The first time (no joke) after virtualizing an old Windows Server 2003 machine (as part of a consolidation effort), it is trying to force me to activate.
Normally, it was letting me get in with a "activate in 3 days" warning, which was fine since I could reconfigure the new virtual NICs with their static IPs. However, without being able to configure the new NICs, I can't activate.
How can I configure the NICs via safe mode or command line before the activation strong-arms me to logoff? Or should I give up and call Microsoft every time this happens with one of these old servers?
If the vNICS are new to the VM then they will be configured in DHCP mode by default in the OS. Set up a temporary DHCP server and scope to assign the VM the correct ip address, subnet mask, DNS server(s) and default gateway. That will allow the VM to have the connectivity needed to activate over the internet.