KMS Windows 7 License Server in place and activated

After a lot of fighting with it, I finally managed to get the KMS server activated for CVUSD. Here’s a quick overview of what would be beneficial for you to know. Note that some of the facts are based on documentation I read, and I haven’t tried them, so please let me know if something functions differently than I am expecting it to.

1- For the most part, you don’t really need to know anything to activate windows. That’s actually the best part. :)

2- The KMS server is a service that resides on do-dc4 (Windows 2003 Server R2), and is operated by the service: Software Protection Platform (sppsvc)

3- The main management tool for the activation is slmgr.
On the server, typing slmgr –dli or or slmgr –dlv  will give an overview of the status of the licensing server

4- On the client, typing slmgr –dli or slmgr –dlv will give the activation status of the Windows 7 workstation.

In order to activate a new Windows 7 installation, 3 methods are possible:

1- do nothing. Because KMS is a network integrated service with a DNS service record. All Windows 7 clients will automatically be able to find do-dc4 and activate with it. For an un-activated workstation, it will keep checking with the server every 120 minutes until activation succeeds.

2- Go through the normal route of activating Windows 7: Right click on My Computer –> Properties, and on the bottom of that window, select “Activate Windows”. This process will look on the network for the DNS service record, and activate itself.

3- From an elevated privilege command prompt. (Run As Administrator), type: slmgr –ato

This will activate Windows 7 as well, the same way the other 2 methods will.

After successful activation, the clients will need to check in with the CVUSD network at least once every 180 days in order to maintain their activation. If 180 days pass, and the users haven’t checked in with the network, they will enter a 30 day grace period, after which, their OS will enter a reduced functionality mode.  (where essentially, they wouldn’t be able to do much at all, other than reactivate it.)

This, is KMS in a nutshell. You can now go ahead and install Windows 7 and activate it on your workstations, and let’s see how things go.

For any questions, please contact me.

• This change was made on 05/15/2010