How To Activate Exchange Server 2010

1) Open Exchange Server Management Console

Click on Start > All Programs > Microsoft Exchange Server 2010 > Microsoft Exchange Management Console



      

Once the Management Console is opened, it will display for you the unlicensed exchange servers and the remaining days for the trial period.

In the console tree, navigate to Server Configuration

From the right side pane, in the Actions pane, click on Enter Product Key...

On the Enter Product Key page, enter the product key, then click Enter

On the Completion page, a status message will be displayed showing you if either the wizard completed successfully or it failed. If it failed, then click Back to make any configuration changes.



After you have a successful Exchange Server activation, you can see that the Enter Product Key... option is not available anymore under the Actions pane.



Note : You must restart the Microsoft Exchange Information Store service so that the change is applied.

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2)

Your Exchange server will run for 120 days without a product key but you should enter one as soon as possible and certainly before placing the server into production.

Launch the Exchange Management Console from the Start Menu of the server.  A warning will appear listing each Exchange server that is currently unlicensed.  Click OK to clear the warning.

In the left pane of the Exchange Management Console navigate to Server Configuration.  Right-click the server in the middle pane and choose Enter Product key.

Enter your Product Key in the field and then click the Enter button.

You will see a message when the Product Key has been applied warning you that the change does not take effect until the Information Store service is restarted.  Close the warning dialog box.