Where do I go to activate my KMS license? The phone number no longer works.

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Where do I go to activate my KMS license? The phone number no longer works.

Joe Macias 0

Where do I go to activate my KMS license now that the phone option has been removed? If I try to use https://aka.ms/aoh as the phone message suggests, it just says "Something Went Wrong". I assume this website is for MAK licenses and not KMS.

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Answer 1

Chen Tran 12,765 Independent Advisor

Hello Joe,

Thank you for posting question on Microsoft Windows Forum.

Well! Microsoft has recently transitioned its offline activation workflow, effectively retiring the traditional automated phone system in favor of an online portal. While the phone numbers may still provide an automated message directing you to aka.ms/aoh, this portal is indeed intended to replace the phone-based exchange for both MAK and KMS host keys.

To activate a KMS host without direct internet access on that server, you should follow the "Proxy Activation" workflow using the Volume Activation Management Tool (VAMT) or the manual "Confirmation ID" (CID) exchange through a connected device.

You can refer to the following articles for more information regarding your concern.

Hope the above information is helpful! If it is. Free feel to hit "Accepted" for benefitting others in community having the same query too.

Chen Tran 12,765 Reputation points Independent Advisor

2026-01-08T06:42:40.1433333+00:00

Hi Joe,

Hope you are doing well!

May I know the latest status of the issue?

Hope the provided information is helpful! If it is. Free feel to hit "Accepted" for benefitting others in community having the same query too.
Joe Macias 0 Reputation points

2026-01-08T19:34:35.4266667+00:00

Hello,

The problem we have is we are in an air gapped system so no access to the internet. When calling the phone numbers that are listed in the documentation they point you to a web portal. The web portal appears to only be for MAK keys and not Volume licensing.

Yesterday we opened a ticket and worked with microsoft support for over 2 hrs before they gave us an activation key for our KMS server. I am not sure what the official process will be for volume licensing moving forward but this has been painful.

I assume we can open a support ticket, add the product key and Installation ID and they can send us an activation key back. That is time consuming but appears to be the only way for us to get an activation key for volume licesning.

Any other suggestions? Removing the phone option has been a nightmare for people in our situation. We can't connect to the internet.

Joe
Chen Tran 12,765 Reputation points Independent Advisor

2026-01-09T08:37:40.56+00:00

Hi Joe,

Thank you for the extra information!

For air-gapped/Internet-restricted environments, the suggested workaround is to use the Volume Activation Management Tool (VAMT) on a connected machine to proxy the activation. If you can not use VAMT. Your fallback is opening a Volume Licensing / support case. So Microsoft can help produce the Confirmation ID for your KMS host.

For more information pertaining to Volume Activation Management Tool (VAMT) https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/deployment/volume-activation/proxy-activation-vamt

Hope the provided information is helpful! If it is. Free feel to hit "Accepted".