Monday, March 7, 2016

Usage of Microsoft Office 2016 KMS Host or ADBA License Pack

Another blogpost about licensing. Before this 4 other blogposts where available, just have a look at that one also:
Key Management Services (KMS) explained
Using KMS Client Setup Keys during deployment
Usage of Microsoft Office 2010 KMS Host License Pack
Usage of Microsoft Office 2013 KMS Host License Pack

The Microsoft Office 2016 KMS Host License Pack must be installed before importing the KMS key. It can be downloaded at this location: Download Center. During installation the Office 2016 KMS key can be imported successfully.

Volume license editions of Office 2016 client products require activation. This download enables IT administrators to set up a Key Management Service (KMS) or configure a domain for Active Directory-Based activation (ADBA). Either of these volume activation methods can locally activate all Office 2016 clients connected to an organization’s network.

Just make sure your KMS host is running on Windows 7/8.x/10 or Windows Server 2008R2/2012/2012R2.

Active Directory-Based activation (ADBA)
For environments in which all computers are running Windows 8.x/10 or Windows Server 2012/2012R2, and they are joined to a domain, ADBA is the best option for activating all client computers and servers, and you may be able to remove any KMS hosts from your environment.

If you are using both KMS and ADBA, it may be difficult to see whether a client computer has been activated by KMS or by ADBA. Consider disabling KMS during the test, or make sure that you are using a client that has not already been activated by KMS. The slmrg.vbs /dlv command also indicates whether KMS has been used.

For future scenarios, ADBA is the way to go!

More on KMS activation: HERE
More on AD-based activation: HERE

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