KMS Activation

Quick guides for download

The following two quick guides provide an overview of the process for end users and administrators.

End-User-Guide (german): An illustrated quick start guide for end users with admin rights
Admin-Guide (german): An illustrated quick guide for administrators who want to automate activation
End-User-Guide (english - machine translated): An illustrated quick start guide for end users with admin rights
Admin-Guide (english - machine translated): An illustrated quick guide for administrators who want to automate activation

General

Microsoft products must be activated regularly via our TU-internal KMS server. In order to activate the software on the KMS server, you must be connected to TUnet and TUshop (VPN from outside the TU network) and have access to the activation server. This can be done in the activation script in a separate section of your upTUdate account. The activation is valid for approximately 10 minutes.

If you encounter problems during activation, please check that you are using the latest activation script. For both Windows and Office products, the activation script is part of the TUtoolbox. As the new activation script is much easier to use and also offer a significantly improved log function, only the new activation script can be supported.

If you encounter problems activating KMS, please install the latest script (for ALL Windows operating systems with TUtoolbox) and try activating again. If the problem persists, please use the integrated support function to create a ticket.

In general, please note that an (institutional) firewall may prevent activation. A connection to kms.tuwien.ac.at:1700 and shop.tusoftware.tuwien.ac.at:7777 must ALWAYS be possible after activation a connection to kms.tuwien.ac.at:1688 is necessary. Please also note that your order must first be approved and provisioned before you can activate it. You can test the connection to the KMS server with the Portchecker tool, which is also included in the TUtoolbox.

Execution

Start the Microsoft activation script and follow the instructions. The activation process for Windows and Office products differs from the start. After you have selected the product group, some data will be collected to identify any potential problems in advance. You may therefore be asked whether you want a correction to be applied automatically. It is also possible that the script may terminate due to an unresolvable error. In this case, please follow the troubleshooting instructions.

Normally, you will see the current activations after data collection. You can start the activation using the Activate button.

If your computer is already linked to licenses/bookings in the TUshop, the activation process will run without any further input. If assignments are missing, you will be asked if you want to create them. Activation is not possible without an assignment.

The computer only needs to be assigned to a license/booking once. After assignment, you will see the assigned computer in the TUshop and can also disconnect it again in the TUshop. If you are a license-responsible person, you can link the computer to all licenses in your area.

Impact

Please also note that the activation script changes some security-related settings. These include:

Support information
time server
TU WSUS as update source
update settings
Security settings for TU servers

For servers, users are asked to reboot before updates are installed; for desktops, a reboot is forced daily from 5 a.m.

Special use of the activation script

In addition to mainstream use, there are also some special cases where the standard behavior of the activation script must be customized. The following command line arguments are available for this purpose:

-SkipReg: No registry values are changed.
-nointernetcheck: No active Internet connection is checked.
-noupdates: Updates are suppressed via the registry. This also affects notifications about updates.
-deinstall: The registry entries will be deleted.
-timeout=xxxx: The internal timeout is set (e.g. for slow connections) to the value in ms.
-silent: Use silent mode to activate
-verysilent: Use Very Silent Mode to activate
-ensure: Wait for a network connection before starting activation is started.
-windows: Windows is being activated
-office: The Office products are activated.
-force: Fixes minor issues that occur during activation (missing log directory, time differences, etc.).
-register: No activation takes place. The remaining arguments (all except “-register”) are used to create an entry in the task scheduler.

All other switches are for internal purposes only and should not be used.

Version history of the activation script

2.1.0.6

Optional possibility to install basic Windows Server Standard licenses on a VM

2.1.0.5

Changes for Windows Server Standard VMs

2.1.0.4

Changes to the license references for the TUshop

2.0.5.3

Security Patch für 'New Outlook App' wurde integriert.

2.0.5.2

Workaround for Windows ARM activations on MacOS where no client type can be determined.

2.0.5.1

Additional tool tips before starting activations.
Links in the texts on the welcome page open a browser.

2.0.5.0

Display of a help button
Display the command line switches used on the start page
New option to suppress updates via registry
No forced reboot for servers
Changes to support information