[ms office - o365] Random issues with Shared Computer Activation!

[kennysarmy]

For a while now we've been having an issue when staff and students logon they are not getting Office activated!

 

This is often fixed by signing out of WORD for example, shutting it down and reopening the application and signing in again.

If this doesn't work, then a reboot often solves the problem.

 

I finally got round to opening a call with Microsoft to see if we could get to the bottom of what was causing it.

 

This is their response after I sent them some screenshots and troubleshooting steps we'd tried.

 

This is Max the Microsoft 365 support ambassador, I spoke with my colleagues and after examining your licenses they found that you need apps for enterprise for a shared computer license, apparently A1 licenses don't have the right licensing for shared systems look up, for shared applications they recommend purchasing the apps for enterprise at the very least to get a shared activation. If you have any further questions or need any further assistance please feel free to email me.

 

Is this something huge that I've missed?

 

Our staff have a Office 365 A1 for faculty & Microsoft 365 Apps for Faculty licences.

Students have the equivalent student licence.

 

 

Seems I also need a "apps for enterprise for a shared computer license" if I want my staff and students to be able to use any PC around the site.

 

Is this right?

[kennysarmy]

Little bump.

 

What Microsoft Support and reseller are telling me are contradicting each other!

 

 

Microsoft Support:

This is Max the Microsoft 365 support ambassador, I spoke with my colleagues and after examining your licenses they found that you need apps for enterprise for a shared computer license, apparently A1 licenses don't have the right licensing for shared systems look up, for shared applications they recommend purchasing the apps for enterprise at the very least to get a shared activation

 

 

Reseller:

I did just have a check with Microsoft distribution for you and they appear to say that the free M365 you already have should also support shared computer activation!

[CHiLL]

Which type of license are you on? OVS-ES or EES? If you're on OVS-ES, then no matter how much you try, shared activation (or device based licensing) will not work and you'll hit the license limit of 5 activations per user. It's limited to EES customers only.

[kennysarmy]

Which type of license are you on? OVS-ES or EES? If you're on OVS-ES, then no matter how much you try, shared activation (or device based licensing) will not work and you'll hit the license limit of 5 activations per user. It's limited to EES customers only.

 

Yes we're OVS-ES.

 

It works 99.9% of the time.

 

Users don't appear to get any licence limits.

 

This is a test account which currently has an issue.

 

 

Doesn't seem to be a limit issue as it's not counting them against the user...

[CHiLL]

I'm not sure how it's working for you! I try it every now and again and we get hit (both staff and students) by the license limit after some time. I had confirmation as recent as last month from both Microsoft's VLSC team and our reseller that we can only use Office Professional Plus 2019/2021 (LTSC), as M365 will hit the license limit due to DBL only being available for EES customers.

[stevec_]

I'm not sure how it's working for you! I try it every now and again and we get hit (both staff and students) by the license limit after some time. I had confirmation as recent as last month from both Microsoft's VLSC team and our reseller that we can only use Office Professional Plus 2019/2021 (LTSC), as M365 will hit the license limit due to DBL only being available for EES customers.

 

Device Based Licensing is different to Shared Computer Activation.

You can use Shared Computer Activation if you are on OVS-ES and have assigned Microsoft 365 Apps for enterprise licenses to your users. It will sign them in to O365 but not count against their activations.

 

Add to your customization xml file.

Edited March 7, 2022 by stevec_

[CHiLL]

Device Based Licensing is different to Shared Computer Activation.

You can use Shared Computer Activation if you are on OVS-ES and have assigned Microsoft 365 Apps for enterprise licenses to your users. It will sign them in to O365 but not count against their activations.

 

Add to your customization xml file.

I did try that but couldn't get it to work and I encountered the license limit. Our users have "Microsoft 365 Apps for Students/Faculty" and "Office 365 A1 for Students/Faculty" assigned.

[kennysarmy]

Device Based Licensing is different to Shared Computer Activation.

You can use Shared Computer Activation if you are on OVS-ES and have assigned Microsoft 365 Apps for enterprise licenses to your users. It will sign them in to O365 but not count against their activations.

 

Add to your customization xml file.

 

 

Just had an hour remote session with Microsoft who can't understand why it's not working!

 

It looks like the Licencing Folder (and others) are not being created when the user's launch an M365 app.

 

A working view:

 

 

When we get activation errors!

 

 

Signing out of WORD, closing it and signing in again can fix the issue ONLY if the Licencing folder gets auto-created!

 

Microsoft have gone away to scratch their heads and find out what additional logs we can furnish them with to find out why the opening of a M365 app does not seem to create the environment correctly.

 

They have verified our XML file is correct, the registry key for shared computer activation is being created.

[MicrodigitUK]

It looks like the Licencing Folder (and others) are not being created when the user's launch an M365 app.

 

We also use the shared activation of Office 365 (As we are OVS and only ESS get the full device licence entitlement/ activation shared activation is the only option fore shared devices.) and over the past month maybe even longer we have been getting the same issues as you. Students coming to the Door saying there Office is not activated. We have just been lining with this issue and as a work around reset the students profile tis fixes the issue but is a pain and not a proper fix.

 

Where what path is the Licencing Folder (and others) and others in? I can't see from the screen snippets.

[kennysarmy]

We also use the shared activation of Office 365 (As we are OVS and only ESS get the full device licence entitlement/ activation shared activation is the only option fore shared devices.) and over the past month maybe even longer we have been getting the same issues as you. Students coming to the Door saying there Office is not activated. We have just been lining with this issue and as a work around reset the students profile tis fixes the issue but is a pain and not a proper fix.

 

Where what path is the Licencing Folder (and others) and others in? I can't see from the screen snippets.

 

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/DeployOffice/troubleshoot-shared-computer-activation

[kennysarmy]

We also use the shared activation of Office 365 (As we are OVS and only ESS get the full device licence entitlement/ activation shared activation is the only option fore shared devices.) and over the past month maybe even longer we have been getting the same issues as you. Students coming to the Door saying there Office is not activated. We have just been lining with this issue and as a work around reset the students profile tis fixes the issue but is a pain and not a proper fix.

 

Where what path is the Licencing Folder (and others) and others in? I can't see from the screen snippets.

 

Next time try signing the user out of WORD, closing WORD, reopening WORD and getting the student to resign in.

 

If you want to open a call with MS the telephone number is : 0800 032 6417

 

And if you want to refer to my call it's "30059694"

[MicrodigitUK]

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/DeployOffice/troubleshoot-shared-computer-activation

 

I was after the local file path and cant see it in that support link. c:/?????

[kennysarmy]

I was after the local file path and cant see it in that support link. c:/?????

 

When activation works you will see two files put in here: %localappdata%\Microsoft\Office\16.0\Licensing

 

c:\Users\\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Office\16.0\Licensing

 

For users who have problems, I'd be interested to see what you have in this location?

 

We either have no "Licensing" folder at all, or an empty folder!

[kennysarmy]

Next time try signing the user out of WORD, closing WORD, reopening WORD and getting the student to resign in.

 

If you want to open a call with MS the telephone number is : 0800 032 6417

 

And if you want to refer to my call it's "30059694"

 

Phoned up today as 30059694 was not showing in my Service request history so phoned up, no record of the hour I spent with the MS engineer yesterday. Arrgghhhhh

 

Another ticket created 30080538 - this time showing in Admin Center - another hour spent explaining and demonstrating the issue.

[CHiLL]

I don't mean to hijack this thread, but I've replaced Office LTSC 2021 with M365 Apps for Enterprise on my workstation and I've encountered issues - but now I'm not sure if it's working or not.

 

If you deploy as Shared Computer Activation, should I be able to sign in as my account to see online documents?

 

As far as I can tell, my M365 Apps are installed and licensed as shared, but I can't sign in or see recent online documents.

Edited March 8, 2022 by CHiLL

[kennysarmy]

I don't mean to hijack this thread, but I've replaced Office LTSC 2021 with M365 Apps for Enterprise on my workstation and I've encountered issues - but now I'm not sure if it's working or not.

 

If you deploy as Shared Computer Activation, should I be able to sign in as my account to see online documents?

 

As far as I can tell, my M365 Apps are installed and licensed as shared, but I can't sign in or see recent online documents.

 

Yes, if you Open WORD you should be able to see "cloud" stored documents.

 

It should sign you in automatically with SSO.

 

A folder should be created under c:\Users\\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Office\16.0\Licensing with two files included if it's worked.

 

Example files would be : {149DBCE7-A48E-44DB-8364-A53386CD4580}.authString.txt and {149DBCE7-A48E-44DB-8364-A53386CD4580}.signingCert.txt

 

We're unable to find anything in Event Viewer to show a difference between a working and non-working scenario.

[kennysarmy]

Teacher just phoned.

 

Student no office licence.

 

Usual fix of:

 

Sign out of Office, shutdown office applications, open Word - sign in!

 

This time we tried the above to no avail, got user to log off and on again and then sign in and it was fine!

 

He did have a AppData\Local\Microsoft\Office\16.0\Licensing folder - but was empty!

 

Now it's working it contains two files!

[CHiLL]

Yes, if you Open WORD you should be able to see "cloud" stored documents.

 

It should sign you in automatically with SSO.

 

A folder should be created under c:\Users\\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Office\16.0\Licensing with two files included if it's worked.

 

Example files would be : {149DBCE7-A48E-44DB-8364-A53386CD4580}.authString.txt and {149DBCE7-A48E-44DB-8364-A53386CD4580}.signingCert.txt

 

We're unable to find anything in Event Viewer to show a difference between a working and non-working scenario.

Unfortunately I'm not seeing any cloud documents, it keeps asking me to sign in. We so have SSO with AzureAD.

 

Things I've checked:

 

• My PC isn't registered in "My apps & devices"
  
• File > Account > About Word states it is "Shared Computer Activation"
  
• File > Account > Sign in to Office shows the sign in button, not my account details (signing in does what's described above)
  
• Account name in the ribbon (near minimise/maximise buttons) shows "sign in" and does what's descrived above)
  
• "cscript ospp.vbs /dstatus" shows ""
  
• %localappdata%\Microsoft\Office\16.0\Licensing shows two text files with some strings in the body
  

 

Edit: To save your thread, I might just reimage my PC and see if it still happens. If so, I'll start a fresh one. Sorry!

[kennysarmy]

Latest update from Microsoft:

 

Apologies for the delayed correspondence.

 

As discussed on our last session, I highlighted your support request to my internal team stating the observed behaviour and scenario surrounding the issue from out troubleshooting.

 

I was informed the stated behaviour is sometimes observed when non-enterprise licenses are used with shared computer Office activations.

 

A suggested alternative or recommendation, is to use the device based licensing option as stated in the documentation in the provided link below.

 

Device-based licensing for Microsoft 365 Apps for enterprise - Deploy Office | Microsoft Docs

 

I will be reaching you tomorrow, to discuss the possibility of implementing the recommended option.

 

I look forward to working with you.

 

 

Best Regards,

 

 

Sodiq Abolade | Microsoft 365 Ambassador

 

 

 

But we are!

 

[CHiLL]

Latest update from Microsoft:

 

Apologies for the delayed correspondence.

 

As discussed on our last session, I highlighted your support request to my internal team stating the observed behaviour and scenario surrounding the issue from out troubleshooting.

 

I was informed the stated behaviour is sometimes observed when non-enterprise licenses are used with shared computer Office activations.

 

A suggested alternative or recommendation, is to use the device based licensing option as stated in the documentation in the provided link below.

 

Device-based licensing for Microsoft 365 Apps for enterprise - Deploy Office | Microsoft Docs

 

I will be reaching you tomorrow, to discuss the possibility of implementing the recommended option.

 

I look forward to working with you.

 

 

Best Regards,

 

 

Sodiq Abolade | Microsoft 365 Ambassador

 

 

 

But we are!

 

[ATTACH=CONFIG]64916[/ATTACH]

This is a problem I've come across using Microsoft support. They don't always take all the information in. Not only are you using the enterprise license, you also can't use DBL because you're on an OVS-ES agreement.

[kennysarmy]

This is a problem I've come across using Microsoft support. They don't always take all the information in. Not only are you using the enterprise license, you also can't use DBL because you're on an OVS-ES agreement.

 

Thanks, do you have a link to confirm that DBL doesn't work with an OVS-ES agreement?

[CHiLL]

Thanks, do you have a link to confirm that DBL doesn't work with an OVS-ES agreement?

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/deployoffice/device-based-licensing

Device-based licensing for Microsoft 365 Apps for enterprise is available as a license only for some commercial customers and some education customers. For commercial customers, the license is Microsoft 365 Apps for enterprise (device) and is available only through Enterprise Agreement/Enterprise Agreement Subscription. For education customers, the license is Microsoft 365 Apps for Education (device) and is available only through Enrollment for Education Solutions (EES). For more information, read the blog post on education availability. For commercial availability, contact your Microsoft account representative.

 

https://educationblog.microsoft.com/en-us/2019/08/attention-it-administrators-announcing-office-365-proplus-device-based-subscription-for-education/

Q: What are the qualifications and requirements?

 

Device-based Subscriptions for Education will be available as a benefit for every customer who covers all Knowledge Workers or Education Qualified Users with an Office 365 ProPlus, an Office 365 A3/A5, or Microsoft 365 A4/A5 Faculty license.

Qualifying customers are entitled to as many DBS licenses as the total number of Office 365 ProPlus, Office 365 A3/A5, and Microsoft 365 A3/A5 Faculty and Student licenses.

Device-based subscription will be available through EES (Volume Licensing), and not CSP.

Device must be Azure AD joined or Azure AD Hybrid joined.

[kennysarmy]

Having pointed out that we do have an Enterprise licence and that EES is required for Shared Computer Activation.

 

Please bear with us while we investigate further.

 

Please accept my sincere apologies for the inconvenience this has caused you.

 

 

Best regards.

 

Ezekiel Yohanna

 

Microsoft 365 Ambassador For Microsoft Customer Service & Support

[kennysarmy]

I'm still having issues with this, Microsoft did another 1hour remote session today, taking more screenshots.

 

This is what I just tried which is really weird!

 

 

I did the following with two new users I created: (6005 & 6006)

 

 

6005 logon - WORD opens and signs in automatically - all good

6006 logon - WORD opens and signs in automatically - all good

 

Logon as Domain Admin

 

Remove user profile for 6005 using sysdm.cpl method

 

Remove user profile for 6006 by manually removing C:\users\6006 and manually removing REG key.

 

(More details here: https://winbuzzer.com/2020/07/10/windows-10-how-to-delete-a-user-profile-from-the-registry-and-system-properties-xcxwbt/)

 

 

6005 logon - WORD opens and signs in automatically - all good

6006 logon - WORD asks for Sign in to set up Office!

 

 

 

What's going on ? How can one method of removing local profile data screw up subsequent logons with respect to licencing Office 365 using Shard Computer Method??

[kennysarmy]

Another remote session with Microsoft on this today and they were able to run SetupProd_Assisted.exe to gather "fiddler" logs from the user when WORD opens and activates fine and when it's in the "broken" state!

 

These are going to be analysed and a more senior MS guy calling back later for another remote session....

 

May not be making progress in terms of a fix but at least I feel I'm doing something :/ and MS seem genuinely interested/keen to get to the bottom of it.

 

FYI

 

It's MS Case #:30080538