Error 0xC004F074 when you try to activate Windows

Article
02/19/2024

This article helps fix the error 0xC004F074 that occurs when you activate Windows.

Applies to: Supported versions of Windows Server and Windows Client
Original KB number: 974998

When you try to activate Windows, you may get error 0xC004F074 and one of the following error messages:

0xC004F074 with description "The Key Management Server (KMS) is unavailable"
Error: 0xC004F074 The Software Licensing Service reported that the product could not be activated. No Key Management Service (KMS) could be contacted. Please see the Application Event Log for additional information.

The Key Management Server (KMS) is unavailable

When trying to activate Windows 7 or Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2 KMS client machines, you may get this error message:

0xC004F074 with description "The Key Management Server (KMS) is unavailable"

At the same time, the following entries may get logged in the KMS Event Log on the KMS client and the KMS host.

In the application event log on the KMS client, you see the following event:

Log Name: Application  
Source: Microsoft-Windows-Security-SPP  
Date:  

Event ID: 12288  
Task Category: None  
Level: Information  
Keywords: Classic  
User: N/A  
Computer:  

Description:  
The client has sent an activation request to the key management service machine.  
Info:  
0xC004F06C, 0x00000000, <KMS Host FQDN>:1688, 36f27b39-2fd5-440b-be67-a09996d27a38, 2010/09/29 17:52, 0, 2, 41760, 68531fb9-5511-4989-97be-d11a0f55633f, 5

In the application event log on the KMS host, you see the following event:

Log Name: Key Management Service  
Source: Microsoft-Windows-Security-Licensing-SLC  
Date:  

Event ID: 12290  
Task Category: None  
Level: Information  
Keywords: Classic  
User: N/A  
Computer:  
Description:  
An activation request has been processed.  
Info:  
0xC004F06C,5,<KMS Client name>,36f27b39-2fd5-440b-be67-a09996d27a38,2010/9/29 21:46,0,2,41520,68531fb9-5511-4989-97be-d11a0f55633f

This error can occur for one of the following reasons:

A support version mismatch between the KMS client and the KMS host machine
A time difference between the KMS client and the KMS host machine

Support version mismatch between KMS client and KMS host machine

Most commonly, we're seeing this error when the KMS host is running on Windows Server 2003 or Windows Server 2008 and the KMS client is Windows 7 or Windows Server 2008 R2. An update is needed for the KMS host running on Windows Server 2003 and an update is needed for the KMS host running on Windows Server 2008 to be able to activate KMS clients that are Windows 7 or Windows Server 2008 R2.

If you're running Windows Server 2008 as your KMS host, you need this update hotfix 968912.

Time difference between KMS client and KMS host machine

The error 0xC004F06C listed in the info section may occur if the difference between system time on the client computer and the system time on the KMS host is more than 4 hours. We recommend that you use a Network Time Protocol (NTP) time source or the Active Directory service to synchronize the time between computers. Time is coordinated between the KMS host and the client computer in Coordinated Universal Time (UTC).

Make sure that the system time on the client and the KMS host is the same. The time zone set on the client computer doesn't affect the activation since it's based on UTC.

Run the w32tm /resync command to resync the time on the client.

No Key Management Service (KMS) could be contacted

When you try to activate Windows by using the Slmgr /ato command, you receive error code 0xC004F074 with the following error message:

Error: 0xC004F074 The Software Licensing Service reported that the product could not be activated. No Key Management Service (KMS) could be contacted. Please see the Application Event Log for additional information.

This error occurs for one of the following reasons:

The Software Protection Platform Service (sppsvc service) on the KMS host has stopped running.
There are networking issues between the KMS client and the KMS host server. For example, TCP 1688 traffic is blocked between the KMS client and the KMS host server.
There's an incorrect or old KMS host server record in the Domain Name System (DNS).

Sppsvc service on the KMS host has stopped running

Check if the sppsvc service is running on the KMS server. If the service is stopped, start it.

Networking issues between the KMS client and the KMS host server

Open port 1688 between the KMS client and KMS host server, and use the Test-NetConnection PowerShell cmdlet to check if the port is open between the client and server. Here's an example:

Test-NetConnection -ComputerName <KMS Host Server> -Port 1688

ComputerName           : <KMS host server>
RemoteAddress          : <KMS host server IP address>
RemotePort             : 1688
InterfaceAlias         : Wi-Fi
SourceAddress          : <Client machine IP address>
PingSucceeded          : True
PingReplyDetails (RTT) : 0 ms
TcpTestSucceeded       : False

Review the TcpTestSucceeded output parameter. If it's False, it means that port 1688 is blocked between the KMS client and the KMS server.

Incorrect or old KMS host server record in DNS

Verify the KMS DNS record in the DNS pointing to an incorrect or old KMS server in the environment by using the following steps:

Open the DNS management console.
Select the _tcp folder under your domain name folder, and search for the _VLMCS SRV record.
Check if the correct KMS host server name is present in the _VLMCS SRV record.
Verify the host record of the KMS host server by going to the domain name folder and verifying the Host A record. Change the IP address to point to the new KMS server host if it's incorrect.

References

Resolve Windows activation error codes

Data collection

If you need assistance from Microsoft support, we recommend you collect the information by following the steps mentioned in Gather information by using TSS for deployment-related issues.