RVTools Download and Licensing Guide: Cores, Hosts and VMs

RVTools is a free Windows application that reads a VMware vCenter Server or ESXi host and lists its virtual machines, hosts, clusters and licences in tabs you can export to Excel or CSV. Dell Technologies owns it and publishes the only official download: version 4.8.2, released 2 September 2026, from Dell’s RVTools page.

For licensing, three tabs do most of the work. vHost gives the physical processors and cores of every host, which is what VMware Cloud Foundation, vSphere Foundation and Windows Server count. vInfo gives every VM with its host, power state and guest operating system, which decides Windows Server Standard against Datacenter. vCPU gives each VM’s virtual CPUs, which is what SQL Server counts when you license by VM. This guide covers the download, the export, the columns that matter and a worked example from an export to a licence count.

Who makes RVTools now

Rob de Veij wrote RVTools and published it through Robware; version 1.0 is dated April 2008 in the release notes. Dell states that it acquired the RVTools technology from him in 2023, that the software “has always been made available to the public at no cost” and that Dell has no plans to change that. The documentation that ships with each release is now copyright Dell, and support questions go to rvtools@dell.com.

Where to download RVTools safely

Download it from Dell. Dell’s knowledge base article 000325532 links three files on downloads.dell.com: the installer (rvtools4.8.2.msi), a checksum file (checksum4.8.2.txt) and the documentation with release notes (rvtools.pdf). The same article names Dell Technologies, Robware.net and RVTools.com as the only authorised sources and warns against downloading RVTools anywhere else.

That warning has a history. In May 2025 Arctic Wolf reported a trojanized RVTools installer, served from a look-alike domain that swapped .com for .org, which dropped the Bumblebee malware loader; we covered it in The Attack: RVTools Compromised to Deliver Bumblebee Malware. Before you run an installer, compute its hash and compare it with Dell’s checksum file. In PowerShell, Get-FileHash .\rvtools4.8.2.msi returns a SHA-256 hash by default (Microsoft Learn).

Requirements and supported vSphere versions

The RVTools 4.8.2 documentation describes it as a Windows .NET 4.7.2 application that uses the VMware vSphere Management SDK 8.0 and the CIS REST API. It lists support for VirtualCenter and ESX Server 5.x, 6.x, 7.0 and 8.0. It does not mention vSphere or VCF 9, so test it against a 9.x vCenter before you rely on the numbers there.

• Machine: a Windows computer with .NET Framework 4.7.2 that can reach vCenter on HTTPS port 443, the only port RVTools uses to talk to the vSphere SDK.
• Account: at least read-only access in vSphere. The read-only role sees almost everything but not licence information; to fill the vLicense tab without an administrator account, the documentation suggests cloning the Virtual machine power user role and adding the Global > License privilege.
• Certificates: from 4.8.1, RVTools verifies the server’s SSL certificate before it connects. Command-line runs against a server with an invalid, expired or untrusted certificate now fail unless you add -BypassSSLCheck, so scheduled exports written for older versions may stop working after an upgrade.

How to run RVTools and export the data

1. Run the .msi from Dell. It installs the application and does not install background services or agents.
2. Start RVTools, enter the vCenter FQDN or IP address and a read-only account, and log in. Connect to vCenter rather than to single hosts, so every host and cluster is in one export.
3. Choose File > Export All to Excel and save the .xlsx. Every tab becomes a worksheet in one workbook.
4. With more than one vCenter, export each one and merge the workbooks with RVToolsMergeExcelFiles.exe, which ships in the program folder and does not need Excel.

The same export runs from the command line, which is how you schedule it. The documentation’s form for one vCenter, all tabs, one workbook is:

RVTools.exe -s vcenter.example.local -u svc_rvtools -p <encrypted password> -c ExportAll2xlsx -d C:\Exports -f rvtools.xlsx

Use -passthroughAuth instead of -u and -p to log in as the Windows user running the command, ExportAll2csv for one CSV file per tab, or a single-tab command such as ExportvHost2xlsx. The -p value is an encrypted password produced by the RVToolsPasswordEncryption.ps1 script in the program folder, and only the Windows user who encrypted it can use it. Without -f, RVTools names the file RVTools_export_all_ followed by a timestamp. The -DBColumnNames switch writes RVTools’ internal column names instead of the display names, so check which form a tool that reads your export expects.

The RVTools tabs that matter for licensing

RVTools 4.8.2 has 26 tabs, from vInfo to vHealth. Five of them carry licensing facts. Column names below are as the RVTools documentation and LICENSEWARE’s RVTools help article give them.

In vHost, # CPU is the number of physical processors (sockets), Cores per CPU the cores in each, and # Cores the host total. The RVTools manual labels the first column “# CPUs” and its description is loosely worded, so check every row: # CPU times Cores per CPU should equal # Cores. HT Active says whether hyperthreading is on; it does not change any of these core counts, and vCluster’s NumCpuThreads is the column that does include hyperthreads. For the ESXi version and licence key of a single host, see identifying your VMware version and licence key.

VMware Cloud Foundation and vSphere Foundation: cores per CPU

Broadcom licenses VCF and vSphere Foundation per core. The VCF Software Product Description (June 2026) sets a minimum of 16 cores per processor and requires every core on the server to be licensed, including cores deactivated in the BIOS. Its definition of a core is “a single physical computational unit of the Processor”, so hyperthreads are not counted. The VCF 9 licensing model adds that only ESX hosts consume this capacity, and that VCF Edge has an 8-core minimum instead.

From vHost, each host needs # CPU × the greater of Cores per CPU and 16. Add the hosts you plan to license, as Broadcom’s core-counting article describes. The 72-core figure that circulated in 2025 was a reported order minimum, not a counting rule; what happened to the 16-to-72-core change sets out what Broadcom’s documents state, and understanding VMware’s licensing model covers the rest of the metric.

Windows Server: cores per host and VMs per host

Windows Server Standard and Datacenter license every physical core of the host, with at least 8 core licenses per processor and 16 per server (Product Terms). On ESXi, Windows is not in the physical operating system environment, but every Windows Server guest still has to be covered. A full set of Standard core licenses covers two Windows Server VMs on that host, and more need another full set; Datacenter covers unlimited VMs on the host. At Microsoft’s list prices Datacenter is cheaper from 11 Windows Server VMs on a host; the arithmetic is in the Windows Server 2025 licensing guide.

From the export: take the host’s core licenses from vHost as the greater of 16 and the sum over processors of the greater of 8 and Cores per CPU. Then filter vInfo to Windows Server guests (OS according to the configuration file or OS according to the VMware Tools), drop rows where Template is True, and count VMs per Host. vHost’s # VMs column counts every running VM on the host, Linux included, so it is not the Windows count.

SQL Server: virtual cores per VM, or the whole host

SQL Server per core can be licensed on each VM or on the host’s physical cores. By VM, you license the virtual cores allocated to each VM, at least four per VM, and this route needs Software Assurance, a subscription or pay-as-you-go. On the host, Enterprise on every physical core with Software Assurance or a subscription covers unlimited VMs, with at least four core licenses per processor (Microsoft SQL Server licensing guidance). The rules and prices are in the SQL Server 2025 licensing guide and the SQL Server 2022 vs 2025 comparison.

vCPU’s CPUs column gives the virtual cores per VM and vHost’s # Cores the physical cores per host. What RVTools does not give you is which VMs run SQL Server: it reads vSphere, not the software inside the guest, so that list has to come from a software inventory. If a virtual core maps to more than one hardware thread, Microsoft counts each thread, so check how the VM is configured.

Worked example: from an RVTools export to a licence count

A cluster of three hosts, DRS and HA enabled in vCluster. vHost shows the same hardware on each:

vInfo also lists two powered-off Windows Server VMs and one Windows template. vCPU shows two VMs the software inventory reports running SQL Server Standard: sql01 with 2 CPUs and sql02 with 8.

VMware: 96 cores, not 72

Each processor has 12 cores, below the 16 minimum, so each counts as 16: 2 × 16 = 32 per host, 96 for the cluster. The hosts have 72 physical cores; the other 24 are the minimum. The 48 threads per host from hyperthreading add nothing.

Windows Server: placement on the day, or the peak each host can run

Each host needs 24 core licenses per set (12 per processor, above both floors). One Standard set at list is $1,764 per host (a 16-pack at $1,176 plus four 2-packs) and Datacenter is $10,156.50 per host, from the prices in the Windows Server 2025 guide.

The first row is only valid if the VMs stay where the export found them. Microsoft does not let core licenses be reassigned between hosts on a short-term basis (generally once every 90 days), and a VM that moves onto a host needs that host to be licensed for it already. With DRS and HA free to place any VM on any host, each host has to be licensed for the most Windows VMs it can run, which is the second row, and Datacenter is cheaper. The 18 Windows VMs if the two powered-off ones are started push Standard higher still. A template cannot run until it is converted to a VM, so it is not counted here.

SQL Server: twelve core licenses

Licensed by VM, sql01 has 2 virtual cores and takes the four-core minimum; sql02 takes 8. That is 12 core licenses, six 2-packs, $23,670 at Standard’s list price of $3,945 per 2-pack, plus Software Assurance or a subscription, which licensing by VM requires. Licensing the hosts instead would mean Enterprise on all 72 physical cores.

Limits and pitfalls

• A snapshot in time. An export shows where VMs were when it ran. Licences follow peaks, so schedule exports and keep them, rather than counting from one file.
• Permissions. A read-only account leaves vLicense empty. Hosts or folders the account cannot see are missing without any warning in the workbook.
• Hyperthreads are not cores. Count # Cores, not threads, for VMware and Windows Server. For SQL Server by VM, check whether a virtual core maps to more than one thread.
• Disabled cores. Broadcom requires cores deactivated in the BIOS to be licensed, and its own counting article warns that disabled cores give inaccurate results from its script. An inventory read from vCenter only sees what the host reports, so confirm the processor model against the vendor’s specification.
• Powered-off VMs and templates. Filter on Powerstate and Template. A powered-off VM that someone can start is part of the peak a host may run.
• Clusters and DRS. vCluster’s DRS enabled and HA Enabled columns tell you whether VMs move. If they do, count per cluster for the peak, not per host for the day.
• Guest software is not in the export. RVTools shows the guest operating system, not SQL Server or other applications installed in it.
• Every vCenter. One export covers one vCenter. Hosts managed elsewhere, or standalone ESXi hosts, need their own exports.

LICENSEWARE takes an RVTools Export All workbook as a data source: uploaded to Infrastructure Mapper, it feeds the core licensing assessments in Microsoft Deployment Manager, and the help article lists the sheets and columns it needs.

Questions

Is RVTools free?

Yes. Dell says the software has always been available at no cost and that it has no plans to change that.

Where do I download RVTools?

From Dell’s RVTools page or Dell’s knowledge base article, both of which link the installer on downloads.dell.com. Do not use mirrors or look-alike domains.

Is RVTools safe to run?

The official installer from Dell, checked against Dell’s checksum file, is the safe copy. RVTools reads vSphere through its API with the account you give it, and a read-only account is enough for almost everything. Since 4.8.1 it also refuses servers with untrusted certificates unless you bypass the check.

Does RVTools support vSphere 9?

The 4.8.2 documentation lists vCenter and ESX 5.x to 8.0 and does not mention 9. Dell says it is committed to keeping RVTools current with VMware’s release schedule. Test an export against a 9.x vCenter before you count from it.

Can I export RVTools to CSV?

Yes. -c ExportAll2csv writes one CSV file per tab, and commands such as ExportvHost2csv export a single tab. Excel (.xlsx) keeps every tab in one file, which is easier to merge and to share.

What are the alternatives to RVTools?

For VMware core counts, Broadcom publishes its own License Counting PowerCLI tool, a module whose Get-FoundationCoreAndTiBUsage function totals core licenses per host and vSAN capacity (Broadcom). VMware PowerCLI can export the same host and VM properties with your own script, and the vSphere Client shows them host by host. RVTools remains the quickest way to get every tab in one file.

Can I share an RVTools export without the licence keys?

Yes. The documentation’s own example is a template for RVToolsMergeExcelFiles without the vLicense sheet and without vHost’s Assigned license column, so the output leaves both out.