Configuring KMS License Server for Office 2021/2019/2016 Volume Activation

In this article, we’ll deal with the specifics of MS Office 2019, Office 2016 and Office LTSC 2021 (including Project and Visio) volume activation on a corporate KMS server (please read the article first “FAQ: Understanding Microsoft KMS Volume Activation”). It is assumed that you already have a deployed KMS server running Windows Server 2022/2019  or other Windows versions (see the list of the supported operating systems below).

Corporate customers can activate Office products within the corporate network by using the local KMS server without connecting to Microsoft activation servers on the Internet. Earlier we have already considered the peculiarities of KMS activation of MS Office 2013, and the main principles and approaches to the MS Office 2021, 2019, and 2016 activation on a KMS server remained unchanged.

System Requirements for the MS Office 2021/2019/2016 KMS Server

A KMS server for Office can run on the following Windows OS versions:

• KMS server for Office 2016 – requires OS not older than Windows Server 2008 R2 or Windows 7 SP 1 with the KB2757817 installed (yes, you can deploy a KMS server even on a desktop Windows edition);
• KMS server for Office 2019 – requires OS version not lower than Windows Server 2012 or Windows 8.1;
• KMS server for Office LTSC 2021 (the latest perpetual release of Office with EOL October 13, 2026) – you can only deploy it on Windows 10/11 or Windows Server 2016/2019/2022.

Two types of enterprise volume activation are supported:

• Activation on a dedicated KMS host (server);
• Activation through the domain – ADBA (Active Directory-Based Activation), requires the domain functional level at least Windows Server 2012.

Installing Office 2021/2019/2016 Volume Licenses on KMS Server

First of all, you have to find and copy a KMS Host key for Office 2021, 2019, or 2016 in your personal section on Microsoft Volume Licensing Service Center (VLSC) website.

The next step is to download and install on the KMS server the following extension package – Microsoft Office Volume License Pack. This small package (about 400 Kb) contains the files necessary for the KMS server to be able to receive and process activation requests from MS Office clients. Depending on the version of Office that you plan to use, you must download and install the correct version of the Volume License Pack:

• Microsoft Office 2016 Volume License Pack (https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=49164) – office2016volumelicensepack_4324-1002_en-us_x86.exe;
• Microsoft Office 2019 Volume License Pack (https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=57342) – office2019volumelicensepack_x64.exe;
• Microsoft Office LTSC 2021 Volume License Pack (https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=103446) –Office2021VolumeLicensePack_x64.exe.

Download the volumelicensepack file from the Microsoft Download Center and run it as an administrator on the KMS server.

During installation, the Volume Activation Tools window appears, where you have to select the activation type (KMS or ADBA). Both options are described below.

If you are going to use the standard KMS activation, select Key Management Service, specify the FQDN name of your KMS server, and the KMS Host Key you got earlier.

Then select the activation method: online or by phone. In the first case, you will have to temporarily provide your KMS server with direct Internet access.

After your KMS server is activated on Microsoft, the current KMS server configuration is displayed. In the Product Key Management list, the entry Name: Office 16, VOLUME_KMS_channel (Office 21, VOLUME_KMSCLIENT channel or Office 19, VOLUME_KMSCLIENT channel) with the licensing status Licensed should appear.

A KMS activation entry for your version of Office should appear in the Product Key Management list.

Close the Volume Activation wizard, and the Software Protection service will be restarted.

You can get information about the installed KMS key for your version of Office as follows:

For Office LTSC 2021: cscript slmgr.vbs /dlv 47F3B983-7C53-4D45-ABC6-BCD91E2DD90A

For Office 2019 – cscript slmgr.vbs /dlv 70512334-47B4-44DB-A233-BE5EA33B914C

For Office 2016 – cscript slmgr.vbs /dlv 98ebfe73-2084-4c97-932c-c0cd1643bea7

If your KMS server for Office 2019 is successfully configured, something like this will appear:

Name: Office 19, OfficeKMSHostVL_KMS_Host edition
Description: Office 19, VOLUME_KMS channel
Activation ID: 70512334-47B4-44DB-A233-BE5EA33B914C
License Status: Licensed

Office 2021/2019/2016 Active Directory-Based Activation (ADBA)

If you are going to use ADBA for the automatic activation of Office 2021/2019/2016 on AD-joined computers, select Active Directory-Based Activation as a volume activation method in Volume Activation Tools. This activation method works for Windows Server 2022/2019/2016/2012R2 and Windows 11/10/8.1.

Then you have to enter the same KMS Host key (CSVLK) and specify its name (optional).

Now you only have to activate your KMS host key.

A warning that a new object will be created in the AD forest appears. Therefore, to properly install the KMS server for ADBA activation, you will need Enterprise Admin privileges.

In this case, additional entries will appear in the domain configuration branch CN=Activation Objects,CN=Microsoft SPP,CN=Services,CN=Configuration.

Close the VAT window, and press ENTER in the update tool console. The information about the installed KMS key can be obtained using SKU-ID (displayed in the final step of the KMS server installation):

slmgr.vbs /dlv 98ebfe73-2084-4c97-932c-c0cd1643bea7 – for Office 2016

slmgr.vbs /dlv 70512334-47B4-44DB-A233-BE5EA33B914C – for Office 2019

slmgr.vbs /dlv 47F3B983-7C53-4D45-ABC6-BCD91E2DD90A – for Office 2021

Your infrastructure is now ready to activate Office 2021/2019/2016 AD domain-joined clients.

Manually Activate MS Office 2021/2019/2016 with KMS License Server

You need to install a special corporate edition of Microsoft Office on the users’ computers (you can download it from the personal section of the Microsoft VLSC licensing site). In this version, a special KMS (GVLK) key is preinstalled (however, you can change the product key for a usual Office version installed with the retail, MAK, or OEM key).

Those, if you have a valid SRV DNS record for the KMS server in the domain (you can find a KMS server in a domain with the command: nslookup -type=srv _vlmcs._tcp.woshub.com), and you installed the corporate edition of MS Office (Volume License), a copy of Office should be activated automatically after installation on a computer in an AD domain.

To manually activate the Office on the client computer, run these commands one by one (in the elevated command prompt):

CD \Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office16

You can specify the KMS server manually:

cscript ospp.vbs /sethst:kms01.woshub.com

You can also specify the name or IP address of the KMS server through the following REG_SZ registry parameter KeyManagementServiceName in the HKLM\Software\Microsoft\OfficeSoftwareProtectionPlatform\ (you can deploy this registry key in the domain using GPO).

If the KMS server is running on a non-standard port (not on TCP/1688), you can change the target port on the client like this:

cscript ospp.vbs /setprt:1689

Or through the registry parameter KeyManagementServicePort in the HKLM\Software\Microsoft\OfficeSoftwareProtectionPlatform.

Activate your Office copy on the KMS server:

cscript ospp.vbs /act

The presence of the following lines indicates that your copy of Office 2016 has been successfully activated:

License Name: Office 16, Office16ProPlusVL_KMS_client edition
License description: Office 16, VOLUME_KMSCLIENT channel
<Product activation successful>

Use the following command to get information about the client activation history on the KMS server (you are searching for Event Viewer entries with the Event ID: 12288):

cscript ospp.vbs /dhistorykms

To allow performing Office KMS activation for the non-admin users, run the command:

cscript ospp.vbs /puserops

If you want to allow KMS activation only under administrator accounts, run:

cscript ospp.vbs /duserops

If MS Office 2021, 2019, or 2016 activation errors occur, more detailed information about the errors can be obtained using the command:

cscript ospp.vbs /ddescr:0xC004F042

where 0xC004F042 is your activation error code.

If you need to activate Office 2021/2019/2016 on a remote computer, use the following command:

cscript OSPP.VBS <Options> remotePCname [username] [password]

You can check the current Office 2019/2016/365 activation status using the command:

cscript ospp.vbs /dstatusall

LICENSE STATUS:  ---OOB_GRACE---
ERROR CODE: 0x4004F00C
ERROR DESCRIPTION: The Software Licensing Service reported that the application is running within the valid grace period.

GVLK Keys for Microsoft Office 2021/2019/2016

All corporate Office 2021/2019/2016 versions are installed with Generic Volume License Keys (GVLK). These keys are public and accessible to everyone on Microsoft TechNet. Due to them, all Office product versions are automatically activated if there is a KMS server on the network. So, in most cases, it is not required to specify the GVLK key for Office.

A complete list of official public GVLK keys for MS Office 2021, 2019, and 2016 to activate your volume Office instances on a KMS server can be found here: https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dn385360(v=office.16).aspx.

If necessary, you can change the Office product key to a GVLK (KMS) as follows:

cscript ospp.vbs /inpkey:xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx

KMS Activation Error “vmw.exe has stopped working” on Windows Server 2019/2016

If you are trying to install a KMS server for Office 2021/2019/2016 on Windows Server 2019/2016, keep in mind that it has a number of problems with the launch of the Volume Activated Services Tool. When you try to activate an Office KMS server through the Volume Activated Services GUI, you can receive an error:

Vmw.exe has stopped working. A problem caused the program to stop working correctly. Windows will close the program and notify you if a solution is available.

I’ve met somewhere before that VAMT currently supports only operating systems up to Windows 8.1. And when installing the KMS server role on Windows Server 2016 or Windows 10, the executable file Vmw.exe crashes.

As a workaround, you need to activate the KMS server from the command prompt after installing volumelicensepack. Install the KMS Host key (which you received with VLSC) with the command:

slmgr -ipk <Office_2016_2019_2022_KMS_Host_Key>

Then activate the KMS server itself (you need direct Internet access):

slmgr.vbs /ato 98ebfe73-2084-4c97-932c-c0cd1643bea7

For Office 2019, use the SKU ID – 70512334-47B4-44DB-A233-BE5EA33B914C

For Office 2021 – 47F3B983-7C53-4D45-ABC6-BCD91E2DD90A

Now your Office KMS server based on Windows Server 2019/2016 is activated and can be used to activate clients.