Extending the Activation Grace Period in WHS 2011 and SBS 2011 Essentials

Option II: Automate the re-arming of the activation grace period.

1. Click Start, point to Administrative Tools, and then click Task Scheduler.

2. Copy the following sample script below into a notepad text on the home server, and then save it as an .xml file. For example, you can save the file as Extend.xml.

Start Copy

<?xml version=”1.0″ encoding=”UTF-16″?>
<Task version=”1.2″ xmlns=”http://schemas.microsoft.com/windows/2004/02/mit/task”&gt;
<RegistrationInfo>
<Date>2007-09-17T14:26:04.433</Date>
<Author>Microsoft Corporation</Author>
</RegistrationInfo>
<Triggers>
<TimeTrigger id=”18c4a453-d7aa-4647-916b-af0c3ea16a6b”>
<Repetition>
<Interval>P31D</Interval>
<StopAtDurationEnd>false</StopAtDurationEnd>
</Repetition>
<StartBoundary>2007-10-05T02:23:24</StartBoundary>
<EndBoundary>2008-09-17T14:23:24.777</EndBoundary>
<Enabled>true</Enabled>
</TimeTrigger>
</Triggers>
<Principals>
<Principal id=”Author”>
<UserId>SERVERNAME\Administrator</UserId>
<LogonType>Password</LogonType>
<RunLevel>HighestAvailable</RunLevel>
</Principal>
</Principals>
<Settings>
<IdleSettings>
<Duration>PT10M</Duration>
<WaitTimeout>PT1H</WaitTimeout>
<StopOnIdleEnd>true</StopOnIdleEnd>
<RestartOnIdle>false</RestartOnIdle>
</IdleSettings>
<MultipleInstancesPolicy>IgnoreNew</MultipleInstancesPolicy>
<DisallowStartIfOnBatteries>true</DisallowStartIfOnBatteries>
<StopIfGoingOnBatteries>true</StopIfGoingOnBatteries>
<AllowHardTerminate>true</AllowHardTerminate>
<StartWhenAvailable>false</StartWhenAvailable>
<RunOnlyIfNetworkAvailable>false</RunOnlyIfNetworkAvailable>
<AllowStartOnDemand>true</AllowStartOnDemand>
<Enabled>true</Enabled>
<Hidden>false</Hidden>
<RunOnlyIfIdle>false</RunOnlyIfIdle>
<WakeToRun>true</WakeToRun>
<ExecutionTimeLimit>P3D</ExecutionTimeLimit>
<DeleteExpiredTaskAfter>PT0S</DeleteExpiredTaskAfter>
<Priority>7</Priority>
<RestartOnFailure>
<Interval>PT1M</Interval>
<Count>3</Count>
</RestartOnFailure>
</Settings>
<Actions Context=”Author”>
<Exec>
<Command>C:\Windows\System32\slmgr.vbs</Command>
<Arguments>/rearm</Arguments>
</Exec>
<Exec>
<Command>C:\Windows\System32\shutdown.exe</Command>
<Arguments>/r</Arguments>
</Exec>
</Actions>
</Task>

End Copy

3. In the script you just copied over, change the value of the following “UserID” tag to contain your ServerName and your Server account:

< UserId>ServerName\account</UserId>

Example: <UserId>WHS-Test\Administrator</UserId>