The Microsoft Campus Agreement is an Enterprise license covering many popular Microsoft software products and online services at Cornell University. This license is paid for with central funding, with no direct internal charges to University departments or individuals. Desktop software products provided by this agreement can be downloaded and installed onto Cornell-owned computers by authorized Cornell Technical Support Providers, and used on those computers by University personnel with authorized access to those computers. The Campus Agreement also covers most Cornell-affiliated institutions that are located on the Ithaca campus.

Full overview of the Microsoft Campus Agreement

Eligibility

The Campus Server Agreement allows Cornell University staff and faculty, and most Cornell affiliates, to download selected Microsoft server products and install them onto computers owned by Cornell University and eligible affiliated institutions.

Students, retirees, and alumni are not covered by the Agreement and are not authorized to download software covered by the Agreement.

Weill Cornell Medicine has its own arrangement in place with Microsoft and is not covered by the Server Agreement. Weill Cornell staff and faculty should check with their local IT providers for information about Microsoft licensing.

Departmental Management of Server Products

In order to get products to the people that need them most efficiently, we have given direct access to the Microsoft Volume License Service Center (VLSC) to select IT support professionals in several campus units. If you are a part of a listed unit, please contact the associated Microsoft Administrator to get the Microsoft product(s) that you need.

Individuals are set up as Microsoft Administrators at the approval of Cornell's Information Technology Management Committee (ITMC). If you are an ITMC member and wish to add someone to this list, or if you believe that you should be on the list yourself, please send the following information to cusoftware@cornell.edu.

• Name
• NetID
• Organization (college, unit, department, etc.)
• Phone Number
• Email address (This will be the applicant's published email contact address. If left blank, we will publish the applicant's "netid@cornell.edu" address.)

Upon approval of the ITMC, you will be granted access to the VLSC and added to the list below.

Available Server Products

The Server Agreement covers most versions of Windows Server OS, many additional server products, and all Client Access Licenses (CALs). You can download the most frequently-requested products below. If you have a need for an additional product, please contact the designated Microsoft Administrator (above). If your unit is not listed above, then please contact us.

A note about file format: Most of the following downloads will be ISO files. ISO is an industry-standard disk image format. For server products, we generally recommend burning this file to optical media, then running the installer from the disk. If you are unfamiliar with this format, please see Work With ISO Files.

Microsoft Windows Server

Cornell University's license covers Windows Server products that are supported through the end of that product's Extended Support end-of-life (EOL) date. For a listing of the various supported Windows Server products and their Extended Support EOL dates, please see the Windows Server Lifecycle support page.

The Server Agreement allows eligible personnel to upgrade an institution-owned computer from any licensed version of Windows to any of the following versions of Windows Server:

• Windows Server 2022 Standard/Datacenter
• Windows Server 2019 Essentials
• Windows Server 2019 Standard/Datacenter
• Windows Server 2016 Essentials
• Windows Server 2016 Standard
• Windows Server 2016 Datacenter

If you have a specific need for an earlier version of Windows Server, please contact us.

Please see the Product Activation section below for information about activating Windows Server OS.

Microsoft SQL Server

SQL Server 2022 Enterprise

• SQL Server 2022 Enterprise (64-bit)
• SQL Server 2022 Enterprise: Per-Core (64-bit)

SQL Server 2019 Enterprise

• SQL Server 2019 Enterprise (64-bit)
• SQL Server 2019 Enterprise: Per-Core (64-bit)

SQL Server 2017 Enterprise

• SQL Server 2017 Enterprise (64-bit)
• SQL Server 2017 Enterprise: Per-Core (64-bit)

SQL Server 2016 Enterprise

• SQL Server 2016 Enterprise (64-bit)
• SQL Server 2016 Enterprise: Per-Core (64-bit)

The above SQL Server installers are unlocked and do not require a Product Key.

Older versions of SQL Server may be available upon request.

Other Microsoft Server Products

The Server Agreement has made the following additional Microsoft server products available to eligible personnel:

• ForeFront Server and related products
• System Center and related products (including System Center Configuration Manager)
• SharePoint Server and related products
• Exchange Server
• Office Communications Server
• Server Management Suite Datacenter
• All Client Access Licenses (CALs) for covered products

If you have a need for a Microsoft server product not currently linked for download, please contact your unit's Microsoft Administrator (see table above).

If your unit is not listed, then contact us. We will make the requested product available on a local server and send you a link to download and any Product Key by e-mail. If you do make a request, please be very specific about which product and version you need.

Product Activation

Windows Server 2022, 2019, and 2016 will automatically activate on any Cornell local network that has been configured to use our KMS Activation system. If your local network has been configured for KMS, you will not be prompted to enter a Product Key. Please check with your local IT staff to see if your network has been configured for automatic KMS activation.

If you are an IT provider and would like to configure your network to use KMS activation, please see Activating Microsoft Products with the KMS Server.

If KMS activation is not a practical or feasible option (e.g. your computer cannot be connected to the Internet), we do have a small number of activations available via the older MAK product activation system. You may contact us to request a MAK Product Key. Please include information about your server's set-up explaining why KMS activation is not a feasible option.

Client Access License (CAL) Registration

Our site license includes just about every CAL that you would need to use any of the Microsoft server products covered by our site license. To register CALs for your Windows Server, you will simply need our Microsoft Licensing ID.

Virtual Machines

On a computer whose primary OS is Windows, the Campus Agreement allows installation of Windows (including Windows Server) and Microsoft server products onto an unlimited number of virtual machines, provided that the computer originally came with a licensed version of Windows.

Our license allows the installation of most covered Microsoft products onto dedicated virtual machines hosted on-premises. Virtual machines hosted off-site by third-party hosting services, such as Amazon Web Services (AWS) or Microsoft Azure, are, in almost all instances, not covered. For details and specifics, please contact the Cloud Team.

Home Use

The Campus Agreement does not allow the installation of Windows Server OS or other Microsoft server products onto a computer not owned by Cornell University or its affiliated institutions. Cornell staff, faculty, and affiliates are prohibited from installing these products onto any computer that is their own personal property.

Support Options

For Microsoft support options, see Microsoft Licensed Product Support.