Error: 0xC004F04D When Activating Windows Using Given Confirmation ID

We were not able to activate the Windows license after we have re-setup a Windows 2012 R2 Server Core.  The below error was given when we tried using the Confirmation ID given by Microsoft Activation Center:

Error: 0xC004F04D On a computer running Microsoft Windows no-core edition, run ‘slui.exe 0x2a 0xC004F04D’ to display the error text.

We logged a call with with Microsoft APAC/GCR 24x7 Customer Service Center.  The support engineer gives the below steps which resolved the activation problem.

 1. Restart the software protection service,

             net stop sppsvc
             net start sppsvc

 2. Uninstall current key,

             cd c:\windows\system32
             cscript.exe slmgr.vbs -upk

 3. Restart the software protection service once again,

             net stop sppsvc
             net start sppsvc

 4. Install the product key again,

             cd c:\windows\system32
             cscript.exe slmgr.vbs -ipk XQ9T2-J7V39-RJJCR-DY2V9-72X9M

 5. Verify if the installation ID has changed or not,

             cd c:\windows\system32
             cscript.exe slmgr.vbs -dlv

     Check if the IID is the same as the initial one.

 6. Try to activate the server in GUI,

             slui 4

     Follow the instruction to enter the confirmation id.

     (If the IID is the same as the initial one, try the same CID one more time.)