Deploy Volume Activation

 

Applies To: Windows 10, Windows 8.1, Windows Server 2012 R2

This guide describes Microsoft® Volume Activation deployment concepts. Volume Activation consists of three technologies—Active Directory-based Activation, Key Management Service (KMS), and Multiple Activation Key (MAK)—that allow Volume Licensing customers to activate Volume License editions of Windows operating systems.

Many organizations will want to deploy more than one or perhaps all three of these volume activation technologies. Before deploying Volume Activation Services, complete the planning steps in Plan for Volume Activation to determine which volume activation options are appropriate for your organization.

Note

This guide describes procedures that run scripts and make changes to the registry. These rights can be delegated to selected information technology (IT) implementers, and the rights to change product keys and perform activations can even be assigned to users, although Microsoft does not recommend this practice.

Methods of volume activation

Deploy Active-Directory-based Activation

Deploy KMS Activation

Deploy MAK Activation