How to setup a MS Office 2013 KMS Host on Windows Server 2012

Last month I did a blogpost about "Usage of Microsoft Office 2013 KMS Host License Pack". This one is needed to activate Microsoft Office 2013 through KMS. When using the License Pack things can still go wrong. Let's have a look how to setup Microsoft Office 2013 KMS Host on Windows Server 2012 first.

The KMS activation process for MS Office 2013 is the same as what it was for MS Office 2010. However, the interface to setup the KMS host for MS Office 2013 on a Windows Server 2012 has been updated to use the Volume Activation Tools.

1: Download the Microsoft Office 2013 Volume License Pack from the Microsoft Download Center (MSDL) site;
2: Double-click the downloaded EXE to run it;
3: Once the EXE finishes running, the Volume Activation Tools wizard will appear;
4: On the next screen, choose Key Management Service (KMS) and browse to, or specify the name of, the system running Key Management Service. Typically, this would be the system you are running the Volume Activation Tools on;
5. Next, enter the KMS host (CSVLK) key;
6. Choose activation method, online or phone;
7. Activation Succeeded (or not);

When the activation fails because of STATUS_SUCCESS error, change the KMS listening port from 0 to 1688. Then it will be fine after all!

Configuration succeeded! Yeah!!

To trigger activation manually on the KMS client, run ospp.vbs /act at the command prompt. cscript "%installdir%\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office15\ospp.vbs" /act

Source (partly): How to setup Microsoft Office 2013 KMS Host on Windows Server 2012

Files necessary to run the Office Customization Tool were not found

When starting Setup.exe /admin from Microsoft Office 2013 RTM, I got the message "Files necessary to run the Office Customization Tool were not found.  Run Setup from the installation point of a qualifying product." When doing the same in Microsoft Office 2010 the Office Customization Tool (OCT) is started. With OCT you can create a MSP (answer) file for silent installation.

Looking on the web I found the following solution for this HERE.

This occurs when the admin folder is missing from the installation point. For it seems Office 2013 Preview Administrative Template Files are needed to start the Office Customization Tool. Just download the tools (x86/x64 choice) and start it to create a admin and admx folder. The admin folder must be copied in the Office 2013 source afterwards. After that OCT is working as usual again. Strange thing that admin files are not included by default!?

The Office 2013 Preview Administrative Template files (ADMX/ADML) and Office Customization Tool can be download HERE.

Installing Microsoft Office 2013 Customer Preview

Today I installed the new Microsoft Office 2013 Preview. Because the existing Office 2010 installation on my Windows 8 Release Preview device, I choose for a upgrade. The installation is done in a few minutes and a reboot is needed afterwards. Then the new functionality can be used. The following tiles are available after installation:

 

Just notice that Lync 2013 is installed by default now, no other installation is needed for that. Programs that are still exists after the upgrade are:

• SharePoint Workspace 2010
• Office Picture Manager
• Lync 2010

As far as I can see everything works fine after the upgrade. Nice to see that Microsoft Office 2013 will have support for Touch devices, SkyDrive, Yammer, Skype and Cloud services now!

Microsoft Office 2013 Customer Preview has arrived

Yesterday a new Office has arrived. It's called Microsoft Office 2013.

Microsoft Corp. CEO Steve Ballmer unveiled the customer preview of the new Microsoft Office, available at office.com/preview.

The next release features an intuitive design that works beautifully with touch, stylus, mouse or keyboard across new Windows devices, including tablets. The new Office is social and unlocks modern scenarios in reading, note-taking, meetings and communications and will be delivered to subscribers through a cloud service that is always up to date.  

The new, modern Office will deliver unparalleled productivity and flexibility for both consumers and business customers. It is a cloud service and will fully light-up when paired with Windows 8

While the full lineup of offerings and pricing plans will be announced in the fall, Ballmer discussed three new Office 365 subscription services. When available, each new subscription offer will include the new 2013 editions of the Office applications. In addition, subscribers will receive future rights to version upgrades as well as per-use rights across up to five PCs or Macs and mobile devices. More about new functionality HERE

MSDN members can download Office at CLICK

Office Language Packs and other downloads at CLICK

Nice to see that Microsoft Office 2013 will have support for Touch devices, SkyDrive, Yammer, Skype and Cloud services now!