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What is AVMA?

AVMA (Automatic Virtual Machine Activation) lets you activate virtual machines running on a licensed virtualization host without having to deal with each individual virtual machine. The process takes place during the startup process of the virtual machine.

What are the requirements for AVMA?

  • Datacenter Edition of Windows Server 2012R2 or 2016 as the management operating system.
  • Hyper-V Role Enabled.

What can you achieve with AVMA?

  • Activate virtual machines in remote locations. The supported OS level of host and virtual machines is Server 2012R2 and higher.
  • Activate virtual machines with or without an internet connection.
  • Track virtual machine usage and licenses from the virtualization server, without requiring any access rights on the virtualized systems.
  • Use it with SPLA to transparently activate tenants virtual machines.

AVMA in Windows Server 2016.

  • Can activate virtual machines running Server 2012R2 and 2016.
  • Supported editions of Windows 2016 are Full GUI and Server Core. Nano Server installation option is not supported yet.

Implementing AVMA.

  1. Create a virtual machine and install a supported server operating system on it (2012R2 or 2016).
  2. Install the AVMA key in the virtual machine using GUI or by running the following command from an elevated command prompt.
slmgr /ipk "AVMA Key"

After completing the above steps, the virtual machine will automatically activate against the virtualization host that resides.

AVMA keys for Windows Server 2016

Edition AVMA key
Datacenter TMJ3Y-NTRTM-FJYXT-T22BY-CWG3J
Standard C3RCX-M6NRP-6CXC9-TW2F2-4RHYD
Essentials B4YNW-62DX9-W8V6M-82649-MHBKQ

AVMA keys for Windows Server 2012R2

Edition AVMA key
Datacenter Y4TGP-NPTV9-HTC2H-7MGQ3-DV4TW
Standard DBGBW-NPF86-BJVTX-K3WKJ-MTB6V
Essentials K2XGM-NMBT3-2R6Q8-WF2FK-P36R2

Additional information about AVMA can found in the link below:

Automatic Virtual Machine Activation

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