How to Activate Windows 10 Enterprise Offline for 300 Devices?
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TechNinja42
I'm managing around 300 Windows 10 Enterprise devices that don't have internet access. We've got valid Multiple Activation Keys (MAK), but since these devices are offline, we can't activate them online. Is there a way to activate these devices offline, ideally using SCCM? We've also looked into using VAMT, but it isn't feasible here because the necessary TCP 135 and dynamic RPC ports are blocked for the server where VAMT is set up. What are the best practices or recommended methods for activating these systems without internet access?
Answers
You’ll definitely have to rely on your MAK keys in this situation. A KMS server typically needs internet access to activate initially and check in periodically with Microsoft. Since phone activation is no longer available, you won’t be able to use KMS effectively without a connection. If your environment is completely air-gapped, consider either licensing the hypervisor or licensing the virtual machine (VM). Licensing per hypervisor is cheaper but ties the VM to a specific host, while per VM is costlier but allows more flexibility.
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It's quite peculiar to have 300 PCs with no internet. Unless you're in a particular field like healthcare or manufacturing, it does raise some eyebrows! If online activation isn't an option, Microsoft usually suggests using their activation hotline. However, they recently shifted to mainly online methods, so you might need to enter a machine ID to get an activation ID for each device.
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A KMS server is your best bet here. You activate that server just once, and then it can help activate all your PCs with the Windows 10 Enterprise Volume License Key (VLK). If you absolutely need to use your MAK key, you can try activating it via Microsoft’s support site. That might be more feasible in your environment.
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