2021-03-10

Windows Server 2022 preview on VMware Workstation

 If you want to try Windows Server 2022 preview on VMware Workstation there are a few steps you have to go through.

  1. Sign up for Windows Insider (link).
  2. Download Windows Server Insider Preview (link). Do it as a ISO-file.
  3. Install a new VM on the ISO. I configured the VM for 8 GiB memory, 4 processors each with one core and a 64 GB NVMe disk. I have disabled USB and removed printer on the VM.
  4. Get the product key in the blog entry "Announcing Windows Server Preview Build 20308". This you will have to use to get updates, which are frequent on a preview.
Do the updates and select to not transfer settings until you are up-to-date. Then you can start installing VMware Tools and configure the Windows Server installation.

I have chosen to install the complete set of VMware Tools, but I am sure that is not a requirement to get a decent installation.

Now you can start working on the Windows Server 2022 with your favorite applications. My favorite is SQL Server ;-)

Some initial steps could be to install PowerShell 7, disable Print Spooler service and other trivials.

FYI - I am running VMware workstation 16 Pro on Windows 10 (Pro for Workstations) on a i7-6700 with 64 GiB memory  and 1 TB SATA for VMs.