Due to the release of the final RTM version of Microsoft Office 2016, corporate clients can migrate to a new Office platform. In this article we’ll deal with the peculiarities of MS Office 2016 activation on a corporate KMS server (FAQ about Key Management Service). It is supposed that we already have the deployed KMS activation server running Windows Server 2012 R2 or other Windows versions (see the list of the supported operating systems below).
By using the KMS server, corporate clients can activate Office products inside the corporate network without connecting to Microsoft activation servers in the Internet. Earlier we have already considered the peculiarities of MS Office 2013 activation in the corporate environment, and the main principles and approaches to Office 2016 activation on a KMS server stayed unchanged.
System Requirements
A KMS server for Office 2016 can run on the following OS versions:
- Windows 7 (KB2757817 installation required)
- Windows 8.1
- Windows Server 2008 R2 (KB2757817 installation required)
- Windows Server 2012 / Windows Server 2012 R2
- Windows 10
2 activation types are supported:
- A common one, using KMS server
- Active Directory-Based Activation, with the AD schema version Windows Server 2012 or higher
First of all you have to find and copy a KMS Host key for Office 2016 in your personal section on Microsoft Volume Licensing Service Center (VLSC) website.
In the next step download the KMS extension package — Microsoft Office 2016 Volume License Pack (https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=49164). Run the file you have downloaded (office2016volumelicensepack_4285-1000_en-us_x86.exe) on your KMS server with administrator privileges.
During installation the Volume Activation Tools window appears, where you have to select the activation type (KMS or ADBA). Both variants are considered below.
KMS Activation of Office 2016
If you are going to use the common 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 temporary grant your KMS server the direct Internet access.
After your KMS server is activated on Microsoft websites, the current KMS server configuration is displayed. In the product list, the entry Name: Office 16, VOLUME_KMS_channel with the licensing status Licensed will appear.
Exit the wizard, and Software Protection service will be restarted.
Office 2016 Activation Using Active Directory
If you are going to use Active Directory-Based Activation for the automatic activation of Office 2016 on the computers in the AD domain, select Active Directory-Based Activation as a volume activation method in Volume Activation Tools. This method of activation will work in Windows 8.1, Windows Server 2012 / 2012 R2 and Windows 10.
Then you have to enter the same KMS Host key (CSVLK) and specify its name (optional).
Now you only have to activate this KMS key.
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 activation):
slmgr.vbs /dlv 98ebfe73-2084-4c97-932c-c0cd1643bea7
KMS server is ready to activate clients.
How to Configure MS Office 2016 Clients to Be Activated on the KMS Server
To immediately activate the new Office version on the client computer, run these commands one by one (in the command prompt with the administrator privileges):
CD \Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office16
Specify the name of the KMS server:
cscript ospp.vbs /sethst:kms01.woshub.com
Activate the product:
cscript ospp.vbs /act
The current activation status can be obtained using the command:
cscript ospp.vbs /dstatusall
GVLK for Microsoft Office 2016
All corporate Office 2016 versions are installed with public Generic Volume License Keys (GVLK). Due to them, all product versions are automatically activated if there is the KMS server in the network. So, as a rule, you don’t need to enter your GVLK.
If necessary, a product key can be changed as follows:
cscript ospp.vbs /inpkey:xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx
Thanks Donald; it works perfectly.
I think the link was deleted. It was a very good website indeed.
I have got my office 2016 product key from #https://plus.google.com/u/0/collection/koUdIE, works great. Guys who need the keys can go to have a look, it often shares some office keys there.
Do I have to have Office 2016 installed on the computer that is running the KMS? When I run the cscript, it says everything is fine, and it opens the Volume Licensing Tool, but the tool doesn’t give me the option to choose a product, and although it accepts the Office key, I don’t see any change in the products being managed. This is a 2012 r2 server that is working fine for activating Windows 7 work stations. I have been told that I can be running the KMS activation for Office on the same server as for Windows, but is that not correct? It’s a file server and secondary domain controller, so naturally I don’t have Office installed.
You dont need to install Office 2016 on KMS server. The single KMS server may well activate both Windows and Office clients
Thanks for the great article, my question what if i need to activate just Visio and Project without all office apps shall i will use the same procedure or it will be different?
Thank a lot Ad
If i have an environment of 100 workstation that I reimage every 6 months and i only have 120 VL of office 2016.
When I activate the 100 workstation, I will use up the 100 licenses but what if i reimage the computers on the 6 months. What will happen? will only 20 computers be activated or all 100 computers of office 2016 be activated?
Thanks
In that case, if you are using KMS server to activate Office , all 100 computers will be activated
Admin. thanks for the reply.
Assume I setup KMS server correctly, Is the KMS smart enough to count that I just have 100 computers with office that I reformat/activate all the time so its still 100 licenses compare to a kms counter that just keeps increasing?
if so, then this article should be a great start for me, correct?
thanks in advance.
KMS servers don’t check the number of licenses you have purchased. You could have 100 licenses and can activate 1000 computers against it. It’ll activate them all.
For some reason, the “Volume Activation Tools” window never appears. Only a little window suggesting to use slmgr.vbs …
Thanks for great article.
Now if organization has Office365 , wants to deploy office2016 using KMS host and client running server 2012 r2 – rds/ citrix environment how activation & licensing works..
Citrix for publishing office 2016 thru Xen App 7.x ..
Hi Great Article.
Quick question which you may be able to answer for me. We have an environment with 1000 computers. We have purchased 800 licenses initially of Office Standard 2016 and using KMS with VAMT 3.1 they activated fine.
We then went and got a further 180 licenses, but we got a different KMS and MAK key for the new 180.
Do I need to run slmgr.vbs with new KMS key and if so will this overwrite my original KMS key for the 800
Your old KMS server can activate unlimited number of Office 2016 copies.
Or you can activate new client using MAK key (not a good solution if you have activated KMS server)