Ask the Core Team : Activation

KMS Host Client Count not Increasing Due to Duplicate CMID'S

jeffhugh — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 11:32:19 GMT

Hello, my name is Scott McArthur. I am a Senior Support Escalation Engineer in the Windows group and today’s blog will cover an issue involving KMS activation and deployment of images. This issue seems to be more prevalent today due to the various tools used to clone images, create images based on a templates, Physical to Physical (P2V) tools, etc...

Generally the symptom you will see is that the count on your KMS host will not show the correct number of clients or it will not increase. There are a number of reasons why this can occur but a common reason is that sysprep was not used when preparing images for deployment.

Any time you use imaging as your deployment method it is required that you run sysprep to prepare the image for deployment.

This policy is outlined in the following KB article: http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;162001

To determine if you are encountering this you can use the Key Management Service Log do the following:

1. On your KMS host open Event Viewer
2. Right click the Key Management Service Log and choose “Save all events as”
3. Change the Save as type to Text(Tab Delimited)(*.txt)
4. Save the file as KMS.TXT
5. Close out of the Event Viewer completely
6. Open Excel
7. Click File, Open, and browse to KMS.TXT
8. You should see the Text Import Wizard. Choose the following options
    Delimited
    Start Import at Row: 8
    Delimiters: Comma
9. When complete the data may look all messed up. Don’t worry we will correct that
10. Click the upper left of the spreadsheet to select the entire spreadsheet
11. Click Data, Sort, In the Sort By selection choose “Column D”
12. When complete you should see the data sorted in columns.

The Client Machine ID (CMID) is how we uniquely identify a KMS client. When sysprep is run one of its jobs is to generalize this GUID so when the image is deployed every machine has a unique CMID. Here is an example output

Column C-Computername

Column D-CMID

TEST-03.contoso.com

01eb9985-230c-49ad-a8c2-c24914da4739

TEST-04.contoso.com

01eb9985-230c-49ad-a8c2-c24914da4739

TEST-02.contoso.com

01eb9985-230c-49ad-a8c2-c24914da4739

TEST-01.contoso.com

01eb9985-230c-49ad-a8c2-c24914da4739

From this output you can see that multiple computernames have the same CMID. Each computer should have a unique CMID. This means that sysprep /generalize was not used to prepare these computers for deployment. So to KMS those 4 machines appear as one. That what be why the count would not be increasing or not reflect the true number of machines deployed.

While it is possible to run slmgr.vbs /rearm to reset the machines CMID that does not leave the machine in a supported state. Images deployed without using Sysprep to prepare the image are not supported by Microsoft. Sysprep executes ~30 sysprep providers. These providers are written to correct issues with various components when you duplicate the installation. By not running sysprep it is unknown what types of issues you could encounter and many components will be in a broken state. The supported solution is to rebuild the image using the Sysprep /generalize switch and redeploy the systems.

Thanks for your time. Stay tuned to our blog for more Activation and Deployment Topics.

Scott McArthur
Senior Support Escalation Engineer
Microsoft Enterprise Platforms Support

Invalid Product Key Error Specifying MAK key in unattend.xml

jeffhugh — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 18:31:32 GMT

Hello, my name is Scott McArthur. I am a Senior Support Escalation Engineer in the Windows group and today’s blog will cover an issue involving specifying MAK Product Keys during setup of Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2.

When deploying a Volume License (VL) version of Windows 7 or Windows Server 2008 R2 you may encounter the following error message:

The unattend answer file contains an invalid product key. Either remove the invalid key or provide a valid product key in the unattend answer file to proceed with Windows Installation

The setuperr.log will log the following

2009-10-01 12:52:38, Error      [0x060551] IBS    Callback_Productkey_Validate: EditionID for product key was NULL.
2009-10-01 12:52:38, Error      [0x060554] IBS    Callback_Productkey_Validate: An error occurred writing the product key data to the blackboard.
2009-10-01 12:52:38, Error      [0x06011a] IBS    Callback_Productkey_Validate_Unattend:Product key did not successfully validate.[gle=0x00000490]
2009-10-01 12:52:38, Error      [0x0603c7] IBS    Callback_Productkey_Validate_Unattend:Did not pass validation; halting Setup.[gle=0x00000490]
2009-10-01 12:52:38, Error      [0x060120] IBS    Callback_Productkey_Validate_Unattend: An error occurred preventing setup from being able to validate the product key; hr = 0x80300006[gle=0x00000490]

This error can occur if you have specified a Multiple Activation Key (MAK) in your answer file in the WindowsPE phase of setup. VL versions do not prompt for a ProductKey so they do not need a ProductKey during the WindowsPE phase of setup. The ProductKey can be specified by clicking “Change Product Key”, SLMGR.VBS /IPK, or specifying it in the answer file.

The ProductKey entry is found in 2 places in Windows System Manager:

Microsoft-Windows-Setup in WindowsPe phase

The above entry would be used when using retail media.

Microsoft-Windows-Shell-Setup in Specialize phase

To resolve this issue use the Microsoft-Windows-Shell-Setup component in the Specialize phase. In order to get the ProductKey entry you must right click the Microsoft-Windows-Shell-Setup component under Windows Image and add it to the Specialize phase.

ProductKey will not show up under the component(On the Answer File pane) until you actually add it. The unattend.xml will look like this

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<unattend xmlns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:unattend">
    <settings pass="specialize">
        <component name="Microsoft-Windows-Shell-Setup" processorArchitecture="x86" publicKeyToken="31bf3856ad364e35" language="neutral" versionScope="nonSxS" xmlns:wcm="http://schemas.microsoft.com/WMIConfig/2002/State" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">
            <ProductKey>xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx</ProductKey>
        </component>
    </settings>
    <cpi:offlineImage cpi:source="catalog://server/catalogs/win7/enterprise/x86/install_windows 7 enterprise.clg" xmlns:cpi="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:cpi" />
</unattend>

Note: If you are using Microsoft Deployment Toolkit 2010 for your deployments you can enter the MAK key during the ProductKey prompt during the Lite Touch Wizard. Hope this helps with your deployments and keep an eye on our blog for other activation issues.

Scott McArthur
Senior Support Escalation Engineer
Microsoft Enterprise Platforms Support

Update to KB968912

jeffhugh — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 19:34:44 GMT

Hello, my name is Scott McArthur. I am a Senior Support Escalation Engineer in the Windows group and today’s blog will cover a number of issues we have encountered here in support with the following update. These updates will eventually be incorporated into the Knowledge Base article but we wanted to get this information out as soon as possible.

968912 An update is available that allows KMS to provide activation for Windows 7 and for Windows Server 2008 R2: http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;968912

Issue #1:

Windows Service Pack 2 is a requirement to install this update. If you do not have it installed you receive the following message:

"The update does not apply to your system"

We are correcting the article to include this information.

Issue #2:

Event after installing this update you may encounter the same error message you received prior to installing the update:

Error: 0xc004f050 The Software Licensing service reported that the product key is invalid

This is a known issue we are working on. The workaround is run the following commands in an elevated cmd prompt

Net Stop SLSVC

Net Start SLSVC

Note: A 2^nd reboot will also correct this.

The issue is that the reboot of the update occurs before additional licenses get loaded so the service must be restarted to recognize them. We are investigating if we can address this in the update or if the workaround will need to be documented as part of the article.

Update 11/20/2009: The update has been changed to address the issue with the additional restart. You must still reboot after installing the update but you should not have to restart the SLSCVC service. Restarting the slsvc service though is a good troubleshooting step if you having problems with installing a productkey

Issue #3:

One additional caveat with this update is that if you try to install your KMS host key you may receive this error message

0xc004f015: The Software Licensing Service reported that the license is not installed.

SL_E_PRODUCT_SKU_NOT_INSTALLED

This can occur if you are trying to install a KMS host key on the incorrect KMS Host SKU. For example

Installing a Client KMS host key on Windows Server 2008
Installing a Group B KMS host key on Windows Server 2008 Datacenter KMS host
Installing a Group A KMS host key on Windows Server 2008 Standard, Enterprise, or Datacenter KMS host

This is by design. The following lists the type of KMS host key and the operating systems it can be installed on to setup a KMS host.

Group Definitions:

Client: Windows Vista/Windows 7 VL Editions (Business, Enterprise, Professional)

Group A: Windows Server 2008 Web, Windows Server 2008 Web, Windows Server HPC 2008, Windows Server HPC 2008 R2

Group B: Windows Server 2008/2008R2 Enterprise, Windows Server 2008/2008R2 Standard

Group C: Windows Server 2008/2008R2 Datacenter, Windows Server 2008/2008R2 for Itanium Editions

Group	Can be installed on	Can Count
Windows 7 Client	Client	Client
Windows Server 2008R2 KMS_A	A	Client and A
Windows Server 2008R2 KMS_B	A or B	Client, A, and B
Windows Server 2008R2 KMS_C	A or B or C	Client, A, B, and C

Note: KMS 1.2 for Windows Server 2003 can accept any KMS key, and can count the appropriate editions provided you have the following update installed.

968915 An update is available that installs Key Management Service (KMS) 1.2 for Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 2 (SP2) and for later versions of Windows Server 2003: http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;968915

For more information on Activation, please see the Volume Activation Portal on Technet.

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/dd197314.aspx

Hopefully this helps with your deployments and continue to watch our blog for more information activation.

Scott McArthur
Senior Support Escalation Engineer
Microsoft Enterprise Platforms Support

KMS_Error_0xC004C008_Activating_Client

jeffhugh — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 16:01:02 GMT

Hello, my name is Scott McArthur. I am a Senior Support Escalation Manager in the Windows group and today’s blog will cover KMS volume Activation.

With Windows Vista we introduced 2 methods for activating volume license versions of Windows. Key Management Service (KMS) and Multiple Activation Key (MAK). KMS keys are grouped to activate different sku’s of Windows. See Appendix B for more information. I am going to discuss one of the most common issues we see in support about KMS activation.

Issue:

When you try to activate a computer you receive the following error code: 0xC004C008. This error code means the following

0xC004C008

The activation server determined that the specified product key could not be used.

KMS

The Key Management Service (KMS) key has exceeded the activation limit.

KMS keys will activate up to 10 times on six different computers. If more activations are necessary, contact the PA Call Center.

Cause

The common issue we see in support is that customers will use their KMS host key to activate individual KMS clients. With Windows XP/2003 a volume license key was used on each computer when you install. So when you apply this same process to Windows Vista or Windows Server 2008 you will encounter this issue.

The KMS host key should only be installed on your KMS host. The key allows for 6 activations on different hardware and 10 activations on the same hardware. This is so that you can rebuild your KMS host or move the KMS Host functionality to a new system. Everything will appear to work until you reach that Seventh activation.

Correct Steps for setting up KMS host and KMS clients.

Note: These are the basic steps. For additional information see the Additional Resources at the end of this blog.

1. Select a computer that you want to be your KMS host

2. Install Windows Vista or Windows Server 2008 from volume license media. You should not be prompted for a cdkey

At cmd prompt type the following

Slmgr.vbs –ipk <KMS host key>

The –ipk installs the key. Note if you need to change your key. For example change from a KMS_B to KMS_C key you must restart the slsvc service for this to take affect. To do this type 'net stop slsvc' then 'net start slsvc'

Slmgr.vbs –ato

The –ato activates the computer. You must activate the KMS host

4. Install the KMS client computers by using volume license media. You should not be prompted for cdkey during installation

5. By default these KMS client computers will query DNS and locate your KMS host and activate

Terminology

KMS Host key: This is the key that you obtain from Microsoft for your contract

KMS Host: This is the computer that you have designated as your KMS host

KMS Client: This Might Be Windows Vista or Windows Server 2008 computers that you are trying to activate by using KMS.

Resolution

1. First you must get your KMS host key reset so that it can support additional activations. For information about how to reset your KMS key see the following document:

MAK and KMS Volume License Keys and Their Activation Limits:

2. Identify those computers that were incorrectly activated by using the KMS host key which in turn has turned those computers into KMS hosts. You can check this by running the following command at elevated cmd prompt:

Slmgr.vbs –dlv

Note: You could also use the VAMT tool to scan your machines to determine their activation status

I have highlighted some important information in this output. If you see “Key Management Service is enabled” then you know this computer is a KMS host. You can also see the channel of the key that was used to activate the computer. In this example the KMS_C key was used. See Appendix A for information on the different types of keys. The partial product key is also very useful to determine what specific key was used.

A KMS client will look like this. I have highlighted some important information. You can see that this is a Volume_KMSCLIENT Channel. You can see it is using the default key. See Appendix B for the default keys. You can also see what KMS host has activated the machine.

3. To reset these computers to be KMS clients. Type the following at elevated command prompt

Slmgr.vbs –ipk xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx

Where xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx is the generic VL key from Appendix B for the edition installed. This will make these computers be KMS clients and look for a KMS host.

In order for this change to take affect you can run the following command

'Net stop slsvc'

Or you can also just reboot the computer. If you don’t restart the slsvc service it may continue to register that machine in DNS as a KMS host

4. For the computers that had the KMS host key incorrectly installed on them, it is possible that a DNS record was created for those computers. This would result in having multiple KMS host DNS records and KMS clients may be communicating to them. This may cause the KMS host machine to have a lower count of KMS clients than should be on the actual KMS host machine. To find these records you can look in DNS or use the following command on a computer connected to the domain at a elevated cmd prompt

nslookup -type=all _vlmcs._tcp>kms.txt

The DNS records will have _vlmcs at the beginning. Delete any additional DNS KMS host records that you have using your DNS administration tool.

Additional resources

Volume Activation Portal: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/dd197314.aspx

938450 How to troubleshoot Volume Activation error codes on Windows Vista-based computers

MAK and KMS Volume License Keys and Their Activation Limits

Top 5 Product Key Activation Challenges IT Pros Encountered and Solved

Microsoft Activation Centers Worldwide Telephone Numbers

Appendix A: KMS Key Editions

Volume Product Key Group

Windows Editions

Vista VL

Windows Vista Business

Windows Vista Enterprise

Server Group A

Windows Web Server 2008

Server Group B

Windows Server 2008 Standard

Windows Server 2008 Standard without Hyper-V

Windows Server 2008 Enterprise

Windows Server 2008 Enterprise without Hyper-V

Server Group C

Windows Server 2008 Datacenter

Windows Server 2008 Datacenter without Hyper-V

Windows Server 2008 for Itanium-Based Systems

Appendix B: Default KMS Keys

Operating System Edition

Product Key

Windows Vista Business

YFKBB-PQJJV-G996G-VWGXY-2V3X8

Windows Vista Business N

HMBQG-8H2RH-C77VX-27R82-VMQBT

Windows Vista Enterprise

VKK3X-68KWM-X2YGT-QR4M6-4BWMV

Windows Vista Enterprise N

VTC42-BM838-43QHV-84HX6-XJXKV

Windows Server 2008 Datacenter

7M67G-PC374-GR742-YH8V4-TCBY3

Windows Server 2008 Datacenter without Hyper-V

22XQ2-VRXRG-P8D42-K34TD-G3QQC

Windows Server 2008 for Itanium-Based Systems

4DWFP-JF3DJ-B7DTH-78FJB-PDRHK

Windows Server 2008 Enterprise

YQGMW-MPWTJ-34KDK-48M3W-X4Q6V

Windows Server 2008 Enterprise without Hyper-V

39BXF-X8Q23-P2WWT-38T2F-G3FPG

Windows Server 2008 Standard

TM24T-X9RMF-VWXK6-X8JC9-BFGM2

Windows Server 2008 Standard without Hyper-V

W7VD6-7JFBR-RX26B-YKQ3Y-6FFFJ

Windows Web Server 2008

WYR28-R7TFJ-3X2YQ-YCY4H-M249D

Scott McArthur
Senior Support Escalation Engineer
Microsoft Enterprise Platforms Support

How To: Activate Windows Server 2008 Core Edition with MAK key over the phone

jeffhugh — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 17:39:50 GMT

Hello my name is Scott McArthur and I am a Senior Support Escalation Engineer in the Windows group. Today we are going to discuss the steps to activate Windows Server 2008 Core edition using a MAK key via the phone. It is much easier to activate via the Internet but for those computers that do not have access to the Internet (for example a Hyper-V virtual machine) you can use the phone. If you have more than one machine to activate you may want to look at the Volume Activation Management Tool 1.1. This supports batch activation for computers not connected to the Internet. This is very useful for isolated lab scenarios.

The steps in this blog are specific to core edition and a MAK Key but the same general steps could be applied to the non-core edition and other types of keys. In order to activate with a MAK key you must install using volume license media. By default volume license media will look for a KMS host to activate and do not require a key to install. If you are prompted during setup for a key then you are not installing from volume license media.

After Windows Server 2008 Core Edition is installed do the following at a cmd prompt

1. Install your MAK key using slmgr.vbs

slmgr.vbs -ipk XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Where XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX is your 5x5 MAK key supplied by Microsoft

You should receive the following confirmation:

2. View your Installation ID

slmgr.vbs -dti

Note: the –DTI option only shows up when you have installed a MAK or Retail key.

You will get the following dialogue box that has your Installation ID

Tip: The Installation ID is a 9x6 number. An easy way to split it up so it is easier to read back to the phone activation system is to hit CTRL-C to copy the contents of the dialogue box and paste into notepad. In notepad it will be broken out into the 9x6 groups and easier to read. For example

---------------------------
Windows Script Host
---------------------------
Installation ID: XXXXXX-XXXXXX-XXXXXX-XXXXXX-XXXXXX-XXXXXX-XXXXXX-XXXXXX-XXXXXX

3. Determine the phone number for your region:

notepad %systemroot%\system32\slui\phone.inf

For example here is the line for USA

USA,,,%United_States%,1-866-740-1256,%not_available%,%not_available%

4. Call the number for your region and you will be prompted for the Installation ID, Groups 1 through 9

Tip: You can press 2 on the keypad to proceed to the next group

5. Once you have entered your installation ID your confirmation ID will be read back to you. The Confirmation ID is read back to you from Group A to Group H. This is a 8x6 number

Groups

A	B	C	D	E	F	G	H
xxxxxx	xxxxxx	xxxxxx	xxxxxx	xxxxxx	xxxxxx	xxxxxx	xxxxxx

Type it into your notepad with no dashes so you can paste it into the next step

6. Activate with your Confirmation ID

slmgr.vbs –atp xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Note: The –atp option is only available when you have installed a MAK or retail key

You should receive the following confirmation

7. Verify that you are activated using slmgr.vbs

Cscript.exe %systemroot%\system32\Slmgr.vbs –dlv

Microsoft (R) Windows Script Host Version 5.7
Copyright (C) Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
Software licensing service version: 6.0.6001.18000
Name: Windows Server(R), ServerEnterpriseCore edition
Description: Windows Operating System - Windows Server(R), VOLUME_MAK_B channel
Activation ID: <removed>
Application ID: <removed>
Extended PID: <removed>
Installation ID: <removed>
Processor Certificate URL: http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=48189
Machine Certificate URL: http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=48190
Use License URL: http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=48192
Product Key Certificate URL: http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=48191
Partial Product Key: <removed>
License Status: Licensed

Check the “Description” to verify it says Volume_MAK channel and “License Status” says Licensed

If you run into any errors with this process please see the following articles

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;938450

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;942969

Here are the other commands available with slmgr.vbs

Windows Software Licensing Management Tool
Usage: slmgr.vbs [MachineName [User Password]] [<Option>]

MachineName: Name of remote machine (default is local machine)
User: Account with required privilege on remote machine
Password: password for the previous account

Global Options: -ipk <Product Key>
   Install product key (replaces existing key)
-ato      Activate Windows
-dli [Activation ID | All]
    Display license information (default: current license)
-dlv [Activation ID | All]
    Display detailed license information (default: current license)
-xpr
    Expiration date for current license state
Advanced Options:
-cpky
    Clear product key from the registry (prevents disclosure attacks)
-ilc <License file>
    Install license
-rilc
    Re-install system license files
-rearm
    Reset the licensing status of the machine
-upk
    Uninstall product key
-dti
    Display Installation ID for offline activation
-atp <Confirmation ID>
    Activate product with user-provided Confirmation ID

Scott McArthur
Senior Support Escalation Engineer
Microsoft Enterprise Platforms Support

KMS 1.1 For Windows Server 2003 Installation Issues

jeffhugh — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 17:26:31 GMT

KMS 1.1 For Windows Server 2003 Installation Issues

Hello my name is Scott McArthur and I am a support escalation engineer in the Windows Platforms group and specialize in activation issues. We have had a number of support calls around issues with KMS 1.1 for Windows Server 2003. There are two different versions of KMS for Windows Server 2003.

KMS for Windows Server 2003 1.0 only works with Vista RTM KMS host keys.
KMS for Windows Server 2003 1.1 works with both Vista RTM KMS, Vista SP1, and 2008 KMS keys

One of the symptoms is that when you install the KMS host key on your KMS host

slmgr.vbs -ipk <kms host key>

You receive a error such as 0xC004F050. This error equates to "The Software Licensing Service reported that the product key is invalid."

Turns out that there is some confusion to how to install KMS 1.1 although the documentation is very clear on the steps:)

When you download the KMS 1.1 update, KMSW2K3_EN-US_x86.zip

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=81D1CB89-13BD-4250-B624-2F8C57A1AE7B&displaylang=en

You get the following files

Key Management Service v1 1 for Windows Server 2003 Step-By-Step Guide.doc
KMSW2K3.exe
WindowsServer2003-KB948003-x86-ENU.exe

You must install the KMS 1.0 version(KMSW2K3.exe) first then install the update for 1.1(WindowsServer2003-KB948003-x86-ENU.exe). Some customers have only installed the KMS 1.0 version(KMSW2K3.exe) and not WindowsServer2003-KB948003-x86-ENU.exe which updates it to KMS 1.1. Additionally the update doesn't prompt for a restart but one may be needed

More information on installation of KMS 1.1 can be found in Key Management Service v1 1 for Windows Server 2003 Step-By-Step Guide.doc which is included with the update or in http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=948003

Scott McArthur
Support Escalation Engineer
Microsoft Enterprise Platforms Support