Troubleshoot common problems with the Volume Activation Management Tool (VAMT)
Applies to: Office 2010
Topic Last Modified: 2012-02-29
You can solve problems that you may encounter when you deploy the Volume Activation Management Tool (VAMT). This article focuses on solutions for the five most common problems. You can find more information about problems and solutions on the Office Volume Activation forum (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/p/?LinkId=238326).
In this article:
A valid KMS key is shown as not valid
Error message: “Access is denied”
Error message: “An item with the same key has already been added”
Error message: “Unable to connect to the WMI service on the remote machine”
VAMT does not work through a proxy server
A valid KMS key is shown as not valid
You successfully enter a valid Key Management Service (KMS) key on a host server. Then, when you enter the key on other servers, VAMT indicates that the key is not valid.
This occurs because the KMS key is used only for setting up KMS host computers. For example, if you install the key on a Windows Server 2008 R2 datacenter computer, the Windows Server 2008 R2 KMS clients are automatically activated. You should install the key only on those computers that you want to use as activation servers on the network.
For more information about which product key to use with your version of Windows Server, visit the following Microsoft websites:
Determine Product Key Needs (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/p/?LinkId=238327)
KMS Host Keys to Products Activated (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/p/?LinkId=238328)
Error message: "Access is denied"
When you update the status of a server that has VAMT installed, you receive the following error message:
Access is denied
This issue may occur when DCOM is disabled on the server.
Error message: "An item with the same key has already been added"
When you open a Computer Information List (.cil) in VAMT 2.0, you may receive the following error message:
An item with the same key has already been added.
This issue may occur if there are multiple network adapters in the computer and these networks adapters have the same MAC address. For more information about how to resolve this issue, see KB 2383895: "An item with the same key has already been added" error when you open a list in VAMT 2.0 on a Windows 7-based computer (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/p/?LinkID=238329).
Error message: "Unable to connect to the WMI service on the remote machine"
When you update the status of a computer that has VAMT installed, you receive the following error message:
Unable to connect to the WMI service on the remote machine
This error indicates that VAMT cannot locate the remote computer, cannot establish a WMI (DCOM) connection to it, or cannot connect to the software licensing service. The most common cause of this error is a firewall that is blocking the VAMT connection. Other possible causes are that DCOM is not enabled or that it is configured incorrectly on one or more remote computers.
VAMT does not work through a proxy server
VAMT activation may be unsuccessful when you connect to the Internet through a proxy server for which Basic authentication is enabled. When the proxy server requires authentication, the VAMT activation user interface does not let you enter your credentials.
To resolve this issue, configure the proxy server to disable Basic authentication. For more information, see KB 921471: Activation fails when you try to activate Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 or Windows Server 2008 R2 over the Internet (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/p/?LinkID=238332).