How to Activate Windows with your KMS Server - KMS License Key List (2024)

Key Management System (KMS) allows enterprise customers to activate Windows operating systems using a locally hosted service, eliminating the need for individual computers to connect to Microsoft activation servers on the Internet. This article describes how to deploy a KMS server and use it to activate Windows client computers.

Understanding KMS Activation

The KMS activation server allows to activate volume editions of the Windows OS and Microsoft Office products within the corporate network. KMS is based on a client-server architecture. The general KMS activation scheme is shown below.

The KMS volume activation architecture is based on a computer running Windows Server with the Volume Activation Services role installed (1). This server is known as the KMS Host.

KMS Host is activated with the KMS Host Key. KMS Server requires one-time activation through Microsoft Activation Services (by phone or online) (2).

In order for domain clients to be able to discover it (4), the KMS server registers a special record in the DNS (3).

Now your corporate devices can automatically (or manually) connect to the KMS server (on default port TCP/1688) and activate Windows (5). On the KMS server, you can activate both Windows 10 and 11 desktop editions, as well as Windows Server 2022, 2019 and 2016.

The main advantages of KMS activation:

KMS infrastructure is simple and scalable. Thousands of clients can be activated with a single KMS server;
Client KMS activation is valid for 180 days and the KMS client renews activation every 7 days (default);
If the KMS client is unable to contact the KMS license server for 180 days, your Windows device will be given a grace period of 30 days. After the 30-day grace period expires, Windows will switch to “Reduced Functionality Mode” (RFM);
KMS activation on domain-joined computers through the Active Directory Based Activation (ADBA) requires no user interaction;
KMS Server with the Microsoft Office Volume License Pack installed can be used to activate the Microsoft Office product on client computers (described in detailed in Microsoft Office KMS activation);

Deploying KMS Volume Activation Role on Windows Server

You can install a KMS server on Windows Server 2022, 2019, or 2016. Open the Server Manager GUI and go to Add Roles and Features > Roles, install the Volume Activation Services role.

Or, you can install and configure the KMS server role using PowerShell:

Open the PowerShell console as administrator and run the command:

Install-WindowsFeature -Name VolumeActivation -IncludeAllSubFeature –IncludeManagementTools

Open TCP port 1688 in the Windows Defender Firewall:
```
Enable-NetFirewallRule -Name SPPSVC-In-TCP
```
Sign-in Microsoft 365 Admin Center (Billing > Your Products > Products and Services > Volume licensing and copy your KMS Host Key (Windows Srv 2022 DataCtr/Std KMS), formally known as a Microsoft Customer Specific Volume License Key (CSVLK).

Install your KMS host key using the command:

slmgr /ipk <your_Windows_SRV_2022_KMS_host_key>

Perform a one-time online activation (authentication) of your KMS host on Microsoft Activation Services:
```
slmgr /ato
```
To check the KMS host activation status, run:
```
slmgr /dlv
```
Now you can configure KMS clients to activate on your KMS server.

Note. The KMS server is able to activate all previous versions of Windows. For example, if you activate your KMS server with the Windows Srv 2019 host key, you won’ be able to activate Windows 11 or Windows Server 2022. The maximum supported versions of Windows to activate in this case are Windows 10 and Windows Server 2019.

How to Activate Windows with KMS License Server

Install a KMS Client Key (GVLK) on Windows

KMS sever can only activate Windows clients installed with a specific product key — public KMS Client Setup Key (formally known as the Microsoft Generic Volume License Key, GVLK). This means that you should first change the Windows product key to KMS client key from the Windows GUI (use the command slui.exe 4), or you can use the slmgr command-line tool.

Manually Activate Windows with KMS Server

You can manually specify the KMS server address on a client if this SRV record is missing, or if your computer is not joined to an AD domain using the slmgr with the /skms option.

You can manually specify the address of the KMS server using the slmgr with the /skms option:

slmgr.vbs /skms <KMS_server_name_or_IP>:1688

You can test network connectivity between your computer and the KMS server using the PowerShell command:

Test-NetConnection-ComputerName KMS_server_name_or_IP -Port 1688

Then you can activate your Windows client with the KMS server:

Slmgr.vbs /ato

Check the Status of Windows Activation

Optionally, you can check the Windows activation status:

slmgr.vbs /dli

The command returned the following info:

Name — the OS version;
Description — distribution channel VOLUME_KMSCLIENT channel;
License status — licensed;
Volume activation expirations — 180 days;
KMS server IP address and DNS name (Registered KMS machine name).

If you want to check when the license period expires:

slmgr /xpr

The slmgr.vbs tool can be used to perform KMS activation on remote Windows computers. The following command will check the activation status on the remote computer named nywsdx3323. The connection credentials are specified in plain text:

slmgr.vbs nywsdx3323 administrator P@ssw0rdd -dli

KMS Activation Known Errors

Most often users face the following errors when activating Windows with the KMS server:

0xC004F074 (The software licensing service reported that the computer could not be activated. No Key Management Service (KMS) could be contacted) — the KMS server is not available. This means that the KMS service is not running on the target server or that access to it is blocked by a firewall.
0xC004F038 (The Software Protection Service reported that the computer could not be activated. The count reported by your Key Management Service (KMS) is insufficient. Please contact your system administrator) —you have not reached the required number of activation requests on the KMS server (called the activation threshold). Minimum number of KMS clients is 25 for Desktop Windows Edition, and 5 for Windows Server. You can check the current count of hosts connected to the KMS server with the command slmgr.vbs /dli. Target more Windows hosts to your KMS server;
0xC004F015 (The Software Protection Service reported that the product key is not available) — error occurs when you try to activate a newer version of Windows OS on the KMS server that is activated with the old KMS host key. In this case, you need to get a new KMS host key from VLSC and reactivate your KMS server.
0x80072F8F (We can’t activate Windows on this device at the moment. You can try activating later) — check if the time and date on your device are correct. If necessary, synchronize the time with the NTP server;
0xC004F035 and 0xC004F059 (The software licensing service reported that the computer could not be activated with a Volume license key. Volume-licensed systems require upgrading from a qualified operating system. Please contact your system administrator or use a different type of key) — these errors may occur on computers running OEM versions of Windows. There is a special ACPI_SLIC table in the BIOS. The KMS server can’t find a special token in such a table and cannot activate Windows. In such cases, it is recommended to update (flash) the BIOS firmware.

You can use the Slui.exe tool to display a description of most activation related error codes (use the syntax: slui.exe 0x2a ErrorCode). For example, to get a more detailed description of activation error 0xC004F074, use the following command:

slui.exe 0x2a 0xC004F074

The error description contains detailed information:

Windows Activation
Code:
0xC004F074
Description:
The Software Licensing Service reported that the product could not be activated. No Key Management Service (KMS) could be contacted. Please see the Application Event Log for additional information.

You can also view all activation-related events in the Event Viewer application log under the provider’s name Microsoft-Windows-Security-SPP.

KMSWindows

Cyril Kardashevsky

I enjoy technology and developing websites. Since 2012 I'm running a few of my own websites, and share useful content on gadgets, PC administration and website promotion.