Hello Rob,
Try this link, it does reference workgroup clients.
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/windowsvista/plan/volact1.mspx
Also check the application event logs for software licensing events to see
if the clients are locating the KMS servers.
I suspect they are not getting the correct location of the KMS servers from
DNS.
As for rebuilding the client machine 25 times, this will work to build up
the count to 25,
once the client gets a count of 25 it will be activated for 180 days.
The count on the KMS server however does have a 30 day life for any one
machine. So at least 25 clients need to hit the KMS server at least once
every 30 days to maintain the count at 25 or more so additional clients can
still activate.
Thanks,
Darrell Gorter[MSFT]
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights
--------------------
|>Thread-Topic: Vista activation via Key Management Server (KMS)
|>thread-index: AcckQPVMFQ9eZC8ATWGFWotHtv64cw==
|>X-WBNR-Posting-Host: 156.26.95.84
|>From: =?Utf-8?B?Um9iIFAu?= <
[email protected]>
|>References: <
[email protected]>
<
[email protected]>
<
[email protected]>
<
[email protected]>
<#
[email protected]>
<
[email protected]>
<
[email protected]>
|>Subject: Re: Vista activation via Key Management Server (KMS)
|>Date: Wed, 20 Dec 2006 06:13:01 -0800
|>Lines: 146
|>Message-ID: <
[email protected]>
|>MIME-Version: 1.0
|>Content-Type: text/plain;
|> charset="Utf-8"
|>Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
|>X-Newsreader: Microsoft CDO for Windows 2000
|>Content-Class: urn:content-classes:message
|>Importance: normal
|>Priority: normal
|>X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.00.3790.2757
|>Newsgroups: microsoft.public.windows.vista.installation_setup
|>Path: TK2MSFTNGHUB02.phx.gbl
|>Xref: TK2MSFTNGHUB02.phx.gbl
microsoft.public.windows.vista.installation_setup:1189
|>NNTP-Posting-Host: tk2msftsbfm01.phx.gbl 10.40.244.148
|>X-Tomcat-NG: microsoft.public.windows.vista.installation_setup
|>
|>OK - My KMS is active and is activating machines (30 machines to be
precise).
|>
|>I still cannot activate machines that are not on a Windows domain. Any
|>suggestions?
|>
|>FYI- You can reformat and rename the same machine a number of times (I
only
|>did it twice to the same machine) to increase your machine count to reach
the
|>25 needed. You do not need 25 machines "on" for KMS to begin activation,
only
|>to have had 25 unique machines contacted the KMS. I believe this could be
the
|>same machine reformated 25 times, but I haven't tried it.
|>
|>""Darrell Gorter[MSFT]"" wrote:
|>
|>> Hello,
|>> To use KMS, you will need at least 25 clients machines talking to the
kms
|>> server. There is no way to make this number smaller than 25.
|>> Thanks,
|>> Darrell Gorter[MSFT]
|>>
|>> This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no
rights
|>> --------------------
|>> |>Reply-To: "Brian Hoyt" <
[email protected]>
|>> |>From: "Brian Hoyt" <
[email protected]>
|>> |>References: <
[email protected]>
|>> <
[email protected]>
|>> <
[email protected]>
|>> <
[email protected]>
|>> <#
[email protected]>
|>> |>Subject: Re: Vista activation via Key Management Server (KMS)
|>> |>Date: Mon, 18 Dec 2006 15:56:56 -0500
|>> |>Lines: 84
|>> |>Organization: Roland Park Country School
|>> |>X-Priority: 3
|>> |>X-MSMail-Priority: Normal
|>> |>X-Newsreader: Microsoft Outlook Express 6.00.2900.3028
|>> |>X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.00.2900.3028
|>> |>X-RFC2646: Format=Flowed; Original
|>> |>Message-ID: <
[email protected]>
|>> |>Newsgroups: microsoft.public.windows.vista.installation_setup
|>> |>NNTP-Posting-Host: firewall.rpcs.org 65.192.205.194
|>> |>Path: TK2MSFTNGHUB02.phx.gbl!TK2MSFTNGP01.phx.gbl!TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl
|>> |>Xref: TK2MSFTNGHUB02.phx.gbl
|>> microsoft.public.windows.vista.installation_setup:1084
|>> |>X-Tomcat-NG: microsoft.public.windows.vista.installation_setup
|>> |>
|>> |>I am not sure what the correct answer is but what I did was log in to
the
|>> |>licensing website and request a MAK key. This will allow me to use
the
|>> MAK
|>> |>key for limited deployment and testing until I am ready (and have
enough
|>> |>clients) to deploy KMS. There is a way to convert MAK machines to
KMS
|>> later
|>> |>as well so this may be the best solution.
|>> |>
|>> |>
|>> |>|>> |>> Hi all,
|>> |>> Can I add? As part of our evaluation of Vista for the enterprise we
are
|>> |>> also
|>> |>> keen to check out KMS. However we do not have up to 25 Vista
desktops
|>> |>> quite
|>> |>> yet in our evaluation/test labs. So the question is, is there
anyway to
|>> |>> test
|>> |>> or evaluate the "KMS" in a smaller (<25) test lab? Or is minimum of
25
|>> |>> Vista
|>> |>> desktops an absolute minimum requirement with not work around.
|>> |>>
|>> |>> Cheers!
|>> |>> -----------------
|>> |>> |>> |>> You are correct, 25 machines are needed before any activations
occur,
|>> but
|>> |>> I
|>> |>> can see machines that registered with the KMS in its event log and
with
|>> |>> the
|>> |>> slmgr.vbs script run with the -dli switch on the KMS. I can ping
the
|>> KMS
|>> |>> by
|>> |>> host name and it resolves to IP from the non-domain machines. But I
get
|>> a
|>> |>> DNS
|>> |>> error when I attempt activation manually from the control panel
applet.
|>> |>>
|>> |>> On the domain machines I get an insufficient count error (less than
25
|>> |>> machines) returned from the KMS (which I should at this point) upon
|>> manual
|>> |>> activation. The domain that has the KMS has the _VLMCS SRV record
needed
|>> |>> from
|>> |>> the KMS in its DNS. When I try to connect from a domain machine in
|>> another
|>> |>> domain other than where the KMS exisits, I get the same error until
I
|>> put
|>> |>> a
|>> |>> _VLMCS SRV record in that domains DNS pointing to the KMS in the
other
|>> |>> domain.
|>> |>>
|>> |>> As I said the DNS is Server 2003 R2, and I can't help feel that
there
|>> is a
|>> |>> permissions issue with access to the _VLMCS record, although
everyone
|>> has
|>> |>> read permission.
|>> |>>
|>> |>> "Michael Cecil" wrote:
|>> |>>
|>> |>>> On Wed, 13 Dec 2006 23:13:14 -0500, "Mike C."
<
[email protected]>
|>> |>>> wrote:
|>> |>>>
|>> |>>> >I'm sure the volume license documents explain somewhere.
|>> |>>> >
|>> |>>> >
|>> |>>> >|>> |>>> >>I have an activated Key Management Server (on a Vista Business
|>> machine)
|>> |>>> >>and
|>> |>>> >> to date 23 Vista Enterprise machines contacting it. I am on a
very
|>> |>>> >> large
|>> |>>> >> LAN
|>> |>>> >> with several domains and many non-domain machines. The 23
machines
|>> |>>> >> that
|>> |>>> >> can
|>> |>>> >> contact the KMS are all domain machines. I have not been able
get
|>> any
|>> |>>> >> non-domain machines to successfully register with the KMS -
even
|>> when
|>> |>>> >> I
|>> |>>> >> point
|>> |>>> >> them to the DNS server (Server 2003 R2) where the KMS record
is. Any
|>> |>>> >> ideas?
|>> |>>>
|>> |>>> I thought you needed a minimum of 25 machines before any would
|>> activate?
|>> |>>> --
|>> |>>> Michael Cecil
|>> |>>>
http://home.comcast.net/~macecil/
|>> |>>>
http://home.comcast.net/~safehex/
|>> |>>>
http://home.comcast.net/~macecil/hackingvista/
|>> |>>>
|>> |>>
|>> |>>
|>> |>
|>> |>
|>> |>
|>>
|>>
|>
Been away on vacation. Thanks for the idea about