What level of support for KMS does vWorkspace provide and what possible issues can user run into.
A Microsoft Key Management Server (KMS) is a part of the Microsoft Volume Activation solution and is used to activate volume licensed Microsoft products like Windows Vista, 7 and Windows Server 2008.
vWorkspace is a solution, which allow customers to provision machines (VDIs) and Terminal Servers for remote access.
During machine provisioning, vWorkspace can provide a certain level of customization to simplify machine deployment, however it cannot completely automate it. There are specific steps that customer needs to perform while preparing the master template or golden image, for vWorkspace provisioning. These steps are environment-specific and it's near to impossible to outline all possible preparations that need to be performed on the master image.
Having said that, though, there are certain recommendations for the master image preparation and these recommendations are tailored to the way, that machines are provisioned:
1) Standard deployment. The master image is a template, that should be not domain-joined and prepared for remote access. It's recommended that mater template should be as basic as possible. Additional software, like monitoring or antivirus software, may introduce delays and even errors during provisioning. Provisioning includes sysprep process which allows vWorkpace to deploy unique machines into the domain environment.
2) Linked clone deployment. The master image is a VM snapshot. Requirements are the same as during the standard deployment with additional requirement that parent VM should be in shutdown state during the provisioning process. This process also utilize the sysprep procedure.
3) Instant provisioning. This process also requires master VM, however requirements are different from previous 2 methods. The master VM should be domain-joined machine and should have Quest vWorkspace Instant Provisioning tools preinstalled. The sysprep process is not getting launched and deployed machines are nearly identical to each other.
The 3rd method is the fastest of them all, but it also introduces specific problem with the KMS service. Since provisioned machines are identical, the KMS service detects them as the same machine and grants the same license. This issue stems from the fact that sysprep process is not getting launched during the instant provisioning and some steps should be taken by customer preparing the master image.
As for potential workaround, it's recommended to perform the following steps to remove activation from it:
1) Power on activated machine
2) Make necessary changes (like Windows updates)
3) Create a snapshot
4) Rearm the master image using slmgr /rearm
5) Power it down
6) Use rearmed snapshot for provisioning
This method is good for VMware machines and can bypass 3 rearms limit that imposed by Microsoft. Should the customer need to make additional changes, it's possible to revert to the saved snapshot and then proceed from the step 2.
Hyper-V Clones can be utilized using a different scenario, since vWorkspace does not support snapshots on Hyper-V. The following process can be used for the Hyper-V machines:
1) Power on activated template
2) Make necessary changes
3) Power it off
4) Create a copy of the template (copy template VHD and create a new template)
5) Power on a new template
6) Rearm a new template
7) Power it down and use it in vWorkspace
Should the customer need to make additional changes, it's possible to get back to original template and perform the same procedure.
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