Managing Server Licensor Certificates

Applies To: Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2003 R2, Windows Server 2003 with SP1, Windows Server 2003 with SP2

Server licensor certificates expire after a specified period of time, typically after one year. To renew a server licensor certificate, you must be logged on as a local administrator. When you renew the server licensor certificate for the root cluster, RMS sends a request to renew the server licensor certificate to the Microsoft Enrollment Service. When you renew the certificate for a licensing-only cluster, RMS sends the renewal request to the root cluster that issued the expiring certificate.

There are three events that RMS will post to the System event log that you should monitor. These events inform you when your server licensor certificate is either approaching the renewal date or has expired. The following table lists the Event IDs and names.