To set up Active Directory-Based activation, you must be running Windows Server 2012, Windows 8, or newer.Īll volume editions of Office 2016 client products are pre-installed with a Generic Volume License Key (GVLK) key, which supports automatic activation for both KMS and Active Directory-Based Activation, so you will not need to install a product key. When an Office 2016 volume edition client is installed, it will automatically attempt to activate via either Active Directory by using its existing domain pairing or a DNS-discoverable KMS host on your organization network. If you want to activate volume license editions of Office 2016, Visio 2016, or Project 2016 with a KMS host or Active Directory-Based activation, you need to first install Office 2016 Volume License Pack.