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On standalone computers for which I want to activate the Windows 2016 and 2019 license I have set the KMS domain with:

slmgr.vbs -skms-domain DomainFQDN

When I type, on the computer which I want to activate, the following command line, it returns correctly the two KMS servers.

nslookup -type=all _vlmcs._tcp.DomainFQDN

The server accepts the license key with slmgr.vbs -ipk XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX.

However, during the activation process with slmgr.vbs -ato I get the following error message:

Error: 0x80072EE2

The network trace shows:

  • that the computer does not request the DNS to find KMS servers on the registered domain
  • the computer requests the DNS for activation-v2.sls.microsoft.com

Did I miss something or am I doing something wrong?

Luke
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1 Answers1

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Windows will only use KMS for activation if the appropriate KMS client setup key for your operating system is installed. There is a single KMS client setup key for each version of Windows that is used by all KMS clients, worldwide, that are running that version. It is not specific to your organization.

The appropriate KMS client license key will be preinstalled by default on volume editions of Windows, but if you have installed any other license key (such as a MAK key) then Windows will attempt to activate against Microsoft's servers rather than using KMS.

The other common mistake is to install the KMS key your organization was given. Doing this turns the computer into a KMS server rather than a KMS client.

You can use slmgr /dlvor slmgr /dli to find the key type. If the computer is correctly configured to be a KMS client, then the "Description" field will refer to the VOLUME_KMSCLIENT channel and the "Product Key Channel" will be Volume:GVLK.

If the wrong key is installed, use slmgr /ipk to reinstall the appropriate setup key from the list provided at the link above and then try activation again.

Harry Johnston
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  • the management gave me a MAK key instead of a KMS key. Thanks for helping me to find out the reason of the problem. – Luke May 28 '19 at 10:04
  • Make sure you install the KMS client key from the list provided - there is only one KMS client key worldwide for each edition of Windows - the other common mistake is to install the KMS key your organization was given, and that turns your computer into a KMS server rather than making it a client. – Harry Johnston May 28 '19 at 19:18
  • Okay!!! Thanks for this other interesting information :-) – Luke May 28 '19 at 20:22
  • Just used the key you said and it works! KMS clients are now contacting KMS servers successfully. Thank you very much Harry! – Luke May 28 '19 at 20:33