I'm hoping to get some clarity on activating Windows 11 Pro virtual machines using VMware Workstation. I have two computers, both using OEM versions of Windows 11 Pro, with four VMs created on each. These VMs were previously activated with volume licensing (VL) keys, but now they've stopped activating, likely due to reaching the activation limit. We can't find the original VL agreement, so I need to find a legitimate way to activate these VMs without that. I've heard we might need to purchase two Enterprise licenses through Software Assurance (SA), which would cover up to four VMs each. However, I'm not sure how to activate them since it seems we wouldn't receive activation keys with the SA licensing.
I also have a few specific questions:
- Do I need to upgrade my host computers to Windows Enterprise?
- If so, how is that even possible, since it seems OEM versions can't upgrade to Enterprise?
- Do the VMs themselves need to be upgraded to Enterprise as well?
Thanks for any help you can provide!
2 Answers
For issues like this, it's best to reach out to the OEM you bought the machines from; they should be able to help. Alternatively, contacting Microsoft directly might be another option, but it could take a while. It feels unfair to have to pay for something you've already purchased, so confirming the exact reason for your activation issue is key instead of just guessing.
You actually don't need to upgrade to Enterprise. Since your VMs were working fine with VL keys before, they should still be able to activate similarly. Activation for VMs is no different from physical machines. You should just follow the same method:
- KMS: Make sure DNS and the KMS service are running.
- AVMA: This is Hyper-V related, so it might not be suitable for your setup.
- ADA: This requires the machines to be joined to Active Directory.
- Manual: This is for accessing Windows activation services directly.
But you should check why they're needing to reactivate so often. What error are you getting when you try to activate? Is it failing with a message, or could it be an issue related to sysprep?
The VMs are often rebuilt for specific client environments, which is part of why we have to reactivate them. The error itself was pretty generic. We don't have access to the VLSC or the original agreement anymore, so we're in the dark on previous activations. The workstations have OEM licenses, so no license keys were used, and our servers are activated manually. I believe KMS might be limited after a certain point, and I'm unsure how manual activation works without any keys from the Enterprise SA.
Yeah, I agree about checking with Dell first. If your IT guy is gone, that complicates things a bit, but Dell should still have records.