Recently several public GitHub repositories and gists that collect VMware license keys and downloads have seen activity and updates. These repos (examples include “VMware-ESXi-License-Keys”, various “vmware” gists and “vmware-keys” forks) historically hosted or aggregated keys for old ESXi versions and community-shared resources for homelabs. With the arrival of ESXi/vSphere 9 and Broadcom’s changed licensing model, maintainers and community members have been discussing and updating repositories to reflect:
In conclusion, while there may be some user-shared license keys or activation codes for VMware ESXi 9 on GitHub, we recommend obtaining a valid license key through official channels to ensure compliance with VMware's terms and conditions. Additionally, using unauthorized or "cracked" versions of ESXi 9 may pose security risks and violate intellectual property rights. vmware esxi 9 license key github updated
Conclusion
VCF & VVF Bundling: ESXi 9 is now strictly part of the VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) or VMware vSphere Foundation (VVF) bundles. You can no longer purchase "Standard" or "Enterprise Plus" as standalone products for version 9. What happened: GitHub repos with VMware ESXi license
Risks of Using Unofficial License Keys