Microsoft Clearing House Server down, no Windows 2025 RDS activation possible

Question

Microsoft Clearing House Server down, no Windows 2025 RDS activation possible

Markus 0

Dear Microsoft Team,

are you aware that your Clearing House Servers are down. Since the 01.08.2026 we're trying to activate the RDS License Manager on a W2K25 Server + install the RDS Cals... no luck... The automatic wizard fails even activating the License Server itself, Phone support is dead since you moved to "Web only" (btw. why do you even have phone support? just to tell the people to go online?), the Website activate.microsoft.com let's you activate your License server, but as you try to install CALs... you get a server error....

We reached out to a global IT Pro community and other admins confirmed that they have the same issue, one of them even confirmed your servers (+location) are dead.

So... when are you going to fix that? When could we install and activate our RDS Services + CALs again?

Thanks,

Markus

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1 answer

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Answer 1

Welcome to Microsoft Q&A!

Thank you for taking the time to report this issue.

I understand how frustrating this situation must be, especially when you're trying to deploy or restore RDS services and are unable to activate the license server or install your RDS CALs.

Based on the symptoms you've described, other administrators have reported similar behavior when attempting to activate an RD License Server or install RDS CALs through both RD Licensing Manager and the Microsoft Clearinghouse portal. Reports include activation failures and server-side errors during the licensing process.

That said, there has not been any publicly available Microsoft communication confirming a Microsoft Clearinghouse service outage at this time. As community moderators, I do not have visibility into the backend status of the Clearinghouse infrastructure, so I cannot confirm whether this is a global service disruption or a localized issue affecting specific customers or regions.

For reference, RDS license server activation and CAL installation rely on communication with the Microsoft Clearinghouse service over HTTPS (TCP 443). Please note that the Clearinghouse service is responsible for activating license servers and issuing RDS CALs.

If the issue continues, I recommend gathering the following information and opening a support request through the Microsoft Product Activation Portal or Microsoft Support:

Screenshots of the exact error messages from RD Licensing Manager and the web portal.
License Server ID.
Product ID (PID).
Licensing Agreement or Enrollment information.
Any existing support case numbers.
Confirmation that outbound HTTPS connectivity to Microsoft licensing endpoints is not being blocked by a firewall, proxy, or TLS inspection device.

Unfortunately, only Microsoft's support and product engineering teams can confirm a service-side issue and provide updates on resolution efforts. If this is a broader incident affecting the Microsoft Clearinghouse service, opening a support case will help ensure your environment is properly tracked and investigated, while also providing Microsoft with additional reports that may assist their investigation.

I appreciate your patience while this issue is being investigated, and I hope service is restored as quickly as possible.

References:

Remote Desktop Licensing FAQ

Activate the Remote Desktop Services License Server

Microsoft Clearinghouse Contact Information

I hope this information helps. If you find the answer helpful, please consider clicking Accept Answer.

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