I recently had a client needing to upgrade their existing KMS 2012 to 2022 since we recently upgraded the internal PKI. I wanted to capture the key information about KMS and the steps I used to migrate.

Key Management Services (KMS) uses a client-server model to active clients and is used for volume activation. KMS clients connect to a KMS server, called the KMS host, for activation. The KMS host must reside on a local network.

KMS hosts do not need to be dedicated servers, and KMS can be cohosted with other services. You can run a KMS host on any physical or virtual system that is running a 

 Windows Server or Windows client operating system. A KMS host running on a Windows Server operating system can activate computers running both server and client operating systems, however a KMS host running on a Windows client operating system can only activate computers also running client operating systems.

To use KMS, a KMS host needs a key that activates, or authenticates, the KMS host with Microsoft. This key is sometimes referred to as the KMS host key, but it is formally known as a Microsoft Customer Specific Volume License Key (CSVLK). You can get this key from the Product Keys section of the 

 for the following agreements: Open, Open Value, Select, Enterprise, and Services Provider License. You can also get assistance by contacting your local 

Steps on how to upgrade KMS server from Windows Server 2012 to Windows Server 2022.

Bennett Adelson

Microsoft's proprietary directory service

. It runs on Windows Server and enables administrators to manage permissions and access to network resources. Active Directory stores data as objects. An object is a single element, such as a user, group, application or device such as a printer.

Active Directory stores information about objects on the network and makes this information easy for administrators and users to find and use. Active Directory uses a structured data store as the basis for a logical, hierarchical organization of directory information.

, that defines the classes of objects and attributes contained in the directory, the constraints and limits on instances of these objects, and the format of their names. For more information about the schema, see 

 that contains information about every object in the directory. This allows users and administrators to find directory information regardless of which domain in the directory actually contains the data. For more information about the global catalog, see 

, so that objects and their properties can be published and found by network users or applications. For more information about querying the directory, see 

Searching in Active Directory Domain Services

 that distributes directory data across a network. All domain controllers in a domain participate in replication and contain a complete copy of all directory information for their domain. Any change to directory data is replicated to all domain controllers in the domain. For more information about Active Directory replication, see 

Active Directory (AD) is Microsoft's proprietary directory service

Active Directory

Key Management Services Upgrade

A client was hosting a Citrix solution in a 3rd party on-premises datacenter and was looking to modernize that solution by leveraging the Microsoft Azure cloud. I led the design, planning, and migration of the on-premises solutions to the Azure cloud and provided on-going managed support services.

The migration of Citrix VDI to Azure Virtual Desktop

Microsoft Azure is a cloud computing platform that makes it easy to build, test, and deploy applications, services, and data. It is designed to make cloud computing easier for developers and power users. It is a cloud computing platform that makes it easy to build, test, and deploy applications, services, and data. It is designed to make cloud computing easier for developers and power tools.

Microsoft Azure is a cloud computing platform that makes it easy to build, test, and deploy applications, services, and data

Microsoft Azure

Migration of Citrix to Azure Virtual Desktop

Upgraded a Windows 2012 PKI environment to new Windows 2022 Servers. This included an "offline" CA Root server and two "online" intermediary servers.

Upgraded a Windows 2012 PKI environment to new Windows 2022 Servers.

) is an entity that stores, signs, and issues digital certificates. A digital certificate certifies the ownership of a public key by the named subject of the certificate.

a trusted entity that issues Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) certificates

. These digital certificates are data files used to cryptographically link an entity with a public key. Web browsers use them to authenticate content sent from web servers, ensuring trust in content delivered online.

 can be used to create secure connections to a server via the Internet. A certificate is essential in order to circumvent a malicious party which happens to be on the route to a target server which acts as if it were the target. Such a scenario is commonly referred to as a man-in-the-middle attack. The client uses the CA certificate to authenticate the CA signature on the server certificate, as part of the authorizations before launching a secure connection.

The format of these certificates is specified by the 

A certificate authority (CA) is a trusted entity that 

issues Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) certificates

part of the Windows Server operating system

. A certification authority (CA) is responsible for attesting to the identity of users, computers, and organizations. The CA authenticates an entity and vouches for that identity by issuing a digitally signed certificate.

As of April 2023, below are the 6 largest authorities by absolute usage share:

Certificate Authority

Windows 2012 PKI Upgrade to 2022

Creative Social is a full-fledged NFT marketplace built for creators. The marketplace allows creators to sell NFTs, or non-fungible tokens, Digital Arts, Digital Music & All types of digital assets through a Decentralized Application (DApp).

Creative Social is a full-fledged NFT marketplace for creators

Creative Social

is a cloud-based pinning service that allows users to host files on the IPFS network. The Pinning Services API spec is a standardized specification for developers building on top of IPFS that allows an application to integrate a pinning service without needing to learn that pinning service's unique API.

Although it uses similar architectural elements like Merkle Trees, IPFS is not built on Blockchain but rather is designed to work together with existing Blockchain protocols.

For those who need greater speed or increased rate limits when retrieving content, 

lets users on any of their paid plans create dedicated gateways.

Pinata is a cloud-based pinning service that allows users to host files on the IPFS network

Pinata

Netlify is a San Francisco–based cloud computing company that offers hosting and serverless backend services for web applications and static websites. It's a new approach to faster, more secure websites. All sites are prebuilt for performance & deployed directly to global edge networks.

Netlify is a San Francisco–based cloud computing company that offers hosting and serverless backend services for web applications and static websites

Netlify

PostgreSQL, also known as Postgres, is a free and open-source relational database management system emphasizing extensibility and SQL compliance. It was originally named POSTGRES, referring to its origins as a successor to the Ingres database developed at the University of California, Berkeley.


PostgreSQL is used as the primary data store or data warehouse for many web, mobile, geospatial, and analytics applications. The latest major version is PostgreSQL 12.

PostgreSQL, also known as Postgres, is a free and open-source relational database management system emphasizing extensibility and SQL compliance

PostgreSQL

SendGrid provides a cloud-based service that assists businesses with email and its delivery service manages various types of email including shipping notifications, friend requests, sign-up confirmations, and email newsletters.

It also handles Internet service provider (ISP) monitoring, domain keys, sender policy framework (SPF), and feedback loops.

SendGrid provides a cloud-based service that assists businesses with email delivery

SendGrid

is a fiat-to-crypto rail developed by the team that built NeoLogin and a crypto-powered toolbox for payment innovations accessible through one integration. 

allows users to buy cryptocurrency with fiat, directly from your website or app.

Onramper is the #1 fiat-to-crypto onramp aggregator. All major fiat gateways and fiat onramps aggregated in one solution

 aggregator. All major fiat gateways and fiat onramps aggregated in one solution: 

OnRamper

 is a user authentication and private key management solution for Web3 and Web2. Magic links are a great way to create a smooth login experience for your users.

Magic links are a form of passwordless login. Instead of entering your login credentials to sign in, such as an email address + password, you're instead sent a URL with an embedded token via your email address.

Once you click on the link that's sent to your email, you are then re-directed back to the originating site with a successful sign-in.

Magic is a user authentication and private key management solution for Web3 and Web2

Magic.Link

Airtable is a cloud collaboration service headquartered in San Francisco. It was founded in 2012 by Howie Liu, Andrew Ofstad, and Emmett Nicholas. Airtable is a spreadsheet-database hybrid, with the features of a database but applied to a spreadsheet.

Airtable is an easy-to-use online platform for creating and sharing relational databases. The user interface is simple, colorful, friendly, and allows anyone to spin up a database in minutes.

Airtable is an easy-to-use online platform for creating and sharing relational databases

Airtable

is an end-to-end image- and video-management solution for websites and mobile apps, covering everything from image and video uploads, storage, manipulations, optimizations to delivery.

 allows you to quickly and easily integrate your application with Cloudinary.

Cloudinary is an end-to-end image- and video-management solution

is a SaaS technology company headquartered in Santa Clara, California, with offices in Israel, England, Poland, and Singapore. The company provides cloud-based image and video management services. It enables users to upload, store, manage, manipulate, and deliver images and video for websites and apps.

Cloudinary

Polygon, formerly known as the Matic Network, is a scaling solution that aims to provide multiple tools to improve the speed and reduce the cost and complexities of transactions on blockchain networks.

 is a stack of protocols designed to fix Ethereum's scalability issues and cost.

Polygon is a stack of protocols designed to fix Ethereum's scalability issues

Polygon Blockchain

Visual Studio Code, also commonly referred to as VS Code, is a source-code editor made by Microsoft with the Electron Framework, for Windows, Linux and macOS. Features include support for debugging, syntax highlighting, intelligent code completion, snippets, code refactoring, and embedded Git.

Visual Studio Code is a free code editor redefined and optimized for building and debugging modern web and cloud applications.

Visual Studio Code

Sanity.io is the platform for structured content. With Sanity.io you can manage your text, images, and other media with APIs. You can also use the open-source single page application Sanity Studio to quickly set up an editing environment that you can customize. With Sanity.io you have access to a bunch of APIs, libraries, and tooling that helps you leverage the benefits of having all your content available as a single source of truth.

Sanity is the unified content platform that lets your team work together in real-time to build engaging digital experiences across channels.

Sanity.io

OpenZeppelin Defender is a web-based application that allows developers to perform and automate smart contract operations in a secure way. Defender offers different components: Admin — to automate and secure all your smart contract operations such as access controls, upgrades, and pausing. 

OpenZeppelin Defender is also considered a security operations (SecOps) platform for Ethereum development.

Automate smart contract operations to deliver high-quality products with lower risk

Automate smart contract operations to deliver high-quality products with lower risk.

OpenZeppelin Defender

Stripe, Inc. is an Irish-American financial services and software as a service company dual-headquartered in South San Francisco, California, United States and Dublin, Ireland.

Millions of companies of all sizes—from startups to Fortune 500s—use Stripe's software and APIs to 

accept payments, send payouts, and manage their businesses online

Stripe Checkout is a prebuilt, hosted payment page optimized for conversion. Whether you offer one-time purchases or subscriptions, use Checkout to easily and securely accept payments online.

Stripe is a suite of APIs powering online payment processing and commerce solutions for internet businesses of all sizes.

Stripe

Supabase is an open-source Firebase alternative that adds real-time and RESTful APIs to your PostgreSQL database without a single line of code.

Supabase is an open source Firebase alternative

Supabase

Thirdweb is a platform that provides a suite of tools for creators, artists, and entrepreneurs to easily build, launch and manage a Web3 project. It enables users to add features such as NFTs, marketplaces, and social tokens to their Web3 projects without writing a line of code.

Thirdweb is a developer tool accelerating teams building web3 apps, NFTs, marketplaces, DAOs and more. We provide powerful SDKs for developers.

Thirdweb is a platform that provides a suite of tools for creators, artists, and entrepreneurs to easily build, launch and manage a Web3 project

ThirdWeb

Next.js gives you the best developer experience with all the features you need for production: hybrid static & server rendering, TypeScript support, smart bundling, route pre-fetching, and more. No config needed.

Next.js is an open-source web development framework built on top of Node.js enabling React-based web applications functionalities such as server-side rendering and generating static websites.

Next.js gives you the best developer experience with all the features you need for production

Next JS

M365 is a cloud-based suite centered around business productivity, which includes apps like Outlook, Word, PowerPoint, and more. M365 is a bundle of services that includes Office 365, and several other services. Microsoft called M365 one of the company's four platforms.

M365 is a cloud-based suite centered around business productivity, which includes apps like Outlook, Word, PowerPoint, and more

Microsoft 365

Moralis provides the full-stack workflow for building high performance dapps.  Automatically syncing the balances of your users into the database, allowing you to set up on-chain alerts, watch smart contract events, and build indexes. 

Moralis is a cross-chain solution meaning that the dApp can easily be ported to many other EVM compatible chains. Thye provide a single workflow for building high performance dapps.

Moralis provides a single workflow for building high performance dapps

 is a leading web development platform that offers everything that the user needs to create, host, and grow great dApps in one place.

Moralis

Google Analytics is a web analytics service offered by Google that tracks and reports website traffic and also the mobile app traffic & events, currently as a platform inside the Google Marketing Platform brand. Google launched the service in November 2005 after acquiring Urchin.

A web analytics service offered by Google that tracks and reports website traffic and also the mobile app traffic & events

Google Analytics

is a developer platform that empowers companies to build scalable and reliable decentralized applications without the hassle of managing blockchain infrastructure in-house. It is currently faster, more reliable, and more scalable than any other existing solution, and is incredibly easy to integrate.

is a no-configuration in-house suite of developer tools to prototype, debug, and ship products faster.Build is a no-configuration in-house suite of developer tools to prototype, debug, and ship products faster.

If the operating system connected computers and software, and if browsers connected HTTP to web apps, Alchemy wants to be the bridge enabling the blockchain ecosystem. It’s this middle layer that’s produced Microsoft, Apple and Google — some of the most valuable companies in the world.

It replaces the blockchain nodes that we use to read and write with a faster, more scalable decentralized architecture. It also provides tools for analytics, monitoring, alerting, logging and debugging for cryptocurrency-connected software.

 Alchemy is a developer platform that empowers companies to build scalable and reliable decentralized applications

Alchemy

Creative Social NFT Marketplace

A Web3 decentralized application built on Next.js

is a vector graphics editor and prototyping tool which is primarily web-based, with additional offline features enabled by desktop applications for macOS and Windows. The 

mobile app for Android and iOS allow viewing and interacting with Figma prototypes in real-time mobile devices.

is a powerful design tool that helps you to create anything: websites, applications, logos, and much more. By learning to use Figma, you take your first steps into User Interface Design and and User Experience Design.

Figma is a vector graphics editor and prototyping tool which is primarily web-based, with additional offline features enabled by desktop applications

Figma

 enables you to quickly build a GraphQL API that unifies data from multiple sources into a single endpoint. It helps jump-start creating a graph for any backend on the command.

Build a GraphQL API from REST, database, GraphQL backends; Assemble federated graphs (graphs-of-graphs) in a few lines of declarative code.

StepZen enables you to quickly build a GraphQL API that unifies data from multiple sources into a single endpoint

StepZen

NFT Challenge

I orchestrated the refactoring of entire custom in-house access management solution by migrating from homegrown to Azure B2C & Okta. Reduced operation overhead by 22% and cybersecurity insurance by $250k per year. 

Refactored an in-house custom built access management platform with Azure.

Quadax Inc.

Azure Active Directory (Azure AD), part of 

, is an enterprise identity service that provides single sign-on, multifactor authentication, and conditional access to guard against cybersecurity attacks.

a cloud-based identity and access management service

. Azure AD enables employees access external resources, such as Microsoft 365, the Azure portal, and thousands of other SaaS applications.

Azure Active Directory comes in four editions

Azure Active Directory

Microsoft Sentinel is the cloud-native SIEM solution that brings together data, analytics, and workflows to unify and accelerate threat detection and response across your entire digital estate.

Microsoft Sentinel is your bird's-eye view across the enterprise alleviating the stress of increasingly sophisticated attacks, increasing volumes of alerts, and long resolution time frames.

Microsoft Sentinel inherits the Azure Monitor 

 practices. While Azure Monitor is an append-only data platform, it includes provisions to delete data for compliance purposes.

, it is easier to deploy, and has superior artificial intelligence. In addition, Microsoft Sentinel's price is more attractive than Splunk's.

Microsoft Sentinel delivers an intelligent, comprehensive SIEM solution for threat detection, investigation, response, and proactive hunting.

Microsoft Sentinel

The Microsoft Authenticator app helps you sign in to your accounts when you're using two-step verification. Two-step verification helps you to use your accounts more securely because passwords can be forgotten, stolen, or compromised.

The Microsoft Authenticator app backs up your account credentials and related app settings, such as the order of your accounts, to the cloud. Important: You need a personal Microsoft account to act as your recovery account. iOS users must also have an iCloud account.

If you don't want to use email, a phone call, or text, you can use the Microsoft Authenticator app to help strengthen your account security and to sign-in without passwords.

Securely sign in to all online accounts using multifactor authentication, passwordless sign-in or password autofill with Microsoft Authenticator.

Microsoft Authenticator

Refactoring of Legacy Access Management Solution

I organized and led the first annual hackathon that included 70+ participates and 10 teams. The outcome led to establishing an innovation pipeline that incubated 6 ideas and 2 revenue generating production deployments. 

This required selling the idea to ownership and obtaining budget approval that became real 3 months later. I also conducted sessions with teams to train them on presenting and focusing on value proposition.

We established a theme for teams to work off of "

" - the teams collaborated to create innovative ideas to generate new revenue streams and improve customer experience or services. The winning team (

) developed a software improvement to further secure patient PHI in the claims reimbursement process. Along with bragging rights, the team received gifts from the sponsors and the Hackathon Belt.

I partnered with 8 vendors that donated swag to the event

$1500 in gift cards awarded for 1-3 placed teams

The event included 3 cloud skills challenges leading up to event

Designed WWE Hackathon Belt for the first-place winner

I organized the first annual hackathon that included 70+ participates and 10 teams.

the cloud version of the on-premises Exchange Server, an email server from Microsoft

. Exchange Online is a hosted email solution with business-class capabilities. With this service, users can access their emails, shared calendars, contacts and tasks even while they are on the move.

The cloud version of the on-premises Exchange Server, an email server from Microsoft

Exchange Online

Microsoft Power BI is an interactive data visualization software product developed by Microsoft with a primary focus on business intelligence. It is part of the Microsoft Power Platform.

Microsoft Power BI is used to find insights within an organization's data. Power BI can help connect disparate data sets, transform and clean the data into a data model and create charts or graphs to provide visuals of the data. All of this can be shared with other Power BI users within the organization.

Microsoft Power BI is used to find insights within an organization's data.

Power BI

Organized Company Hackathon 

Involved replace of Mashery using Azure API Management.

Involved replacement of Mashery using Azure API Management.

Replaced Mashery With Azure API Management

I orchestrated a transition from legacy on-prem data center to Azure and M365 while adhering to strict industry regulations in Healthcare. The transition-state architecture included a Hybrid-cloud deployment model with on-prem data centers while integrating a new Identity Management system.

Reduce time to market by avoiding manual migration and minimizing custom development.

Orchestrating a transition from legacy on-premise data center to Azure and M365

Build apps faster and deliver immediate value to your customers through API-first approaches. Decouple front- and back-end teams through API mocking, API revisions and versioning, and automated API documentation.

Create a customizable developer portal for all your APIs.

Manage and share APIs with internal teams, external partners, and customers.

Automatically turn legacy web services into modern REST-based APIs

Enforce flexible and fine-grained quotas and rate limits.

Azure API Management is a hybrid, multi-cloud management platform for APIs across all environments.

Azure API Management

Azure DevOps Server is a Microsoft product that provides version control, reporting, requirements management, project management, automated builds, testing and release management capabilities. It covers the entire application lifecycle and enables DevOps capabilities.

Azure DevOps provides an integrated set of services and tools to manage your software projects, from planning and development through testing and deployment.

Azure DevOps

is an in-memory data structure store, used as a distributed, in-memory key–value database, cache and message broker, with optional durability. 

supports different kinds of abstract data structures, such as strings, lists, maps, sets, sorted sets, HyperLogLogs, bitmaps, streams, and spatial indices.

enables you to write traditionally complex code with fewer, simpler lines. With 

, you write fewer lines of code to store, access, and use data in your applications. The difference is that developers who use 

can use a simple command structure as opposed to the query languages of traditional databases.

Redis is an in-memory data structure store, used as a distributed, in-memory key–value database, cache and message broker, with optional durability

Everyday is great to be alive!

Contact Me

0 Documented Projects Over The Years

2023: Key Management Services Upgrade

Steps on how to upgrade KMS server from Windows Server 2012 to Windows Server 2022.

2023: Migration of Citrix to Azure Virtual Desktop

The migration of Citrix VDI to Azure Virtual Desktop

2023: Windows 2012 PKI Upgrade to 2022

Upgraded a Windows 2012 PKI environment to new Windows 2022 Servers.

2022: Creative Social NFT Marketplace

Creative Social is a full-fledged NFT marketplace for creators

2022: NFT Challenge

A Web3 decentralized application built on Next.js

2022: Refactoring of Legacy Access Management Solution

Refactored an in-house custom built access management platform with Azure.

2019: Organized Company Hackathon

I organized the first annual hackathon that included 70+ participates and 10 teams.

2020: Replaced Mashery With Azure API Management

Involved replacement of Mashery using Azure API Management.

2020: Digital Transformation Journey to The Cloud

Orchestrating a transition from legacy on-premise data center to Azure and M365

2019: Cyber Security and Vulnerability Implementation

Involved evaluating and implementing best practices to protect a business from internal and external threats.

2019: Smart Garage

My First Smart Garage

2018: Azure Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA)

I introduced Office 365 to improve the security posture and protection of the business.

2015: Integrated Alexa Voice Assistant in ServiceNow

ServiceNow Integration with Amazon Alexa.

Mike Reams

Categories

Everyday is great to be alive!

Contact Me

Subscribe

0 Documented Projects Over The Years

Steps on how to upgrade KMS server from Windows Server 2012 to Windows Server 2022.

The migration of Citrix VDI to Azure Virtual Desktop

Upgraded a Windows 2012 PKI environment to new Windows 2022 Servers.

Creative Social is a full-fledged NFT marketplace for creators

A Web3 decentralized application built on Next.js

Refactored an in-house custom built access management platform with Azure.

I organized the first annual hackathon that included 70+ participates and 10 teams.

Involved replacement of Mashery using Azure API Management.

Orchestrating a transition from legacy on-premise data center to Azure and M365

Involved evaluating and implementing best practices to protect a business from internal and external threats.

My First Smart Garage

I introduced Office 365 to improve the security posture and protection of the business.

ServiceNow Integration with Amazon Alexa.

Mike Reams

Categories