Todd's Blog

Todd's Tips for System Adminstrators

Fix a Windows Machine not getting its info from the KMS Server

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I’ve noticed over the past little bit where servers were reporting they were not genuine. We have a KMS infrastructure and machines are authenticating against it, yet we are seeing some that are not able to talk any more.

My co-worker and I began troubleshooting it, we jumped on the KMS Server and just checked stuff was on and working. It was, if it wasn’t, all hell would have broke loose.

Next we jumped on the Windows Server being affected. We looked at the product info and it stated no information. I wish we had grabbed a screenshot. If I get another server with this issue, I’ll repost.

Next we jumped to the command prompt and type

slmgr /ipk YC6KT-GKW9T-YTKYR-T4X34-R7VHC.

This key is the KMS key you use when you want Windows to use KMS instead of MAK. This changed the server from not having info to be unlicensed and needing a key. Next we force the server to communicate with the KMS server. 

Next we run

slmgr /ato

Once the machine checks in with the KMS server you are good to go. Again, this is with the assumption that your KMS server is up, running properly and has hit the threshold for number of machines needed to start activation.

If you need all the keys for KMS activation, here you are  http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/jj612867.aspx

Setting up an Office 2010 KMS Host Server

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This morning was quiet in the office so I decided to tackle adding Office 2010 to my Microsoft Deployment Toolkit installation.

I’ll cover off how you do the add and the options in another post but in order to activate Office 2010, you have two options now; KMS or MAK. Microsoft has moved the licensing of Office to be like that of Windows 7. Makes plenty of sense, but how do you set up your infrastructure so you can activate Office 2010?

I already have a Windows 2008 R2 Server acting as my KMS Host for Windows activations so I used that server. Don’t have a KMS Host for activating Windows 7 or Vista yet, check my post on setting up a . If you just want to use KMS for Office 2010, then that is fine too. You need to head to and download Microsoft Office 2010 KMS Host software. I chose to run it on my existing KMS Server, but if you don’t yet have a KMS Server, the machine you run this on will become your KMS Host for Office 2010.

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Accept the EULA and click continue and it will install.

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Once the file runs, it will ask you for you KMS Key for Office 2010.

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Click Yes and enter the key.

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It will then return whether it was successful or not.

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That is all there is to it.

Once you start installing Office 2010, the KMS activation key is already defaulted in the installation. The installation will search out your KMS host server. If everything is working properly on the DNS side, then it should activate and you will be off to the races.

If you get stuck, here are some other resources:

Setting up a KMS Server

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Windows 7 Volume licensing basically has three ways to activate, MAK, MAK proxy and KMS. The first two require a key and the proxy needs to use the Volume Activation Management Tool. I won’t get into MAK today, its is somewhat straight forward. If you need information, check out the information on MAK at TechNet, http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd979805.aspx.

What I want to talk about is KMS, Key Management Service. Setting one of these servers up is as easy as making Kraft Dinner. Yes, simple. In reading in the forums I see people having troubles getting one up and going. I’ll walk you through the easiest setup. This walkthrough isn’t meant for someone already using a KMS server for Windows Vista or Windows Server 2008.

If you want to activate Windows 7 clients, the simplest choice is install Windows Server 2008 R2. You can use Windows Server 2003 or Windows Server 2008 but you need to install an update. If you have Server 2008 R2, I recommend using it, its just the easiest thing to do. There is a hierarchy of how the setup works, http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd979804.aspx will give you the low down.

For me, Windows Server 2008 R2 based KMS server made the most sense. The next step is to locate your KMS key for your volume activation. The key you are looking for, is the Windows Server 2008 Std/Ent KMS B (note the KMS B). System Information

Instead of using the MAK key when you enter the key for activation, you will enter in your KMS.

Windows Activation

You will get an warning message that you are using a KMS key, like this.

Windows Activation

Click OK and you will have then made a KMS host machine. That is all there is to it. Some people get worried and think they have to add a Windows 7 key for the KMS host to accept Windows 7 clients. You don’t need to do that, at least I didn’t have to.

The other thing to remember is that in order for your server to activate computers, you must have at least 5 Servers checked in for server activation to occur or 25 Windows 7 or Vista machines checked in for client activation to occur. To check the status of the computers, I find the VAMT tool which comes with the WAIK works well.