Forum Discussion
Cannot enter key / activate Windows Server 2019 Standard?
Ok, I'm just setting up Windows Server 2019 Standard on VMWare running on my desktop. It's just for personal use. But, I bought a key for it off the internet. I just got it in the mail. It has a ...
Difficult to read but I'd try;
Dism /Online /Get-CurrentEditionDism /Online /Get-TargetEditionsand finally
Dism /online /Set-Edition:ServerStandard /AcceptEula /ProductKey:12345-67890-12345-67890-12345
I tried those (in Powershell), but although the DISM reported back as being successful in applying the product key, it was only partially true - it removed the floating text message on the desktop, but nothing else. Checking System under Control Panel (or Settings) was still reporting as "not activated".
I found the following pair of commands worked though (again, in Powershell).
First:
slmgr.vbs -ipk your-product-code-here
to install the product key, then:
slmgr.vbs -ato
The second command does the actual activation.
Hope that helps anyone else in same situation!