Applies to: Exchange Server 2013
Topic Last Modified: 2013-01-28
After you install Microsoft Exchange Server 2013, you need to enter a product key to license the server for use beyond the trial period.
When you install Exchange 2013, your server is licensed as a trial edition. The trial edition expires 180 days after the date of installation. A server that has a trial edition license functions as an Exchange Standard Edition server, but it isn't eligible for support from Microsoft support services. If you have Exchange 2013 servers for which the trial edition has expired, the Exchange Administration Center (EAC) displays a warning.
After you enter a product key, you must restart the Microsoft Exchange Information Store service so that the change is applied. Depending on the product key that you enter, Exchange will determine if the server is running the Standard Edition or Enterprise Edition of Exchange 2013 and will update any necessary settings.
 Note: |
|---|
| You can upgrade an Exchange server licensed as Standard Edition to Enterprise Edition without reinstalling Exchange. To do so, follow the procedure in this topic to enter a new product key. However, you can’t downgrade a server from Enterprise Edition to Standard Edition without reinstalling Exchange. |
What do you need to know before you begin?
- Estimated time to complete this procedure: less than 5
minutes
- You need to be assigned permissions before you can perform this
procedure or procedures. To see what permissions you need, see the
"Product key" entry in the Exchange and Shell
Infrastructure Permissions topic.
- For information about keyboard shortcuts that may apply to the
procedures in this topic, see Keyboard Shortcuts in
the Exchange Admin Center.
 Tip: |
|---|
| Having problems? Ask for help in the Exchange forums. Visit the forums at: Exchange Server, Exchange Online, or Exchange Online Protection |
What do you want to do?
Use the EAC to enter the product key
- Enter your user name and password in Domain\user name
and Password, and then click Sign in.
- Go to Servers > Servers. Select the server you
want to license, and then click Edit
.
- (Optional) If you want to upgrade the server from a Standard
Edition license to an Enterprise Edition license, on the
General page, select Change product key.
Note:This check box only appears if a product key has previously been entered. - On the General page, enter your product key in the
Enter a valid product key text boxes.
- Click Save.
Use the Shell to enter the product key
This example uses the set-ExchangeServer cmdlet to enter the product key.
| Note: |
|---|
| You can run this command again on the same server to upgrade it from a Standard Edition license to an Enterprise Edition license. |
 Copy Code |
|
|---|---|
Set-ExchangeServer ExServer01 -ProductKey aaaaa-aaaaa-aaaaa-aaaaa-aaaaa |
|
For detailed syntax and parameter information, see Set-ExchangeServer.
How do you know this worked?
To use the EAC to verify that you’ve successfully licensed the server as Standard Edition or Enterprise Edition, do the following:
- Enter your user name and password in Domain\user name
and Password, and then click Sign in.
- Go to Servers > Servers.
- Select the server you want to view, and then look in the server
details pane. If the product key has been accepted, Licensed
will appear along with the Exchange 2013 edition.
To use the Shell to verify that you’ve successfully licensed the server as Standard Edition or Enterprise Edition, do the following:
- Open the Shell.
- Run the following command to view the licensing status of a
specific Exchange server.
Copy CodeGet-ExchangeServer ExServer01 | Format-Table Edition,*Trial*
- (Optional) Run the following command to view the licensing
status of all Exchange servers in your organization.
Copy CodeGet-ExchangeServer | Format-Table Name, Edition, *Trial* -Auto