Applies to: Exchange Server 2007 SP3, Exchange Server 2007 SP2, Exchange Server 2007 SP1, Exchange Server 2007
Topic Last Modified: 2008-01-15

This topic explains how to use the Exchange Management Console or the Exchange Management Shell to enter the product key and license Microsoft Exchange Server 2007.

When you install Exchange 2007, it is unlicensed. This is also known as a trial edition. The trial edition expires 120 days after the date of installation. An unlicensed server functions as an Exchange 2007 Standard Edition server, but is not eligible for support from Microsoft Product Support Services. When you start the Exchange Management Console, if you have Exchange 2007 servers in your organization that are unlicensed, Exchange will display a list of all unlicensed Exchange 2007 servers and the number of days that are remaining until the trial edition expires. If you have Exchange 2007 servers for which the trial edition has expired, Exchange will also display a separate warning for each expired server.

Before You Begin

To perform this procedure, the account you use must be delegated the Exchange Server Administrator role and local Administrators group for the target server. For more information about permissions, delegating roles, and the rights that are required to administer Exchange Server 2007, see Permission Considerations.

If the server being licensed is a stand-alone server that has the Mailbox role installed, you must restart the Microsoft Exchange Information Store service after entering the product key to apply the key.

If the server being licensed is a clustered mailbox server (CMS) in a single copy cluster or cluster continuous replication (CCR) environment, you must stop and start the CMS after entering the product key to apply the key.

If the server being licensed has the Edge Transport role installed, you must re-subscribe the Edge Transport server after entering the product key. After entering the product key on a Hub Transport, Unified Messaging or Client Access server, you must close and re-open the Exchange Management Console to see the updated license information.

Procedure

To use the Exchange Management Console to enter the product key

  1. Open the Exchange Management Console.

  2. In the console tree, expand Server Configuration.

  3. In the result pane, select the server that you want to license.

  4. In the action pane, under the server name, click Enter Product Key. The Enter Product Key wizard appears.

  5. On the Enter Product Key page, type the product key for the Exchange server, and then click Enter.

    Note:
    You can find the product key on the Exchange 2007 DVD case. The product key is a 25-character alphanumeric string, grouped in sets of five characters separated by hyphens. For more information about volume licensing, see Volume Activation.

To use the Exchange Management Shell to enter the product key

  1. Run the following command:

    Copy Code 
    Set-ExchangeServer -Identity ExServer01 -ProductKey aaaaa-aaaaa-aaaaa-aaaaa-aaaaa

    Each aaaaa represents five alphanumeric characters of the product key.

  2. If the server being licensed has the Mailbox role installed, restart the Information Store to apply the change by performing the following steps:

    • On a stand-alone server, open a Command Prompt window and run the following commands:

      Copy Code 
      net stop msexchangeis
net start msexchangeis
    • On a clustered mailbox server, open the Exchange Management Shell and run the following commands:

      Copy Code 
      Stop-ClusteredMailboxServer <CMSName> -StopReason "Product Key" -Confirm:$False
Start-ClusteredMailboxServer <CMSName>

For detailed syntax and parameter information, see the Set-ExchangeServer reference topic.