Microsoft OSs are often used by individuals
and business organizations that either do not purchase the licenses to
use the software or purchase fewer licenses than they really use. To
help counter illegal software piracy, Microsoft introduced product
activation in retail editions of Windows XP and Windows Server 2003.
Microsoft learned that many organizations were not necessarily looking
to illegally deploy software, but that they failed to properly manage
their license counts or casually reused licenses on multiple computers.
Microsoft has continued to include product activation in Windows Vista,
Windows 7, Windows Server 2008, and Windows Server 2008 R2.
Additionally, Microsoft now requires volume license customers, who
previously did not have to activate Windows to activate their
installations using Volume License Activation Services. It is important
to understand how product activation works, so that you can ensure that
Windows Servers on your network are properly licensed.
Understanding Windows Server 2008 R2 product activation
After installing Windows Server 2008 R2, the
first option on the initial configuration page is to activate Windows.
Product activation is a process where your server installation presents
an installation ID to Microsoft activation servers over a secure
connection. The activation servers verify the validity of the
installation ID. If the ID is determined to be valid, the activation
servers send a confirmation ID back to your server and activate the
system. You will be reminded regularly with a pop-up notification that
you need to activate, until you do so. If you fail to activate Windows
within a 30-day grace period, the desktop background will turn black,
and you will continue to be reminded to activate. Services and
applications will continue to function normally even after the 30-day
grace period. Previous versions of Windows would prevent you from
logging into the system and certain services would cease to function if
you failed to activate Windows within the 30-day grace period.
Microsoft chose to remove these limitations in Windows Server 2008.
Perform the following steps to activate Windows properly:
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Click the Activate Windows link either on the initial configuration page or inside the Server Manager.
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Enter the product key that came with your license purchase (see Figure 1). Then click the Next button.
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Windows will begin trying to activate using the server's internet connection (see Figure 2).
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If activation is successful, you will see a success screen as seen in Figure 3. If the activation fails, you will need to use the option to activate via telephone.
Notes from the field
Should I activate my lab computers?
If you are setting up temporary lab computers
(used for less than 30 days), do not activate them. Keep in mind that
you should use this option only if the servers are temporarily set up
for a lab or test environment. If you use the server for more than 30
days, or as a permanent lab, you are legally required to purchase a
license for that server. Alternatively, you can purchase a TechNet or
MSDN subscription which has special license considerations for test lab
and development servers.
Overview of Key Management Services
As previously mentioned, Microsoft now
requires even volume license customers to activate their installations
of Windows. This activation is known as the Volume License Activation.
You can probably imagine that this may pose several problems to large
enterprises that may deploy hundreds or thousands of servers and
workstations with Windows installed. To help make this process more
manageable for volume license customers, Microsoft introduced Key
Management Services (KMS). KMS allow you to set up your own activation
or KMS servers on your network. These KMS servers securely connect to
Microsoft activation servers using an enterprise activation key. The
Microsoft activation servers verify whether the key is valid and
determines how many licenses are covered with the entered enterprise
key. The Microsoft activation servers then return information back to
your KMS server, informing it of how many Windows Servers can connect
to it for activation. The KMS server then builds a pool of activations.
When a server on your network successfully activates using KMS, one
activation is removed from the pool and assigned to the server that
requested activation. Once all activations have been used, additional
servers can no longer use KMS to activate. Activations can, however, be
returned to the pool if the servers using them are decommissioned and
removed from your network. Servers that use KMS to activate are
required to check in, or contact the KMS server at least once in every
180 days. If the server fails to check in with KMS, then the OS will be
deactivated. Deactivation will tell the server to act as if it were
never activated at all. KMS can be installed on any Windows Server
2003, Windows Server 2008, or Windows Server 2008 R2 computer. It can
coexist on the same server as other network services. Figure 4 depicts how KMS works for volume license customers.
Designing a KMS infrastructure
You should properly plan and design your
network to support KMS if you plan on using it for product activation.
It is important to provide redundancy for KMS services on your network
to ensure that systems can fail-over to another KMS server if your
primary server fails. Servers requiring activation depend on the use of
DNS Service (SRV) records to locate KMS activation servers on your
network. As part of your KMS deployment, you need to ensure that you
also have redundant DNS servers on your network.
Notes from the field
KMS and Windows 7
KMS can also be used to activate Windows 7
workstations on your network. You simply need to enter a Windows 7
Enterprise Activation Key on your KMS servers, and they will begin
activating Windows 7 workstations.
After setting up KMS, you will want to
ensure that you properly monitor the availability of KMS services on
your network. You should see special event log events related to KMS.
There is also a System Center Operations Manager (SCOM) 2007 Management
Pack available that can be used to monitor KMS via a SCOM 2007 or SCOM
2007 R2 deployment.
Installing and configuring KMS
KMS are easily installed on any Windows Server
2008 R1 or R2 server by running a simple command from a command prompt.
To install KMS perform the following:
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Open a command prompt from the Start Menu.
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Type the command:
Then press Enter.
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Now activate the KMS key by typing:
From the same command prompt, then press Enter.
The KMS Server will activate and create its own SRV records within DNS,
assuming that DNS services have been properly established on your
network.
Notes from the field
Minimum number of computers required for KMS
KMS will not begin activating computers until
you have reached a minimum threshold of systems on your network. You
must establish 25 Windows Vista or Windows 7 workstations or 5 Windows
2008 R1 or R2 servers on your network before KMS begins activating
systems. If you do not meet this requirement, you will want to continue
activating computers with Microsoft using MAK keys.
