Skip to main content

Windows Server 2016 VM

Windows Server 2016 VM creation on a Linux host using KVM​

This process gives us a fairly minimal Windows Server 2016 VM running under KVM. This process has only been tested on Fedora Linux.

Define the VM name and location​

# Define the new VM name:
export VMNAME="win2016-01"
mkdir -p ~/VMs/"${VMNAME}"
cd ~/VMs/"${VMNAME}"

# Set a custom folder icon with GNOME:
gio set -t string ${HOME}/VMs/${VMNAME} metadata::custom-icon file://${HOME}/Pictures/icons/folder-windows-server-2025.png

Creating the VM​

No VHD is available, only an ISO, so we need to install the OS to a clean OS disk.

# Make qcow file for the C: drive for a clean OS install
qemu-img create -f qcow2 "${HOME}/VMs/${VMNAME}/${VMNAME}-c.qcow2" "32G"

# Create the VM:
virt-install \
  --connect qemu:///session \
  --hvm \
  --name "${VMNAME}" \
  --memory "8192" \
  --vcpus "2" \
  --disk path="${HOME}/VMs/${VMNAME}/${VMNAME}-c.qcow2",bus=sata \
  --cdrom "${HOME}/VMs/ISOs/Windows/2016/Windows_Server_2016_Datacenter_EVAL_en-us_14393_refresh.ISO" \
  --os-variant "win2k16" \
  --graphics spice \
  --network=bridge:virbr0 \
  --boot cdrom,hd \
  --noautoconsole \
  --import

Select the Windows Server 2016 Datacenter Evaluation (Desktop Experience) option when prompted.

Installing VirtIO drivers​

After the OS has been installed the system will automatically shut down. When this happens, attach the ISO from: ~/VMs/ISOs/Windows/VirtIO-Win/latest Start the system back up, set the default Administrator password (See Keeper) and login. Run the following application from the DVD and accept all the defaults:

virtio-win-guest-tools

Eject the ISO from the VM when the install has completed. Do not reboot yet!

Set the desktop resolution to: 2560 x 1600 at 150% scale.
Run the PowerShell script at: Set background colors for Windows desktops to set the intended desktop color.

Set the hostname​

Set the hostname via an administrative level PowerShell instance:

Rename-Computer -NewName "win2016-01"

A system restart will be required for this to take effect, but do not reboot yet!

Set the time zone​

Run the tzutil CLI utility in an administrative level PowerShell instance:

tzutil /s "UTC"

Ensure the system clock matches wall time after setting this.

Windows Update​

Run the sconfig CLI utility in an administrative level PowerShell instance:

sconfig
# Option 5 - Enable Automatic updates
# Option 6 - Install updates
#   Choose 1 to search for All updates
#   then A again to install All updates
#   Restart when requested

Install all available updates and reboot. This step may have to be run 3 times to get all of the updates installed. Continue until no more updates are available.

Installing PowerShell 7​

Install the latest available version of PowerShell on Windows Server 2016, this installs to: C:\Program Files\PowerShell\7

Invoke-Expression "& { $(Invoke-RestMethod 'https://aka.ms/install-powershell.ps1') } -useMSI -Quiet -EnablePSRemoting"

There will be a new PowerShell 7 (x64) item on the Start Menu. You should right click on this item and select: Pin to Start

Install Git etc.​

Here we’ll install a few basic utilities to make our life easier:

# Determine the path to the users Downloads folder
$DownloadsPath = (New-Object -ComObject Shell.Application).Namespace('shell:Downloads').Self.Path

# Windows Server 2012 R2 does not use TLS 1.3 as most modern sites expect
[Net.ServicePointManager]::SecurityProtocol = [Net.SecurityProtocolType]::Tls12

# Download Git
Invoke-WebRequest `
  -Uri "https://github.com/git-for-windows/git/releases/download/v2.51.2.windows.1/Git-2.51.2-64-bit.exe" `
  -OutFile "$DownloadsPath\Git-2.51.2-64-bit.exe"

# Download Notepad++
Invoke-WebRequest `
  -Uri "https://github.com/notepad-plus-plus/notepad-plus-plus/releases/download/v8.9.5/npp.8.9.5.Installer.x64.exe" `
  -OutFile "$DownloadsPath\npp.8.9.5.Installer.x64.exe"

# Download 7-Zip
Invoke-WebRequest `
  -Uri "https://www.7-zip.org/a/7z2501-x64.exe" `
  -OutFile "$DownloadsPath\7z2501-x64.exe"

You can manually install these apps using the defaults.

Install marcosnils/bin for managing random binaries​

bin is a lightweight, cross-platform binary manager that simplifies downloading, installing, and managing binaries without requiring root privileges. See the doc at: bin - Effortless binary manager

Uninstall PowerShell ISE​

This tool does not support PowerShell 7 therefore it should be removed from the system and its usage discouraged.

dism /online /disable-feature /featurename:MicrosoftWindowsPowerShellISE

Expected response:

Deployment Image Servicing and Management tool
Version: 10.0.14393.4169

Image Version: 10.0.14393.7426

Disabling feature(s)
[==========================100.0%==========================]
The operation completed successfully.

Optional Installs​

Installing IIS​

Install-WindowsFeature -name Web-Server -IncludeManagementTools

Expected response:

Success Restart Needed Exit Code      Feature Result
------- -------------- ---------      --------------
True    No             Success        {Common HTTP Features, Default Document, Dir…

Verify what features are installed:

Get-WindowsFeature | Where-Object {$_.Installed -eq $true} | Format-Table Name, InstallState

Expected result:

Name                      InstallState
----                      ------------
FileAndStorage-Services   Installed
Storage-Services          Installed
Web-Server                Installed
Web-WebServer             Installed
Web-Common-Http           Installed
Web-Default-Doc           Installed
Web-Dir-Browsing          Installed
Web-Http-Errors           Installed
Web-Static-Content        Installed
Web-Health                Installed
Web-Http-Logging          Installed
Web-Performance           Installed
Web-Stat-Compression      Installed
Web-Security              Installed
Web-Filtering             Installed
Web-Mgmt-Tools            Installed
Web-Mgmt-Console          Installed
NET-Framework-45-Features Installed
NET-Framework-45-Core     Installed
NET-WCF-Services45        Installed
NET-WCF-TCP-PortSharing45 Installed
Windows-Defender          Installed
System-DataArchiver       Installed
WindowsAdminCenterSetup   Installed
PowerShellRoot            Installed
PowerShell                Installed
Wireless-Networking       Installed
WoW64-Support             Installed
XPS-Viewer                Installed