Symptoms
Error 0xC004C008 or 0xC004C020 is received when attempting to activate Windows Server. The operating system (OS) fails to activate.
Cause
Both of these errors indicate that the product key in use has reached its activation limit. The product key may have been previously used to activate Windows Server. If the key allows multiple activations, all of those activations have been used. When this occurs, this product key cannot be used to activate the OS on a physical or virtual server.
Resolution
If the OS license was purchased through the Cloud Solution Provider (CSP) program, its activation limit may be lower than expected. Contact Dell Support and open a service request if you encounter this issue on a Dell server. Support cannot modify the activation limit directly but can submit a request to Microsoft to have it increased. The request may take several days to fulfill.In rare cases, this error may appear if an OEM OS license was purchased with the server. This typically only occurs when virtual machines (VMs) with OEM licenses are hosted in a cluster, and Automatic Virtual Machine Activation (AVMA) is not used. OEM licenses are tied to the hardware with which they are purchased. Running an OEM-licensed VM on a different host can cause an activation issue that eventually results in error 0xC004C008. Using AVMA to activate VMs is the simplest solution in this case, but AVMA requires that virtualization hosts run a Datacenter edition of Windows Server. Non-Datacenter and non-Windows virtualization hosts cannot use AVMA.If this error occurs in a cluster environment in which AVMA is not an option, contact Dell Support for assistance.
