Forum Discussion
Is the VL edition of Office a must for Windows Virtual Desktop?
After getting Windows Virtual Desktop up and running in Azure, I went to install a copy of Office (I have an E3 license via the O365 portal) and got the following message:
This copy of Microsoft Office cannot be used on a computer running Terminal Services. To use Microsoft Office on a computer running Terminal Services, you must use a Volume License edition.
I knew there was a requirement to have an E3 license, but I didn't see VL as part of the requirements. Is this always going to be a requirement, or is just something to work out related to the public preview? We purchase our licenses through the O365 portal.
Clint CovingtonMicrosoft
Christopher Anderson Did you try with Shared Computer Activation (SCA)?
Here is an article to help troubleshoot licencing issues. Troubleshoot issues with shared computer activation for Office 365 ProPlus
Clint Covington I'm working through this, but admittedly this seems like it may be a workaround since it involves setting up a separate VM to run as the Office deployment machine, etc. The steps to do shared computer activation seems just as in-depth as the entire virtual desktop setup unless I'm missing something easy.
- Shubham Gupta (LICENSING)
Christopher Anderson Shared Computer Activation or SCA is the technology through which Office 365 E3 or Office 365 ProPlus gets licensed on a VM / remote desktop environment. Volume License keys are not supported on Office 365 ProPlus.
If you are deploying Office through Office Deployment Tool, you can set the SharedComputerLicensing property in the ODT xml to enable SCA:
<Property Name="SharedComputerLicensing" Value="1" />
This article also lists other ways of enabling Shared Computer Activation through Registry keys or deploying Group Policy:
Christopher AndersonThis works when you install the license with "Shared activation" as an admin on the host. I tested it.
Tim Settar Correct, I resolved this a couple days ago and took a screenshot of my office deployment config above.
Christopher AndersonYes, but you don't need volume license to do it. I did it with office pro plus.
