Once you have your license ready, ensure your VPS is online and accessible and connect via VNC or RDP.
1.) Open PowerShell
2.) Run DISM.exe /Online /Get-TargetEditions this will show you the edition-id's you should use in the next step. Most users will use ServerStandard
3.) Once you have found the edition-id that matches the edition you have an activation key for, run DISM /online /Set-Edition:<edition ID> /ProductKey:XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX /AcceptEula replacing <edition ID> with the edition-id you obtained in the previous step and replace XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX with your actual Windows license key.
4.) Windows will then go through the activation process if the key is valid. Depending on the edition, some downloads may be required, do not do anything as this will be done automatically in PowerShell.
5.) Once the downloads are complete, you will be prompted to reboot your VPS. Please do so at this time.
6.) Once your VPS restarts, Windows has been fully activated.
If you do not have a Windows license, you can rent one from Mean Servers for a nominal fee, please contact sales for information if you need anything other than a Windows Standard license. If you have purchased a VPS from Mean Servers with a license from us, we must do the activation for you, we will not provide you with the key to do so yourself. Please allow us 1 business day from your order to activate Windows, do not change your Administrator address during this time or you may delay us from being able to activate Windows for you.
4.) Windows will then go through the activation process if the key is valid. Depending on the edition, some downloads may be required, do not do anything as this will be done automatically in PowerShell.
5.) Once the downloads are complete, you will be prompted to reboot your VPS. Please do so at this time.
6.) Once your VPS restarts, Windows has been fully activated.
If you do not have a Windows license, you can rent one from Mean Servers for a nominal fee, please contact sales for information if you need anything other than a Windows Standard license. If you have purchased a VPS from Mean Servers with a license from us, we must do the activation for you, we will not provide you with the key to do so yourself. Please allow us 1 business day from your order to activate Windows, do not change your Administrator address during this time or you may delay us from being able to activate Windows for you.