If you install windows server 2012 evaluation edition and later purchase a license the activation process is a little more confusing than you would immediately think.
Windows server 2012 r2 standard evaluation activation key.
Extend windows server 2012 r2 evaluation.
Following command will rearm your trial windows server 2012 r2.
The microsoft evaluation center brings you full featured microsoft product evaluation software available for download or trial on microsoft azure.
Then reboot your server.
If you haven t already configured a kms host see deploy kms activation for steps to set one up.
The edition will change from windows server 2012 r2 standard evaluation to windows server 2012 r2 standard.
Windows will reconfigure itself.
You can now view the new server edition by going into server manager.
As you can see below it this command will upgrade the edition of server to full version.
You can rearm windows server 2012 r2 evaluation up to 5 times.
If you are converting a computer from a kms host mak or retail edition of windows to a kms client install the applicable setup key gvlk from the following tables.
It s a little more work than simply typing in a new product key.
First you must convert to a full retail version.
If you license is genuine and your server is connected to the internet you should be able to validate your license.
In this way you can activate windows server evaluation edition to full retail edition.
Run command prompt with administrator privileges and run following command.
X is your product key.