Share via

How to retrieve and transfer WS 2019 activation key from one server to another.

Anonymous
2024-04-26T08:22:24+00:00

We're tasked with upgrading a server and part of this upgraded involved transferring the licenses with it. There is no record of the currently activated key on the old server apart from the last 4 digits shown in the settings page. I'm a bit hesitant to deactivate it on the old server until we have the full activation key. Any ideas on how best to move forward on this?

Windows for business | Windows Server | Devices and deployment | Licensing and activation

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question. To protect privacy, user profiles for migrated questions are anonymized.

0 comments
Accepted answer
  1. Anonymous
    2024-04-29T14:39:26+00:00

    If you are using a Volume License Key, only a portion of the keys will be displayed when you use the slmgr /dlv command. This is for security reasons to prevent unauthorized access. If you need to see the full key, sign in to your Microsoft 365 admin center account to view it. For the details about Microsoft 365, you can see Frequently Asked Questions for the Volume Licensing Service Center | Microsoft Learn.

    If you are using a Retail License Key, using the slmgr /dlv command should display the full key. If you still can't see the full key, try using the following command: 

    slmgr /xpr
    0 comments

2 additional answers

Sort by: Most helpful
Most helpful Newest Oldest
  1. Anonymous
    2024-04-26T12:32:30+00:00

    Hi JHv_2018,

    to retrieve the full activation key for Windows Server 2019, you can try the following steps:

    1. Open Command Prompt as an administrator on the old server.
    2. Type the following command: slmgr /dlv
    3. This will open the Windows Script Host dialog box, which will display the full activation key for the server.

    Once you have the full activation key, you can deactivate the license on the old server and activate it on the new server using the same key. To deactivate the license, follow these steps:

    1. Open Command Prompt as an administrator on the old server.
    2. Type the following command: slmgr /upk
    3. This will uninstall the product key from the server.

    To activate the license on the new server, follow these steps:

    1. Open Command Prompt as an administrator on the new server.
    2. Type the following command: slmgr /ipk <activation key>

    Replace <activation key> with the full activation key retrieved from the old server.

    1. Press Enter to activate the license on the new server.

    Hope it helps.

    Kind regards,

    Lei

    1 person found this answer helpful.
    0 comments
  2. Anonymous
    2024-04-29T13:12:23+00:00

    The /dlv only displays a partial product key. Any ideas why this would be?

    0 comments