Forum Discussion
Windows Server 2019 install product key not working
Did you install, choose NOT to enter the product key, then after the install was done, try to enter and activate the key? if so, that does not appear to work. I ran into the same issue on 2 of my 2019 servers. I wiped them out and this time entered the key during install, and it successfully activated. if I were to guess, they made something in the install to take into account these testing keys, but the Activation function within Settings, has not been updated to reflect that, so it thinks you are activating a live version of Windows, and that is not a valid key there. That is entirely a guess on my part. I didn't bother running a wireshark or anything to see what kind of response I was getting when trying to activate from Settings.
Just as an FYI, based on the earlier response, the 2 machines I was seeing this issue on, were not upgrades, they were brand new installs on a blank hard drive. I have not gotten around to trying the in-place upgrade yet. I don't know if this will help your situation, but I can say that I saw exactly what you were describing, and if you enter the key during the actual install, it appears to work. I have not looked into the release notes to see if there is something that says Activation from Settings is not set up to work yet.
Did you install, choose NOT to enter the product key, then after the install was done, try to enter and activate the key? if so, that does not appear to work. I ran into the same issue on 2 of my 2019 servers. I wiped them out and this time entered the key during install, and it successfully activated. if I were to guess, they made something in the install to take into account these testing keys, but the Activation function within Settings, has not been updated to reflect that, so it thinks you are activating a live version of Windows, and that is not a valid key there. That is entirely a guess on my part. I didn't bother running a wireshark or anything to see what kind of response I was getting when trying to activate from Settings.
Just as an FYI, based on the earlier response, the 2 machines I was seeing this issue on, were not upgrades, they were brand new installs on a blank hard drive. I have not gotten around to trying the in-place upgrade yet. I don't know if this will help your situation, but I can say that I saw exactly what you were describing, and if you enter the key during the actual install, it appears to work. I have not looked into the release notes to see if there is something that says Activation from Settings is not set up to work yet.
The following commands worked for me
Run an elevated command prompt
slmgr /upk
slmgr /ipk <your MAK here>
slmgr /ato
I tried your instruction only to get an error "DNS name does not exist", am I missing something?
Just for kicks I logged into the server locally instead of as a domain administrator. The GUI for activation worked as expected!
jalbar87 this worked for me, just downloaded a fresh image from VLC today
- slmgr /upk
Restart server
slmgr /ipk <your MAK here>
slmgr /ato
Restart server - Thanks, this worked for me as well.
What did not work is entering the key during install (boot from ISO) nor the new 'Settings' application. I was using a key and ISO media directly from the Partner Benefits download site. I have also had Windows 10 LTSB 2018 keys fail. I called MS and they first told me the key wasn't valid, then it was valid after they did some 'digging' on their end. The key never worked again though and I got tired of repeated calls to partner support and used the LTSC 2019 keys/ISO instead.
