Jul 12 2022 07:25 AM
I have three retail Server 2022 Datacenter product activation keys and am wondering how to activate the resulting VMs in a Scale Computing HC3 environment with three hosts. The VMs are running Server 2019 due to current compatibility and support issues. AVMA keys will not work because this is not a Hyper-V environment. I have found a couple posting around the web with no definitive answers. I appreciate any advice that can be provided and am having a hard time tracking down a MS support contact for this.
Jul 12 2022 02:17 PM
If you don't run DataCenter for the host then that's correct you cannot use AVMA keys plus this limits you to only standing up 2022 DataCenter guest virtual machines. Simply use the same host product key to activate guests.
Jul 13 2022 11:04 AM
Thanks, @Dave Patrick. Do you know if it is possible to activate Server 2019 Datacenter VMs using slui -4? I understand this would be a little painful given the manual nature of this, but I want to make sure I understand all of my options. Server 2022 isn't formally supported by the Scale guest tools yet so I have a tiny bit of hesitation going all-in on 2022.
Jul 13 2022 11:12 AM
SolutionYou can easily activate by doing
slmgr /ipk xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx
slmgr /ato
but you'll need to come up with a valid product key for activation. The Server 2022 DataCenter license will be no help unless you can get hold of a downgrade product key from seller.
Jul 13 2022 12:11 PM
Please don't forget to mark helpful replies
Jul 13 2022 01:50 PM
Jul 13 2022 02:05 PM
No prob, you're welcome.
Jul 20 2022 03:46 PM
Jul 20 2022 04:05 PM
It is quite a waste to not make use of AVMA with a DataCenter host, but what happens when you try?
Jul 21 2022 06:43 AM
Jul 21 2022 07:18 AM
The problem is a DataCenter host provides for an unlimited number of virtual machines. Reusing the DataCenter product key over and over on the vmware hypervisor guests is going to eventually trigger a "product key in use" error, then the other problem of being able to talk to anyone to raise the limit will be next to impossible to do. Better option may be to install a DataCenter host and move on.
Jul 21 2022 07:34 AM
Jul 21 2022 07:43 AM
Ok, well back to original it seems you'll need to downgrade the 2022 DataCenter keys to 2019 DataCenter, then activate the guests (hope they're running DataCenter edition?) using these downgrade keys. You didn't say how many on each host but if its more than a half dozen or so you may run into problems.
Jun 23 2023 02:43 AM
Jul 13 2022 11:12 AM
SolutionYou can easily activate by doing
slmgr /ipk xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx
slmgr /ato
but you'll need to come up with a valid product key for activation. The Server 2022 DataCenter license will be no help unless you can get hold of a downgrade product key from seller.