Standard Server Licensing

Question

Hi,

I have two servers that were provided by a contractor that is nolonger contactable. the servers have SERVERSTANDARD installed, but the product key is not activated.

I bought two product keys from Amazon, but they do not appear to be accepted. To test it I applied the product keys to a VM using standardserver and it worked fine. Heres a summary of the checks:

dism /online /getCurrentEdition

Image Version : 6.3.9600.17031
Current editoin is:
Current Edition : ServerStandard

dism /online /productkey:XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX /AcceptEula

Error: 87

The productkey option is unknown

source link: https://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/windowsserver/en-US/4e69ef42-d0d0-44cf-8b80-1ab68709634e/standard-server-licensing?forum=winserver8setup

Answer 1

Welcome to our new Microsoft Q&A Platform.

OEM, Retail and volume licensing all use different product keys and cannot be inter changed.

 

If you have an OEM copy installed then the product key should be on the server. It looks like what you have bought two  retail product keys.

 

To use the retail version you would have to reinstall as the easiest way to do it.

Since this is a technical forum and not a licensing one,  if you need a definite answer you'd better contact your reseller or a trained Microsoft licensing specialist regarding your licensing questions.

 

Please contact the Microsoft Activation Center.

Answer 2

1. Uninstall product key by using,
   slmgr /upk

Install product key again by using,
slmgr /ipk XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX

Connect server to internet and try to activate again by using,
slmgr /ato

if there are any issues, please contact Microsoft licence support,
activation-centers