Share via

CSP software key activations

  • Article

Appropriate roles: Admin agent

For every software license purchased, partners automatically receive a limited number of default activations. The default activations provided are greater than the number of purchased licenses to allow for scenarios like reinstallation for hardware replacement or upgrades. While some products permit the request for more activations, other software products don't.

This document provides a detailed overview of the CSP key activation policies, including which products have software activation limits, which products don't have limits, scenarios where more activations can be granted, and scenarios that don't qualify for more activations.

Note

CSP supports Multiple Activations Keys (MAK). Key Management Service (KMS) keys aren't supported.

Which products have software activation limits?

The following software products have activation limits for their Multiple Activation Keys:

  • Office – Pro Plus and Standard editions, and Single Apps
  • Windows – Enterprise and Pro editions
  • Windows Server – Standard and Datacenter editions, including Extended Security Updates (ESUs)

In addition, Remote Desktop Services Client Access Licenses (RDS CALs) require the activation of a Retail Key with 500 activations. For more information, see Considerations for RDS CALs.

Which products don't have software activation limits?

The following product keys don't have activation limits:

  • BizTalk Server
  • Exchange Server
  • All Office Mac products
  • Project Server
  • SharePoint Server
  • Skype for Business
  • SQL Server and SQL Server Extended Security Updates (ESUs)
  • Visual Studio
  • Rights Management Services
  • Remote Desktop Services (RDS)
  • All Client Access Licenses (CALs) besides RDS CALs

Under which scenarios will more activations be granted?

Scenarios where we allow granting more activations:

  • Windows Server Datacenter (and ESUs): Customer activates several non-persistent Virtual Machines (VMs) using a non-Microsoft hypervisor (Example: Citrix, VMware, Nutanix). WS Datacenter offers unlimited VMs to be activated on each physical server core licensed. We'll grant more activations up to the number of virtual machines the customer plans to run per physical core (max 256 activations per CSP license purchased).

  • Windows Server Standard (and ESUs): If a customer needs to reinstall due to an issue with the physical server, we'll grant up to 3 more activations per CSP license.

  • Windows Client & Office: CSP doesn't allow reimaging (cloning), and we guide customers or partners to apply their Technical Presales & Deployment consults for assistance with enabling Windows Autopilot, which is a new and sustainable collection of technologies used to set up and preconfigure new devices using: Windows Autopilot scenarios. However, if Windows Autopilot doesn't work, we can grant up to 5 more activations per CSP license (capped at number of OEM PCs) if:

    • Customer or partner had an Open License contract previously.
    • Japan-only: customer or partner had a PIPC (Pre-Installed PC) contract.

What scenarios don't qualify for more activations?

  • Windows Server Datacenter edition (and ESUs): Customers using the Microsoft Hyper-V hypervisor should activate through Automatic Virtual Machine Activation (AVMA): Automatic Virtual Machine Activation in Windows Server | Microsoft Learn (Note: AVMA doesn't work for non-Microsoft hypervisors).
  • Windows Client & Office: More activations for reimaging (cloning) aren't allowed, except in the scenarios outlined in the previous section.

What about Extended Security Updates (ESUs)?

  • SQL Server ESUs: Purchased products appear on the Customer's Software page within Partner Center. The end customer sees them in the Microsoft 365 Admin Center. There are no product keys or downloads with your purchase of SQL Server ESUs in Partner Center.
  • Windows Server ESUs: Purchased products and keys appear on the Customer's Software page within Partner Center. The end customer will see them in the Microsoft 365 Admin Center.

To learn more about ESUs, see Purchasing Extended Security Update (ESU) licenses as a CSP partner.

How do I request an activation limit increase?

Before making a request for more activations, review the policies in the previous sections:

Note

Certain product purchases don't require software download or product keys. To learn more, see Activate and manage software subscriptions.

To request an activation limit increase, open a support ticket with the requested information:

  • First 5 digits of the impacted Product Key (not the full key) or Product Key ID (PKID)
  • Product, version, edition for which the activation is requested
  • Business justification
  • Example: For Windows Server Datacenter: why is Automatic Virtual Machine Activation (AVMA) not used
  • Windows Client & Office: Describe the issues preventing the enabling of Windows Autopilot and the Microsoft contact you're engaged with.
  • Activation quantity requested

What are the differences between CSP and Open License software activation policies?

In Open License, keys were assigned based on the customer's agreement via the Volume Licensing Service Center (VLSC). VLSC didn't have a systematic feature to assign multiple keys to one agreement, so when a customer ran out of activations there was no way to purchase/provision more keys. Therefore, we granted more activations to the one key the customer was assigned.

CSP doesn't have the same key provisioning limitation as Open License – a customer can purchase more keys/licenses on demand. Reimaging rights were granted to all Microsoft Volume Licensing customers (including Open License) but aren't granted to CSP customers. An Open License customer needed to purchase at least one unit of the product that they wanted to reimage to obtain access to the product media and receive a product key. For more information, see Microsoft Open License program changes.

Considerations for Remote Desktop Services Client Access Licenses (RDS CALs)

For a single order of RDS CALs as a Software Subscription or Perpetual license a single product key will be granted. When the product activation key is added in the RDS licensing server it defaults to show a quantity of 500, regardless of the purchased quantity. While this number doesn't reflect the actual number of obtained licenses, there's neither a technical problem for user-based licensing caused, nor an issue with license compliance.

Technically, when RD Sessions Hosts are set to "per-user" licensing mode, there's no enforcement that the number of RDS CALs added to the RD licensing server matches the maximum number of RDS sessions that are allowed. Usage of RDS User CALs is being tracked, but if there are more active sessions than the number of RDS CALs, CALs are still issued from the "Over-Used CAL Pool". This means an RD Session Host set to per-user licensing mode will never block a session regardless of how many RDS per-user CALs are being added.

From a licensing perspective, the licensing terms don't specify at all that there's a specific requirement to add and activate RDS CALs, the concept of an RD licensing server is solely a technical requirement for RDS servers.

Alternative approach

For orders above 500 licenses, you could decide to split orders to receive multiple key packages, one for each separate order. This allows you to have the numbers displayed on the RD licensing server better match the total number of RDS CALs obtained. However, this would just be a cosmetic fix and neither change the technical working nor change licensing compliance.

Considerations for Windows Server Datacenter edition

In infrastructures where the physical host used is at least Windows Server 2012 R2, Microsoft recommends implementing AVMA.

AVMA lets you install virtual machines on a properly activated Windows server without having to manage product keys for each individual virtual machine, even in disconnected environments. AVMA binds the virtual machine activation to the licensed virtualization server and activates the virtual machine when it starts up. AVMA also provides real-time reporting on usage and historical data on the license state of the virtual machine. Reporting and tracking data are available on the virtualization server.

For help and how-to questions on AVMA implementation, partners can submit a technical presales and deployment question.

For scenarios where AVMA can't be applied, you can request an activation limit increase providing the necessary pieces of information mentioned in the previous sections.