Why won’t the Windows 7 KMS key work on the Server 2008 KMS server

kmswindows 7windows-server-2008-r2

Our Microsoft volume licensing site was recently updated to include our Windows 7 and Server 2008 R2 KMS keys. We have an existing KMS server running on Server 2008 (not R2). In an attempt to be proactive about supporting the new OSes in our environment, I unregistered the old KMS key with slmgr.vbs and tried registering the new key. The registration failed with Error 0xC004F050. The description for that error was "The Software Licensing Service reported that the product key is invalid."

What's wrong? I've checked and double checked that for typos against what is listed on the Volume Licensing website.

Best Answer

As it turns out, the version of the KMS software included with Server 2008 is version 1.1. In order to use Windows 7 and Server 2008 R2 KMS keys, you need to be running KMS 1.2. KMS 1.2 is included as part of Windows 7 and Server 2008 R2, but requires a separate download to run on Server 2008 (non-R2) or Server 2003.

I found the answer and more info on Microsoft's site: FAQ About Volume License Keys

KB article 968915 is now available and contains links to download KMS 1.2 for Windows 2003 Server. Here are direct links for x86 and x64.

KB article 968912 is now available and contains links to download KMS 1.2 for Windows Vista and Server 2008. Here are some direct links for Server 2008 (x86, x64, ia64) and Vista (x86 and x64).

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Windows 7 activation problems using KMS

You say the CMIDs should be fine, but you haven't actually verified them. You need to find out whether all of the machines really do have unique CMIDs or not.

The KB article tells you to run slmgr.vbs -dli on the clients. And you say the output wasn't displaying the CMID. Did you actually run the command on the client workstations? Or did you accidentally run in on your KMS server instead? Running slmgr.vbs –dli on the KMS server won't show a "Client Machine ID" because it's not a client. So make sure you run the command on your clients and then compare the CMIDs to make sure they're not identical.

For instance, on my sample Win7 box, I get the following output from slmgr.vbs -dli:

Name: Windows(R) 7, Enterprise edition
Description: Windows Operating System - Windows(R) 7, VOLUME_KMSCLIENT channel
Partial Product Key: XXXX
License Status: Licensed
Volume activation expiration: 247500 minute(s) (171 day(s))

Key Management Service client information
    Client Machine ID (CMID): 12910304-af39-4fc9-80df-f8c61526d9f9
    Registered KMS machine name: mykms.mydomain.com:1688
    KMS machine extended PID: 55041-00168-305-100667-03-1033-6002.0000-2372009
    Activation interval: 120 minutes
    Renewal interval: 10080 minutes
    KMS host caching is enabled

So the CMID on that machine is 12910304-af39-4fc9-80df-f8c61526d9f9.

Will a Windows 8 KMS key allow older operating systems to be activated

First of all, it is necessary to install KB2757817 in order to activate a Server 2012 KMS key on Windows Server 2008 R2.

Second, you need to clarify whether you actually have a Server 2012 KMS key. You will not be able to install a Windows 8 KMS key on a server, period. However, server KMS keys typically can activate client operating systems.

For example:

Server 2008 R2 KMS keys will activate Server 2008 R2, Server 2008, Windows 7, and Windows Vista.
Server 2012 KMS keys will activate Server 2012, Server 2008 R2, Server 2008, Windows 8, Windows 7, and Windows Vista.
Windows 8 KMS keys cannot be installed on Windows Server operating systems, nor can they activate servers. They will activate Windows 8, Windows 7, and Windows Vista.

Best Answer

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Windows 7 activation problems using KMS

Will a Windows 8 KMS key allow older operating systems to be activated

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