All volume license editions of Office 2013 have a KMS client key preinstalled.

For the Office 2013 KMS host, you install and enable only one key to activate all volume license editions of Office 2013 KMS clients. If the Office 2013 KMS host is installed and configured, KMS activation occurs transparently to the user when an Office 2013 client is first installed.

For additional configuration options, such as how to specify the KMS host name on the KMS client, see Configure client computers for volume activation in Office 2013.

Active Directory-Based activation of Office applies only for Office 2013 clients that run on Windows 8 or Windows Server 2012. Active Directory-Based activation uses the same client product key and host key that are used by KMS. By using Active Directory-Based activation, the Software Protection Platform Service (SPPSvc) periodically attempts to activate the product key against either an Activation Object (AO) in AD DS or a discoverable KMS host if the Active Directory-Based activation attempt fails.

For more information about Active Directory-Based activation, see Active Directory-Based Activation Overview.

If you use Multiple Activation Key (MAK), you must enter the MAK key by using one of the following supported methods:

• Before you deploy Office 2013

  • Office Customization Tool (OCT)

  • Config.xml file

• After you deploy Office 2013

  • Volume Activation Management Tool

  • The Backstage view

  • The ospp.vbs script

Important:
Because different products require different MAK keys, you should first verify that the MAK key for the product is correct.

Office Customization Tool (OCT)

Note:
You can complete tasks in all Office 2013 suites by using a mouse, keyboard shortcuts, or touch. For information about how to use keyboard shortcuts and touch with Office products and services, see Keyboard shortcuts and Office Touch Guide.

To enter a MAK by using the OCT, follow these steps:

1. In the Type a valid 25-character volume license key with no spaces field, enter the MAK key (five sets of five numbers or characters), and then press ENTER.

2. After making any other necessary changes in the OCT, save the .msp file.

Note:
When you use a MAK key in the OCT, you can activate Office 2013 while you install the MAK key by setting the AUTO_ACTIVATE property value to 1. For more information, see Licensing and user interface in Office Customization Tool (OCT) reference for Office 2013.

Remember that you do not have to enter a product key in the OCT if you are using KMS activation. For more information about the OCT, see Office Customization Tool (OCT) reference for Office 2013.

Config.xml file

To enter a MAK by using the Config.xml file, follow these steps:

1. Add the following line to the Config.xml file:

   <PIDKEY Value="AAAAABBBBBCCCCCDDDDDEEEEE" />

   Where AAAAABBBBBCCCCCDDDDDEEEEE is the 25-character product key.

2. To apply the settings in Config.xml, at a command prompt, type the following command, and then press ENTER:

   Setup.exe /config <path of Config.xml file>

Note:
You can activate Office 2013 while you install the MAK key by setting the AUTO_ACTIVATE property value to 1. For more information, see Setting element in Config.xml file reference for Office 2013.

You do not have to enter the MAK key in the Config.xml file if you are using KMS activation. For more information about how to use the Config.xml file, see Config.xml file reference for Office 2013.

Volume Activation Management Tool

The Backstage view

This method lets you change the product key on one computer at a time. If you want to change multiple computers, follow these steps:

1. Open an Office 2013 application.

2. Choose the File tab.

3. Choose Help.

4. Choose Change Product Key and enter the product key.

Note:

An administrator can create a registry key that allows a standard user (a user who is not an administrator) to apply a MAK key and activate an Office 2013 application. This means that a standard user can switch a KMS client to MAK activation, manually activate a computer, and, if it is necessary, replace an existing MAK with a new MAK key. By default, all volume license editions of Office 2013 disable this behavior. To enable this behavior, add the following line to the Config.xml file: <Setting Id="USEROPERATIONS" Value="1" /> Or, you can set the following registry key to enable or disable standard user (a user who is not an administrator) activation: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\OfficeSoftwareProtectionPlatform] Enable Standard User Activation: "UserOperations"=dword:00000001 Disable Standard User Activation: "UserOperations"=dword:00000000 (Office 2013 volume license products default setting)

The ospp.vbs script

There is a 25-day grace period from the time of installation of KMS clients before notifications to activate are displayed to the user. If you want to deploy an image, you must rearm your Office 2013 installation before you capture the image. If you do not rearm, users see notification dialog boxes at the time that the image is deployed, instead of 25-days after deployment. The 25-day grace period gives ample time for a KMS host to be found and activation to succeed. If activation is successful, users do not see notifications to activate.

Rearming is important for these reasons:

• The grace timer is reset to 30 days of grace.

• The grace timer is frozen.

• The client machine ID (CMID) is reset.

  • The KMS host uses the CMID to determine the number of unique clients.

  • To check the CMID, use the command ospp.vbs /dcmid.

Rearm is also recommended for MAK deployment. If you are deploying Office 2013 that is configured for MAK activation, and you do not remotely activate for end-users through VAMT or ospp.vbs, users see an activation dialog box the first time that an Office 2013 application starts. The activation dialog box is slightly different 25 days after installation. Also, users might immediately see a red title bar if Office 2013 was not rearmed before image capture.

To rearm your Office installation

Only the following operating systems can serve as the Office 2013 KMS host:

• Volume license editions of Windows 7

• Volume license editions of Windows 8

• Windows Server 2012

• Windows Server 2008 R2

Important:
The KMS host key for Office 2013 is not specific to a particular operating system. It can be used on any of the operating systems that were mentioned earlier. This includes both 32-bit and 64-bit editions.

The following operating systems are not supported as the Office 2013 KMS host:

• Windows Vista or with any service packs

• Windows Server 2008 or with any service packs

For more information, see Volume Activation 2.0 for Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008.

Note:
You can set up an Office 2013 KMS host on the same computer that contains an Office 2010 KMS host if you are using any of the following operating systems: Volume License editions of Windows 7 Volume License editions of Windows 8 Windows Server 2012 Windows Server 2008 R2

Co-hosting with a Windows KMS host

If you currently have a Windows KMS host running on an operating system that supports an Office KMS host, we recommend that you use the same computer that you use for your Office KMS host. You must still run the steps in the following sections to install and activate an Office 2013 KMS host key. For more information, see Plan volume activation of Office 2013.

To activate the Office KMS host

Note:
When you enable the firewall on a KMS host, the default TCP communications port number is 1688.

Activating an Office KMS host by telephone

If your KMS host does not have an Internet connection, you can activate the KMS host by telephone.

To activate an Office KMS host by telephone

Because the KMS host service automatically stops, you might encounter the following error when you run KeyManagementServiceHost.exe.

Error: The Software Protection Platform service is not running: sppsvc State: Stopped

If you receive this error, perform the following:

1. At the command prompt, type the following command, and then press ENTER:

   net start sppsvc

2. Re-run KeyManagementServiceHost.exe.

Alternately, you can perform the following:

1. On the Computer short-cut menu, select Manage. The Microsoft Management Console appears.

2. Under Services and Applications, select Services.

3. In the services list, locate Software Protection. On the Software Protection short-cut menu, select Start, and then select OK to start the service.

4. Re-run KeyManagementServiceHost.exe.

KeyManagementServiceHost.exe installs the Office 2013 KMS host license files on your KMS host. KeyManagementServiceHost.exe also prompts you for an Office 2013 KMS host key and tries to activate the KMS host. If you did not enter the Office 2013 KMS host key correctly, run KeyManagementServiceHost.exe again.

The slmgr.vbs script

If you want to manually enter the Office 2013 KMS host key and activate it, use the slmgr.vbs script. For more information, see Configure the Office 2013 KMS host later in this article. Open an elevated command prompt, and then run the following commands:

slmgr.vbs /ipk <Office 2013 KMS host key>

slmgr.vbs /ato <Office 2013 activation ID>

The Office 2013 activation ID is 2E28138A-847F-42BC-9752-61B03FFF33CD.

The Software License Manager (slmgr.vbs) script is used to configure and retrieve volume activation information for the Office 2013 KMS host, and the Windows host. For more information about this script, see “KMS Activation” in Windows Volume Activation Deployment Guide.

The script can be run locally on the target computer or remotely from another computer. If a standard user runs slmgr.vbs, some license data might be missing or incorrect, and many operations are prohibited.

The slmgr.vbs script can use wscript.exe or cscript.exe, and administrators can specify which script engine to use. If no script engine is specified, slmgr.vbs runs by using the default script engine, wscript.exe. The cscript.exe script engine is recommended.

The Software Licensing Service must be restarted for any changes to take effect. To restart the Software Licensing Service, use the Microsoft Management Console (MMC) Services snap-in or run the following command:

net stop sppsvc && net start sppsvc

The slmgr.vbs script requires at least one parameter. If the script is run that has no parameters, it displays Help information. The following table lists slmgr.vbs command-line options, and a description of each. Most of the parameters in the table configure the KMS host. However, the parameters /sai and /sri are passed to KMS clients after the KMS clients contact the KMS host. The general syntax of slmgr.vbs is as follows (assuming cscript.exe is the script engine that you are using):

cscript slmgr.vbs /parameter

cscript slmgr.vbs [ComputerName] [User] [Password] [Option]

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

User   Account with required permission on remote computer.

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

Option   Options are shown in the following table.

The following table shows the command options for the slmgr.vbs command.

Slmgr.vbs command options - standard

Option	Description
/ipk [ProductKey]	Installs the product key for Windows (default) or other application identified by the product key.
/ato [ActivationID]	Activates the KMS host for Windows (default), or the application that is identified when its Activation ID is provided. The Office 2013 Activation ID is 2E28138A-847F-42BC-9752-61B03FFF33CD.
/dti [ActivationID]	Displays the Installation ID that is used for telephone activation of the KMS host for Windows (default) or the application that is identified when its Activation ID is provided. The Office 2013 Activation ID is 2E28138A-847F-42BC-9752-61B03FFF33CD. You enter the Installation ID into the telephone to receive the Confirmation ID, which is used for activating the KMS host by using the /atp parameter.
/atp [ConfirmationID][ActivationID]	After the Confirmation ID is received, activates the KMS host for Windows (default) or the application that is identified when its Activation ID is provided. The Office 2013 Activation ID is 2E28138A-847F-42BC-9752-61B03FFF33CD.
/dlv [ActivationID]	Displays detailed license information for Windows (default), or the application that is identified when its Activation ID is provided. The Office 2013 Activation ID is 2E28138A-847F-42BC-9752-61B03FFF33CD.
/dli [ActivationID]	Displays license information for Windows (default), or the application that is identified when its Activation ID is provided. The Office 2013 Activation ID is 2E28138A-847F-42BC-9752-61B03FFF33CD.
/upk [ActivationID]	Uninstalls the product key for Windows (default) or the application that is identified when its Activation ID is provided. The Office 2013 Activation ID is 2E28138A-847F-42BC-9752-61B03FFF33CD. Caution: If you intend to uninstall the product key for Office 2013, for example, and forget to enter the Activation ID, all installed product keys are uninstalled. This includes the product key for Windows.
/xpr [ActivationID]	Displays the expiration date for the current license state.
/sprt [PortNumber]	Sets the TCP communications port on a KMS host. It replaces PortNumber with the TCP port number to use. The default setting is 1688.
/cdns	Disables automatic DNS publishing by a KMS host.
/sdns	Enables automatic DNS publishing by the KMS host.
/cpri	Lowers the priority of KMS host processes.
/sai [ActivationInterval]	Changes how often a KMS client attempts to activate itself when it cannot find a KMS host. It replaces ActivationInterval with a value expressed in minutes. The default setting is 120.
/sri [RenewalInterval]	Changes how often a KMS client attempts to renew its activation by contacting a KMS host. It replaces RenewalInterval with a value expressed in minutes. The default setting is 10080 (7 days). This setting overrides the local KMS client settings.

The following table shows the command options for activating and Active Directory forest by using Active Directory-Based activation.

Slmgr.vbs command options – Active Directory –based activation

To verify that the Office 2013 KMS host key is successfully installed and activated, use the slmgr.vbs script. Open an elevated command prompt on the KMS host, type the following command, and then press ENTER:

cscript slmgr.vbs /dlv all

To view information only for Office 2013, specify the Activation ID after the /dlv parameter:

cscript slmgr.vbs /dlv 2E28138A-847F-42BC-9752-61B03FFF33CD

The output should resemble the following example.

Name: Office 15, OfficeKMSHostVL_KMS_Host edition
Description: Office 15, VOLUME_KMS channel
Activation ID: 2e28138a-847f-42bc-9752-61b03fff33cd
Application ID: 0ff1ce15-a989-479d-af46-f275c6370663
Extended PID: 05426-00206-234-001162-03-1033-9200.0000-0992013
Installation ID: 020650770493837252929082195773527024195725809211989214
Use License URL: https://activation.sls.microsoft.com/SLActivateProduct/SLActiva
teProduct.asmx?configextension=o14
Validation URL: http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=187557
Partial Product Key: KDQ2G
License Status: Licensed
Remaining Windows rearm count: 1000
Trusted time: 4/9/2013 9:58:33 AM

Key Management Service is enabled on this machine
    Current count: 0
    Listening on Port: 1688
    DNS publishing enabled
    KMS priority: Normal

Key Management Service cumulative requests received from clients
    Total requests received: 0
    Failed requests received: 0
    Requests with License Status Unlicensed: 0
    Requests with License Status Licensed: 0
    Requests with License Status Initial grace period: 0
    Requests with License Status License expired or Hardware out of tolerance: 0

    Requests with License Status Non-genuine grace period: 0
    Requests with License Status Notification: 0

If the output shows “License Status: Licensed,” the Office 2013 KMS host key is successfully installed and activated.

After KMS clients send requests for activation, the current count is incremented. The current count must be 5 or larger before KMS clients are activated. The maximum current count is double the activation threshold, or 10. Administrators can also check the KMS log that is in the Applications and Services Logs folder for event ID 12290, the ID for KMS-related activity. The KMS log records activation requests from KMS clients. Each event displays the name of the computer and the time stamp of each activation request.