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Windows Server troubleshooting: Error 0x80072EE7 (KMS) - Activating Windows Server

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Applicable to:

Windows 2008, Windows 2008 R2

Introduction

You might come across below error when trying to activate the OS against your KMS server.

Activating Windows Server(R), ServerStandard edition (6a4bd364-4b60-4856-a727-efb59d94348e) ...

 On a computer running Microsoft Windows non-core edition, run 'slui.exe 0x2a 0x80072EE7' to display the error text.

 Error: 0x80072EE7

 

Cause:

This error occurs due to unavailability of KMS client activation key on the server.

Fix:

Make sure to install the appropriate KMS client key  (Based on the Edition of the OS) on the affected machine  (KMS Client keys can be found here)

Open up elevated cmd (Run as Administrator) and execute following command

slmgr /ipk xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx (Replace  with right 20 char KMS client key)

 Now, point your OS to the KMS server by running the following command

slmgr /skms KMS.domain.com (Replace KMS.domain.com with the FQDN of your KMS server)

Now, OS should get activated without any issues when you execute following command

slmgr /ato