Guest OS license gets Deactivated after every two Months

[Zaib_Khan]

Hi All,

I have an headache issue in my job and it relates to VM Guest OS license deactivation.

When i am going to create a VM in Esxi then this VM Guest OS license is not going to deactivated and it activated till lifetime.

But, when i am going to migrate a VM from Hyper V to Exsi then after completion of migration to Esxi, VM guest OS license gets deactivated after every two months.

I am simply following the steps of migration via Vcenter convertor and it successfully migrated my VM to Esxi but guet OS license gets deactivated after every 2 months.

Esxi Version = Vmware Vsphere 6 Standard.

Guest OS Version - Windows Server 2008 and 2012

Convertor = Vcenter Convertor

Migration from = Hyper V to Esxi

Hardware = VXRAIL (Hyper Converged)

Problem : Migrated machine's license gets deactivated after every two months while newly created VM license is not deactivated.

Kindly guide me if there is any solution for the issue.

Waiting for the response from Experts.

[hussainbte]

If you were using AVMA on Hyper-V, obviously that would not be available in vSphere as the Windows Integration services is not available in vSphere.

Check what kind of activation is in place on the VMs.

slmgr /dlv

you can perform server activation using volume licensing services or MAC

[hussainbte]

http://mythoughtsonit.com/2013/11/automatic-virtual-machine-activation-step-by-step/

[Zaib_Khan]

Hi hussainbte,

Thanks for the response. I am not using AVMA on hyper V. I am just simple licensed the machine using product keys via Microsoft online.

After migration to Vsphere i did the same thing i.e licensed the machine using product keys via Microsoft online.Screenshot is also attached below for reference.

But this activated license gets expired after 2 months. While the same license dose not gets expired when i newly created the VM on vsphere.

Only, In Migrated VM this issue occurs.

As per your suggestions you suggested that "perform server activation using volume licensing services or MAC"

Volume License services is referred as "KMS Services" ! Right?

And im not clear in MAC. kindly brief about the MAC.

And will AVMA (Automatic VM activation) works in Vsphere environment or not. and should it supported in Windows 2008 OS.

Kindly suggests that what is the proper solution for this issue.

Waiting for the response.

Re: Guest OS license gets Deactivated after every two Months

hussainbte

[hussainbte]

AVMA will not work on vSphere

And sorry, i spelled it wrong.. its MAK  not MAC.

the other volume licensing I was referring to was KMS.. but for that you will need to setup KMS server.... you can either use a KMS server or use MAK volume licensing keys..

can you confirm if you are using the same MAK volume key to active servers on hyper-v and the newly deployed servers on vSphere? ( please don't share any keys here on this page)

[hussainbte]

If you are sure about being compliant in terms of Microsoft licensing it would help if you have a work with Microsoft support

[Zaib_Khan]

Hi Hussainbte,

Yes I am using the same MAK volume license key when i migrated the VM to Vsphere from Hyper V.

Migrated VMs to Vsphere also using the same MAK license key

And, newly deployed VM on Vsphere also using the same MAK license key.

But, issue only occurs in migrated VMs.

[Zaib_Khan]

Hi Hussainbte,

Yes I am using the same MAK volume license key when i migrated the VM to Vsphere from Hyper V.

Migrated VMs to Vsphere also using the same MAK license key

And, newly deployed VM on Vsphere also using the same MAK license key.

But, issue only occurs in migrated VMs.

Waiting for your kind response.

[Zaib_Khan]

Dear Hussainbte,

Is there any solution for this problem? Whats your suggestion on this.

Waiting for the response.

Re: Guest OS license gets Deactivated after every two Months

    

       hussainbte  

[admin]

Migrated virtual machine will have new hardware identifiers for all the virtual hardware it contains – so even if you setup the virtual machine with the same settings, Windows will ask to be reactivated.

I have seem odd behavior on occasion when system has bad CPU or something along those lines where Windows detects hardware changes etc.

you can check below registry .

Below are the permissions we followed earlier to fix the problem.

1. There is a lack of permissions in the registry key HKU\S-1-5-20. The Network Service account must have full control and read permissions over that registry key.

2. Missing registry keys. One or more of these registry keys may be missing:

HKLM\software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Profilelist

S-1-5-18

S-1-5-19

S-1-5-20

Pls cross check the registry key with similar working server.

[vembutech1]

Are you using any Backup and DR solution for this VM ? Does it restore the VM for verification and make it running every two month. Probably running two license simultaneously causing the server license deactivated ?

[Zaib_Khan]

Hi ranchuab

Thanks, for the response.

I have cross checked the subjected registry keys in my two windows servers (1st server windows is activated and 2nd server windows is not activated) and both registry keys are present.

2nd server is newly migrated to vsphere and i have to activate its windows.

Now the question is again the same that when i am going to activate the windows on newly migrated VM then after two months the windows gets expired on that migrated VM but this issue is not occurring on VMs which are not migrated and only created on Vsphere.

I have activated the license ( on 2nd windows server which i have mentioned above) and i will keep it monitoring for two months to see that the license gets expired or not.

Any solution or suggestions for this problem, that why this behavior happens?

Waiting for your prompt response.

[Zaib_Khan]

Hi vembutech1

Thanks for the response.

Yes i have the backup solution for my VMs but i have not restored any VM for verification.

[admin]

When a VM is moved from Hyper-V to VMware   hardware changes are triggered due the difference in architecture between VMware and Hyper-V. These changes may result in re-activation being required. These hardware changes are due to differences in how VMware and Hyper-v present the virtual devices to the guest operating system.

If you found my answers useful please consider marking them as Correct OR Helpful

Regards,

Randhir