisition.[24]
- 2023-12-11 to 2024-01-22. VMware ended sales of perpetual licences and of SnS renewals for perpetual offerings, and consolidated standalone products into VCF, VVF and add-ons. The announcement applied to “every edition, suite, and pricing metric for each product”.[5]
- 2024-02-04. Per-core subscriptions bought before this date became Qualified Legacy Offerings with their own vSAN terms.[1]
- 2024-05. VMware customer portals moved to the Broadcom Support Portal, and only keys under active support were migrated.[7]
- VCF 9. Mandatory Compliance Reports every 180 days, and legacy perpetual upgrades capped below version 9.[1]
- Add-ons. VMware’s own documentation notes that add-ons “do not necessarily follow the same licensing model as VCF and vSphere Foundation”.[10]
Deal details are on the acquisitions page.
Guides
The articles on Broadcom licensing, in reading order:
- VMware vSphere and VMware Cloud Foundation licensing: per-Core counting, floors, vSAN entitlements, portability and compliance reporting.
- VMware perpetual licensing end of availability: what happened to perpetual licences and SnS, and upgrade ceilings.
- VMware Cloud Foundation add-on licensing: vDefend Firewall, Avi Load Balancer and VMware Live Recovery.
- VMware Cloud Service Provider Program: commit contracts, the usage meter and key generation for providers.
- Broadcom mainframe and CA enterprise software licensing: MIPS, MSU and CPU, Mainframe Consumption Licensing and Portfolio License Agreements.
- Symantec and Carbon Black enterprise security licensing: devices, users, endpoints and Symantec PLAs.
Out of scope
- The Broadcom end user agreement and its verification clause. The general agreement referenced by Transaction Documents was not retrieved for this page; audit rights are described only as the SPDs and product documentation state them.
- Prices, discounts and partner programs other than those named above.
- VMware End-User Computing products (Horizon, Workspace ONE), sold to KKR.
- Broadcom semiconductor and hardware products, and IBM charges for z/OS itself.