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Windows Server 2025 Evaluation on PVE: install it without a licensing mess

Verified 2 min read

Install the 180-day Windows Server 2025 Evaluation on Proxmox VE with q35/OVMF, VirtIO drivers and a clean snapshot — no rearm scripts, no mirror ISOs.

Tested onStandard / Datacenter (Evaluation) · Build 26100.33650 · x64
E1
Build
26100.33650
Edition
Standard / Datacenter (Evaluation)
Architecture
x64
Support
180-day evaluation
Evidence
E1Official documentation
Verified
2026-10-28
Page type
Setup

The short answer

Section titled “The short answer”

Use the official 180-day Evaluation from Microsoft Evaluation Center, install it on PVE with q35/OVMF, VirtIO disk/network and the VirtIO driver ISO. Snapshot the clean state, then clone per role.

Do not use “rearm” scripts, KMS emulators or ISO mirrors. A homelab is not a licence exemption; the evaluation is the legal, rebuildable path.

Before you start

Section titled “Before you start”
Item Lab-sane value Why
ISO Server 2025 Evaluation, x64 Official, 180 days
VM machine q35 Modern PCIe layout
Firmware OVMF (UEFI) Secure Boot capable
vCPU/RAM 4 vCPU / 8GB GUI + roles; 4GB works for Core
Disk 80–120GB VirtIO Roles, updates, logs
Network VirtIO Needs driver ISO
Driver ISO virtio-win Storage/NIC/balloon
Snapshot srv2025-clean Rebuild point

Server 2025 does not require TPM 2.0/Secure Boot the way Windows 11 does, but UEFI + Secure Boot is still the better lab baseline.

Install

Section titled “Install”
  1. Create the VM (q35, OVMF, 4 vCPU, 8GB, disk, VirtIO NIC).
  2. Attach the Server ISO and the VirtIO ISO as two CD-ROMs.
  3. Boot the Server ISO; choose Standard/Datacenter and Desktop Experience or Core.
    • Desktop Experience: easier for a first lab, more RAM/patches.
    • Core: smaller attack surface, manage with sconfig/WinRM.
  4. If Setup cannot see the disk, load the VirtIO SCSI driver.
  5. Install, set the Administrator password, reboot.
  6. Install VirtIO NIC/balloon drivers, then the QEMU Guest Agent.
  7. Run Windows Update, reboot, shut down cleanly.
  8. Snapshot srv2025-clean.

First boot checks

Section titled “First boot checks”
Terminal window
winver
Get-ComputerInfo | Select-Object WindowsProductName, WindowsVersion, OsBuildNumber
Get-PnpDevice -Status Error
Get-Service QEMU-GA

Core-only systems: run sconfig to set computer name, IP, updates, remote management. Desktop Experience: Server Manager → Local Server.

Network and identity

Section titled “Network and identity”
  • Give the server a static IP before promoting it to a domain controller.
  • Set DNS to itself only when it is the DNS server; otherwise use the upstream resolver.
  • Set the correct time zone and time source; Kerberos is sensitive to clock skew.
  • Rename the computer before installing roles, then reboot.

Snapshot and template policy

Section titled “Snapshot and template policy”
  • Snapshot after updates and before any role.
  • Clone per role (ad1, fs1) instead of mutating one VM.
  • Keep a separate backup of the evaluation ISO/config; snapshots are not backups.
  • Do not snapshot a running domain controller with an active database and call it consistent.

What this page does not do

Section titled “What this page does not do”
  • No activation/licence purchase advice beyond “use Evaluation”.
  • No performance claim; a PVE VM is not a physical server benchmark.
  • No production domain design; the next page is a lab first domain.

Sources