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Migration of 2012R2 VMs from a 2012R2 DC server stack into Azure HCI stack

Brian Koch 40 Reputation points
2023-06-28T15:06:29.4066667+00:00

I have an older 2012R2 failover cluster stack that I'm replacing with an Azure HCI failover cluster. When I migrate the 2012R2 VM over to the new stack, the VM now complains that Windows needs to be activated. How do I resolve this?

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  1. vipullag-MSFT 26,481 Reputation points
    2023-07-03T03:40:43.9+00:00

    Hello Brian Koch
    Welcome to Microsoft Q&A Platform, thanks for posting your query here.

    This is most likely be due to the OS seeing a change in the “hardware” which means it will prompt for activation again.  The below link shows the options you have for the activation with Azure Stack HCI. 

    Activate Windows Server VMs using Automatic Virtual Machine Activation - Azure Stack HCI | Microsoft Learn

    Hope this helps.

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  2. Trent Helms - MSFT 2,541 Reputation points Microsoft Employee
    2023-07-05T15:31:47.3866667+00:00

    Hi Brian,

    This article explains the options available to activate VMs on Azure Stack HCI - https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure-stack/hci/manage/vm-activate. If you have an active software assurance, you can also enable Azure Hybrid Benefit which includes virtualization rights - https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure-stack/hci/concepts/azure-hybrid-benefit-hci?tabs=azureportal.

    Hope this helps!

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