If you are a hands-on IT professional who enjoys learning through experience and lab work. The Veeam Not-For-Resale (NFR) license can be an invaluable asset to you. Veeam offers free NFR keys valid for one year with support for up to 20 instances. This allows you to test, explore, and refine your skills in a non-production environment. In this article, we will walk you through the steps on How to apply and install Veeam NFR License on Veeam backup and Replication and Veeam One. Please, see How to upgrade macOS Big Sur to macOS Monterey, and how to Set up Veeam Backup for Microsoft Azure.

Whether you’re an IT consultant, a Microsoft MVP, a VMware vExpert, or simply someone eager to enhance your data protection expertise. This guide will ensure you can leverage Veeam’s powerful backup solutions effectively.

Since the NFR license does not include the grace period and will stop processing workloads, there is a need to ensure a new NFR is applied before expiration. You can learn more from the official documentation.

Also, see How to upgrade Veeam Backup and Replication 12.3, how to “Install Let’s Encrypt Wildcard SSL Certificate in cPanel using Certify The Web“, and “What is ADK, MDT, Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager (SCCM), Intune, Autopilot, and WSUS“.

Not-For-Resale (NFR)

A Not-For-Resale (NFR) license lets you use Veeam solutions in test environments, home labs, and product demos during training sessions. With this license, you can get hands-on experience, making it ideal for professionals who want to learn, train, or showcase the software without needing a commercial license.

This gives you the freedom to explore the full capabilities of Veeam Backup & Replication in a non-production environment. Thereby, offering a realistic experience without any financial commitment.

Note: Veeam protects a wide range of critical workloads and this includes VMware, AWS, Microsoft Azure, Windows, Linux, NAS, and enterprise applications. Whether you are backing up virtual machines, physical systems, or cloud environments, Veeam keeps your data protected and always recoverable against any threat or failure.

Also, see “how to set an account expiration date in Active Directory, and Windows 10 and Windows 11 updates will now expire for better performance“.

Who can access the NFR License?

Veeam is happy to provide a Free NFR license to the top-level community members, certified engineers, trainers and bloggers. IT professionals eligible for a free Veeam NFR license key include the list below;

Veeam Certified Engineers (VMCEs)
Broadcom vExperts
Microsoft Most Valuable Professionals (MVPs), and Microsoft Certified Solutions Experts (MCSEs)
VMware Certified Professionals (VCPs), and VMware Certified Advanced Professionals (VCAPs)
AWS Heroes, and AWS Certified Pros
Other includes: VMware, Microsoft, AWS trainers, bloggers and many more!

Please, see Veeam Certified Architect: VMCA Training & Certification Review, steps to Fixing AIX Veeam agent job startup delay issue, and how to Fix Repository time shift detected: Immutability flag cannot be set.

What If I Don’t Qualify for an NFR License?

If you are not yet certified, don’t worry. You can still try Veeam Backup & Replication by downloading the Community Edition. This completely free version of the software gives you access to all the essential features needed to protect virtual, physical, and cloud workloads.

With the Community Edition, you can explore Veeam’s powerful backup capabilities, get hands-on experience, and see if the solution fits your needs, no certification or financial commitment is required.

Resolve NFR License Expiration

If your NFR license is approaching its expiration date. If you are unable to request a new License file, you may want to take a look at this Reddit Post.

As you can see, I have five (5) das left as shown in the image below.

Clicking the About button also shows you how many days remain on your NFR license.

How to get the NFR

Here is the the NFR license application form. Fill it out as shown below and at the bottom, under “You are”. Please, select the option that best describes you or meets one of the requirements mentioned above as discussed above.

Once you complete the application, your NFR license will be approved instantly and you will be redirected to a download page for Veeam Backup & Replication.

The NFR license key (.lic file) key will be sent to your email shortly after, so keep an eye on your inbox.

Note: if you run into any issues, do not hesitate to reach out to Rick Vanover!

Apply the NFR license

After applying and filling out the official “Veeam NFR License Request page” above. Next, Launch the Veeam Backup & Replication console. Navigate to the Main Menu