KMS Activation

[KMS Activation]

I would like to set up a kms server but have questions. I would like to
activate both Server 2008 and Server 2003 both enterprise and std edition,
and vista and xpsp2 pro. How do i add multiple license key into the KMS
server to activate these os's and if i'm not able to what are my options?
Thanks.

 

[Joe Morris]

I would like to set up a kms server but have questions. I would like to
activate both Server 2008 and Server 2003 both enterprise and std edition,
and vista and xpsp2 pro. How do i add multiple license key into the KMS
server to activate these os's and if i'm not able to what are my options?

Neither XP (any flavor) nor Server 2003 (any flavor) will talk to a KMS box.
KMS is used to activate systems built with volume license media, and for
those two products systems built from volume license media do not require
activation.

For Vista and Server 2008, each product has its own magic KMS activation key
which will configure a KMS box to activate a system built from any volume
license media version of the product. (Note that Vista is available in
volume license media only for Business and Enterprise. For some unknown
reason Microsoft offers Ultimate under the volume license agreements, but
there is no volume license media for it: you have to get a single-use
product ID and activate it just like the retail version.)

If you hold a volume license with Microsoft for Server 2008 and/or Vista,
you should be able to obtain the appropriate product IDs from the MVLS
(Microsoft Volume Licensing Services) web site using the procedures you were
given with the license paperwork. This site is also where you download the
disk images for the volume license products.

Joe Morris

 

[KMS Activation]

Joe,

So i would just install both vista and server 2008 license keys into my kms
server?

 

[Joe Morris]

:

[discussion of KMS setup]

So i would just install both vista and server 2008 license keys into my
kms
server?

Use the procedures on Microsoft's web site for setting up the KMS.

I'm not sure from your comment above if you're confusing the keys related to
each of the products: Vista and Server 2008 both have MAK keys (for
activating an installation by talking to Microsoft's servers; these would be
used with non-KMS-activated systems) and KMS keys (these keys are used ONLY
on the KMS box, and exist to tell the KMS code that the customer is
authorized to activate the corresponding product via KMS).

Try working through the material at:

http://www.microsoft.com/licensing/resources/vol/default.mspx

for a more detailed description.

Joe Morris

 

[Mike]

In reply to previous post...I have a Vista KMS key and a Windows 2008 KMS
key. Can I import them both in KMS so that it activates both Vista and
Windows 2008?

thanks
mike

 

[Joe Morris]

In reply to previous post...I have a Vista KMS key and a Windows 2008 KMS
key. Can I import them both in KMS so that it activates both Vista and
Windows 2008?

Yes. I can't point you to the specific article on the MS web server, but
I've seen it -- and more to the point, we're using it at my POE. The
activation threshold for Vista remains 25 requests, for Server 2008, five.

If you think about it, you'll see that it's necessary for one KMS to handle
both products: both Vista and W2K8 use the same SRV record in the DNS, so
both systems will be sending their activation prayers to the same box.
Besides, despite Microsoft's repeated statement (made with a straight face)
that activation "was implemented at the request of [Microsoft's] customers"
someone at MS probably had a blinding glimpse of the obvious and realized
that requiring a different machine for each system to be activated would
never do much to burnish Microsoft's reputation at large customer
facilities.

Joe Morris

 

[Mike]

Thanks but that doesn't help me much since slmgr -ipk productkey would
replace my current key!

 

[Joe Morris]

Thanks but that doesn't help me much since slmgr -ipk productkey would
replace my current key!

OK...I found the Microsoft web page I was looking for:

http://www.microsoft.com/licensing/resources/vol/ActivationFAQ/default.mspx

and click the question "Are there any changes with Windows Server 2008
keys?"

On the same page see also the question "Can I use my Windows Server 2008 KMS
keys to activate Windows Vista client computers?"

Look at the table titled "Products Activated by KMS Key": it shows that
there are four flavors of KMS keys, the lowest of which ("KMS") activates
only Vista, and the highest of which ("KMS_C") will bring life to Vista
business, Vista Enterprise, Web Server 2008, Server 2008 standard and
enterprise (with and without Hyper-V), plus Server 2008 DataCenter (with and
without Hyper-V) and Server 2008 for Itanium.

So...presumably you have the KMS key for whatever flavor of Server 2008
you've purchased, so if you replace your current Vista KMS key in the KMS
box with the server KMS key it will handle that version of Server 2008, plus
any lower levels of Server 2008, plus Vista Business and Enterprise.

At least that's what should happen. It *is* a computer after all, so who
knows what evil lurks in its heart?

Joe Morris

 

[Mike]

Thanks a lot mate....that's exactly what I needed