• Article

Scenario: Test or development lab activating Office 2010

 

Applies to: Office 2010

Topic Last Modified: 2011-05-07

Banner stating end of support date for Office 2010 with link to more info

The activation method recommended for this scenario is Key Management Services (KMS) or Multiple Activation Key (MAK). This volume activation scenario is more detailed than the examples in Plan KMS activation of Office 2010, Plan MAK proxy activation of Office 2010, and Plan MAK independent activation of Office 2010.

Important

This information applies to volume-licensed editions of Office 2010. It does not apply to Office Professional Plus for Office 365, which is licensed through subscription.

Test or development lab network

If your organization has a network that is used as a short-term test or development lab, which re-images its client computers after testing or development is complete, we recommend the guidelines shown in the following table for both KMS and MAK activation of Microsoft Office 2010.

Network setup Recommended activation method

Five or more computers that require activation (the KMS activation threshold).

Plan KMS activation of Office 2010 through a single KMS host.

Note

You can set up a KMS host for each network that has five or more computers to activate.

Fewer than five computers that require activation.

  1. If computers are re-imaged within 90 days, no activation is necessary. Simply reset the 25-day grace period as required. See Rearm the Office 2010 installation in Deploy volume activation of Office 2010.

  2. Otherwise, activate with Plan MAK proxy activation of Office 2010 by using the saved confirmation ID (CID). For more information, see MAK architecture in Plan volume activation of Office 2010.

For information about the KMS activation method, see Plan KMS activation of Office 2010.

For information about the MAK proxy activation method, see Plan MAK proxy activation of Office 2010.

For information about the MAK independent activation method, see Plan MAK independent activation of Office 2010.

Considerations

When you prepare a test or development lab network for volume activation of Office 2010, consider the following factors:

  • There are generally fewer computers in a lab network than there are in the production network.

  • A lab network configuration can vary from setup to setup, and the activation method (KMS, MAK proxy, MAK independent) can also vary.

  • If you have more than one lab network, each lab network requires its own activation method.