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Configure client computers for volume activation in Office 2013

Office 2013

Office 2010

Published: October 16, 2012

Summary: Details the Office Software Protection Platform script (ospp.vbs) and describes the Volume Activation Management Tool (VAMT) for Windows Installer-based (MSI-based) versions of Office 2013.

Applies to: Office 2013

Audience: IT Professionals

The Office Software Protection Platform script (ospp.vbs) and the Volume Activation Management Tool (VAMT) tools can help you configure and test Volume License editions of Office 2013. Before you read this article, we recommend that you read Volume activation methods in Office 2013, Plan volume activation of Office 2013, and Deploy volume activation of Office 2013.

Important:
This information applies to volume-licensed editions of Office 2013. It does not apply to either Office Professional Plus for Office 365 or Office 365 ProPlus, both of which are licensed through subscription.

In this article:

Tips for configuring KMS clients and hosts
The ospp.vbs script
Volume Activation Management Tool (VAMT)

Tips for configuring KMS clients and hosts

Generally, you do not have to configure Office KMS clients if the Office KMS host was correctly set up and configured. The KMS client automatically searches for the KMS host by using DNS and then attempts activation. The KMS service uses service (SRV) resource records (RR) in DNS to store and communicate the locations of KMS hosts.

By default, KMS hosts automatically publish the information that KMS clients need to find and connect to them by using DNS dynamic update protocol. By default, KMS clients query the DNS server for KMS service information.

You can manually configure KMS hosts and clients, depending on the network configuration and security requirements. For example, if the network environment does not use SRV records, you can manually configure a KMS client to use a specific KMS host. For more information about how to configure the KMS client, see The ospp.vbs script later in this article and Prepare and configure the Office 2013 client in Deploy volume activation of Office 2013. For more information about how to configure the KMS host, see Prepare and configure the Office KMS host in Deploy volume activation of Office 2013.

The ospp.vbs script

The Office Software Protection Platform script (ospp.vbs) enables you to configure volume editions of Office 2013 client products. You must open a command prompt by using administrator permissions and navigate to the folder that contains the script. The script is located in the %installdir%\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office15 folder. If you are running 32-bit Office 2013 on a 64-bit operating system, the script is located in the %installdir%\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office\Office15 folder.

Running ospp.vbs requires the cscript.exe script engine. To see the Help file, type the following command, and then press ENTER:

cscript ospp.vbs /?

The general syntax is as follows:

cscript ospp.vbs [Option:Value] [ComputerName] [User] [Password]

Option Specifies the option and value to use to activate a product, install or uninstall a product key, install and display license information, set Key Management Service (KMS) host name and port, and remove KMS host. The options and values are listed in the tables in this section.

ComputerName Name of the remote computer. If a computer name is not provided, the local computer is used.

User Account that has the required permission on the remote computer.

Password Password for the account. If a user account and password are not provided, the current credentials are used.

Important:
Before you run ospp.vbs, be sure that: The Windows firewall allows Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) traffic on the remote computer. You have credentials that have the required permissions on the remote computer, or you can pass credentials that have the required permissions to the remote computer. The cmd.exe command is elevated. On the cmd.exe interface short-cut menu (right-click), choose Run as administrator.

Important:

Before you run ospp.vbs, be sure that:

The Windows firewall allows Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) traffic on the remote computer.
You have credentials that have the required permissions on the remote computer, or you can pass credentials that have the required permissions to the remote computer.
The cmd.exe command is elevated. On the cmd.exe interface short-cut menu (right-click), choose Run as administrator.

The following table describes the ospp.vbs global options.

Global options for ospp.vbs

Global option	Description
/act	Activates installed Office 2013 product keys.
/inpkey:value	Installs a product key (replaces existing key) with user-provided product key. Value option is required.
/unpkey:value	Uninstalls an installed product key with the last five digits of the product key to uninstall (as displayed by the /dstatus option). Value parameter is required.
/inslic:value	Installs a license with user-provided path of the .xrm-ms license. Value parameter is required.
/dstatus	Displays license information for installed product keys.
/dstatusall	Displays license information for all installed licenses.
/dhistoryacterr	Displays the failure history for MAK/Retail activation.
/dinstid	Displays Installation ID for offline activation.
/actcid:value	Activates product with user-provided Confirmation ID. Value parameter is required.
/rearm	Resets the licensing status for all installed Office 2013 product keys.
/rearm:value	Resets the licensing status for an Office 2013 license with a user-provided SKUID value. Value parameter is required. Use this option with the SKUID value specified by using the /dstatus option if you have run out of rearms and have activated Office through KMS or AD-based activation to gain an additional rearm.
/ddescr:value	Displays the description for a user-provided error code. Value parameter is required.

The following table describes the ospp.vbs options for configuring the KMS client.

KMS client options for ospp.vbs

KMS client option	Description
/dhistorykms	Displays KMS client activation history.
/dcmid	Displays KMS client machine ID (CMID).
/sethst:value	Sets a KMS host name with a user-provided host name. Value parameter is required. This sets HKLM\Software\Microsoft\OfficeSoftwareProtectionPlatform\KeyManagementServiceName (REG_SZ).
/setprt:value	Sets a KMS port with a user-provided port number. Value parameter is required. This sets HKLM\Software\Microsoft\OfficeSoftwareProtectionPlatform\KeyManagementServicePort (REG_SZ).
/remhst	Removes KMS host name (sets port to default).
/cachst:value	Allows or denies KMS host caching. Value parameter is required (TRUE or FALSE).
/actype:value	(Windows 8 and newer versions only) Sets volume activation type. Value parameter is required. Values: 1 (for Active Directory-Based), 2 (for KMS). 0 (for both).
/skms-domain:value	(Windows 8 and newer versions only) Sets the specific DNS domain in which all KMS SRV records can be found. This setting has no effect if the specific single KMS host is set by the /sethst option. Value parameter is the Fully Qualified Domain Name (FQDN) and is required.
/ckms-domain	(Windows 8 and newer versions only) Clears the specific DNS domain in which all KMS SRV records can be found. The specific KMS host is used if it is set by the /sethst option. Otherwise, auto-discovery of the KMS host is used.

Scenarios that use ospp.vbs

The following scenarios assume that you are running ospp.vbs in an elevated command prompt.

Note:
Any changes that you make affect only the Office 2013 client products. You have to configure the Windows client separately by using the slmgr.vbs script. For more information about how to use slmgr.vbs, see Deploy volume activation of Office 2013.

To change the product key to a MAK key on a remote computer

If the remote computer is named contoso1, run the following command to enter the product key. This assumes that you have administrator credentials on the remote computer. If your credentials on the remote computer differ from your logon name and password, you must type your logon name and password at the command line, and then press ENTER:

cscript ospp.vbs /inpkey:xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx contoso1
To activate the remote computer, type the following command, and then press ENTER:

cscript ospp.vbs /act contoso1

To diagnose KMS activation errors

If the computer has the KMS client key installed, check the licensing status. To do this, type the following command, and then press ENTER:

cscript ospp.vbs /dstatusall
To check the KMS activation history, type the following command, and then press ENTER:

cscript ospp.vbs /dhistorykms
To trigger activation, type the following command, and then press ENTER:

cscript ospp.vbs /act
Check the error message for error code 0xC004F042. If in the notification dialog boxes, you see an error code that is shown to users, you can also use that code to check the error message. To do this, type the following command, and then press ENTER:

cscript ospp.vbs /ddescr:0xC004F042

To set test KMS host name, and then set to auto-discovery

If you are testing a KMS host named kmstest.contoso.com, and you want to specify it in the KMS client, type the following command, and then press ENTER:

cscript ospp.vbs /sethst:kmstest.contoso.com

Note:
If you change the default port on the KMS host, you must run ospp.vbs with the /setprt option. For example: cscript ospp.vbs /setprt:1750

Note:

If you change the default port on the KMS host, you must run ospp.vbs with the /setprt option.

For example: cscript ospp.vbs /setprt:1750

To trigger activation, type the following command, and then press ENTER:

cscript ospp.vbs /act
To check the KMS activation history to see whether the host was successfully contacted, type the following command, and then press ENTER:

cscript ospp.vbs /dhistorykms
Now you want this KMS client to use Domain Name System (DNS) for auto-discovery of the production KMS host. To remove the KMS host name, type the following command, and then press ENTER:

cscript ospp.vbs /remhst

Volume Activation Management Tool (VAMT)

Volume Activation Management Tool (VAMT) 2.0 and VAMT 3.0 provide a graphical user interface to manage volume activation. In addition to the operating systems under which VAMT 2.0 runs, VAMT 3.0 can run under Windows 8 and Windows Server 2012. For more information about VAMT 2.0, see Volume Activation Management Tool (VAMT) 2.0 and the Help file that is included with VAMT 2.0. For more information about VAMT 3.0, see Volume Activation Management Tool (VAMT) 3.0 and Volume Activation Management Tool Technical Reference.