When you start the Exchange
Management Console, Exchange displays a list of all
unlicensed Exchange 2010 servers and the number of days
that are remaining until the trial edition expires.
Depending on the product key that
you enter, Exchange will determine if the server is
running the Standard Edition or Enterprise Edition of
Exchange 2010 and will update any necessary settings.
To activate Exchange Server, perform
the following steps:
-
Open Exchange Server Management
Console
Click on Start > All
Programs > Microsoft Exchange
Server 2010 > Microsoft Exchange
Management Console

-
Once the Management Console is opened, it will
display for you the unlicensed exchange servers and
the remaining days for the trial period.

-
In the console tree, navigate to Server
Configuration

-
From the right side pane, in the
Actions pane, click on Enter Product Key...

-
On the Enter Product Key page,
enter the product key, then click Enter

-
On the Completion page, a status
message will be displayed showing you if either the
wizard completed successfully or it failed. If it
failed, then click Back to make any configuration
changes.

After you have a successful Exchange Server
activation, you can see that the Enter
Product Key... option is not available
anymore under the Actions pane.

Note : You must restart the Microsoft Exchange
Information Store service so that the change is
applied.
Summary
When you install
Exchange 2010, it's unlicensed. This is also known as a
trial edition. The trial edition expires 120 days after
the date of installation.
Depending on the product key that you enter, Exchange
will determine if the server is running the Standard
Edition or Enterprise Edition of Exchange 2010 and will
update any necessary settings.
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