VM ESXi Export Error Occurs When Running the Free Version of ESXi (4036197)

The following error appears when attepmpting a VM export to a DR server. The DR server is running the free version of ESXi but the VM guests that he is backing up reside on VSphere  Essentials Plus.

Core GUI error:

The VM export for ‘VMNAME’ failed due to the following error: Error calling createVM. – CreateVM for VMNAME failed with System.Web.Services.Protocols.SoapException: Current license or ESXi version prohibits execution of the requested operation.

at System.Web.Services.Protocols.SoapHttpClientProtocol.ReadResponse(SoapClientMessage message, WebResponse response, Stream responseStream, Boolean asyncCall)
at System.Web.Services.Protocols.SoapHttpClientProtocol.Invoke(String methodName, Object[] parameters)
at Vim25Api.VimService.CreateVM_Task(ManagedObjectReference _this, VirtualMachineConfigSpec config, ManagedObjectReference pool, ManagedObjectReference host)
at Appassure.Replay.VmwareEsxSoapApi.VmwareEsxVm.CreateVM()

Typically this error is displayed when attempting to export to a host that is not running using the minimum license which API supports both read and write. Users need a minimum of a VSphere Essentials license in place on the ESXi host. The following blurb offers more details:

vSphere API’s – Currently, the paid ESXi license allows read-write access to the VSphere API’s. The minimum license is the VMware vSphere Essentials Kit for 3 host + 1 year subscription. ESX(i) Virtual Standby does not support the free version of ESXi because API’s are read-only on the free version and do not enable the creation VM’s on them.