Hi there – just wanted to take a moment to introduce myself before getting to today’s post. My name is Jodi Kogan, and I manage communications for the Genuine Windows team here at Microsoft. I’ll be posting news related to genuine Microsoft software, as well as topics on behalf of other team members such as news, podcasts, and links to information that will help you get the most from genuine Windows.
Today, I have an update from Kim Griffiths, a product manager on our team focusing on enterprise and government customers. She is a former infrastructure consultant specializing in Active Directory, security, and Microsoft Exchange with more than 15 years of experience working in IT, and will be contributing to our team blog from time to time with information for IT professionals, including podcasts. Kim says:
Here’s the scenario: You have the Key Management Service (KMS) hosted on Windows Server 2003 activating your Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 systems. Now you are ready to start piloting and deploying Windows 7 or Windows Server 2008 R2. Some of your first questions are likely:
· Can I use the same KMS to do that?
· Do I need to do anything to make that work?
The answer to both is yes.
The update to the KMS is necessary because of the keys. With each new product edition and release, new keys are provisioned and distributed to our customers. An update is necessary to make the service aware of these new keys in order to activate the new generation of operating systems. There are basically four steps to accomplish this task: 1) apply the update, 2) install the new key, 3) activate the updated host, and 4) check to make sure everything is working properly. It is a simple process that should only take a few minutes to complete.
Check out this video podcast to see what you need to do and where to get more information.
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. To learn more, view the KB article (968915).
For more information on volume activation, including KMS, visit the Windows Client Tech Center for Volume Activation.
It is important to note that there is also an update for KMS hosted on Windows Vista or Windows Server 2008. To learn more, view the KB article (968912). That update is separate from the one described in this blog/podcast, though the process is similar. Not to worry, we’ll cover this one soon.