notes that the Connection Server certificate must have the Friendly Name
This was worse than an expiration. The server had stopped recognizing the key altogether. He tried re-entering the production key, but the console spat back a generic error: “The license key could not be validated. Please check the network connection.” The Hidden Culprit horizon connection server license key is invalid
: License keys are specific to major versions. A license for Horizon 7.x will not work on Horizon 8.x (2006 or later). notes that the Connection Server certificate must have
To ensure the license applies correctly, the server must meet these baseline prerequisites: Please check the network connection
This forces the server into an unlicensed state (grace period) for a few minutes while it regenerates the database.
When you enter a license key, the Connection Server attempts to "phone home" to the VMware/Broadcom licensing servers to validate the entitlement. If your server is in a dark site (no internet access), the validation will fail.