ServiceMicrosoft Key Management Service (KMS)

In order to activate a Windows or Office installation through the KMS server, the computer in question must be connected to the University network locally via Wi-Fi/LAN connection or remotely via VPN.

Before activation, please ensure that a valid Windows or Office volume license is available or has been purchased for the client. IT representatives are responsible for the legal licensing of all software installations in their area of responsibility.

The installed software must be a volume license version; other versions (retail, MSDN/MSDNAA, OEM, etc.) cannot be activated via KMS. All ISOs from the URZ download portal are already preconfigured for the University KMS server and should connect automatically after installation.

Automatic activation

As a rule, activation takes place automatically when the client connects to the University network via an SRV record in the DNS domain. Should this not be the case, you can perform a manual activation.

Manual activation

Only a few steps are required for manual activation. First, check that port 1688 (outbound) is allowed through your firewall. On the client, open the command prompt (cmd.exe) as administrator and execute the following commands:

For Windows:
slmgr.vbs -skms vl-kms.uni-heidelberg.de
slmgr.vbs -ato

For Office:
cscript “C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office16\ospp.vbs” /sethst:vl-kms.uni-heidelberg.de
cscript “C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office16\ospp.vbs” /act

(The path under which the script can be found is dependent on the Office version and has to be adjusted).