If your query is how to Install Windows Server 2016 on VMware, then follow the below steps.
How to create the base VM:
Step 1 – Right-click on a cluster, or host, and select New Virtual Machine. Select Create a new virtual machine from the wizard. Click Next.
Step 2 – Type in a name for the virtual machine and select a location, such as a datacenter, where you want it installed. The Windows folder shown is something I created.
Step 3 – Select the ESXi host where the VM will be deployed to. In the example, I selected a DRS enabled cluster so placement is done automatically.
Step 4 – Select a datastore where the VM will be created. If you’re using storage policies, make sure to select the correct one from the VM Storage Policy drop-down box.
Step 5 – Select the correct compatibility mode according to the ESXi version installed. In my case, I’ve selected ESXi 6.5 or later.
Step 6 – Select Microsoft Windows Server 2016 (64bit) guest OS Family and Version types. If you’re running this on older versions of ESXi, select Microsoft Windows Server 2012 (64 bit) instead.
Step 7 – For the hardware requirements, I’m sticking with the values suggested to me by the wizard. The only hardware settings I changed are the ones for the SCSI controller, which I set to VMWare Paravirtual, and the vNIC driver which I set to vmxnet3. This should improve the overall performance of the virtual machine. I also set the VMDK type to thin since I’m a bit short on storage space.
To use the Secure Boot feature, change the BIOS firmware setting to EFI by navigating to Boot Options -> Firmware under the VM Options tab.
Step 8 – Review the configuration and press Finish to create the VM.
Installing Windows Server 2016:
Now that the VM has been created, it’s time to install the guest OS. For this task, I’ll be using the Remote Console client as I find it easier to use when mounting ISOs on VMs and such.
Step 1 – Highlight the VM just created and click on Launch Remote Console link.
Step 2 – Power up the VM and select Connect to Disk Image File (iso) from the VMRC -> Removable Devices -> CD/DVD drive 1. Navigate to the folder containing the Windows Server 2016 ISO image and select it.
Step 3 – Select Send Ctrl+Alt+Del from the VMRC drop-down menu. You should see the Windows installer booting up.
Step 4 – Select the language and localization settings matching your time-zone and country and click Next.
Step 5 – Click on Install now to kick off the installation.
Step 6 – Type in the product key, if you have one, and press Next. If you don’t, just click on the I don’t have a product key link to install Windows Server in evaluation mode.
Step 7 – Select the Windows Server edition and deployment type. For this example, I’ve selected Windows Server 2016 Standard (Desktop Experience). Press Next.
Step 8 – Accept the license terms by ticking on the option at the bottom and press Next.
Step 9 – Select Custom: Install Windows only (advanced)
Step 10a – At this point on how to install Windows Server 2016 on VMware vSphere, I must mount the vmtools ISO image since I selected VMware Pararvirtual as the SCSI controller. This step is not required if you stick by the default setting (LSI Logic SAS). To this, we simply select Install VMware Tools from VMRC -> Manage. This will mount the corresponding ISO image on the VM. Once you do, click on Load driver, select the CD drive labelled VMware Tools and drill down to the /Program Files/VMware/VMware Tools/Drivers/pvscsi/Win8/amd64 folder as shown next.
Step 10b – The VMware PVSCSI Controller driver is automatically selected for you. Click Next to continue.
Step 11 – If you see Drive 0 Unallocated Space listed, it means that the paravirtual driver has correctly detected the VMDK specified for the VM.
Before pressing Next, disconnect the VMware Tools ISO image and reconnect the one for Windows Server 2016. You won’t be able to proceed with the process of installing Windows Server on VMware unless you do this.
Once you reconnect the Windows Server ISO, press Refresh and make sure that the Windows can’t be installed … at the bottom clears. Press Next to use the entire disk for the Windows Server installation.
Step 12 – Wait for the installation of Windows to finish.
Step 13 – Set a password for the administrator account and press Finish.
Step 14 – Log in and install the VMware Tools. Disconnect the Windows Server ISO image as described and mount the VMware Tools ISO image still using the VMware Remote Console client (VMRC -> Manage -> Install VMware Tools). Click on the mounted DVD Drive or taskbar notification to run the vmtools installer. Follow the instructions and reboot the VM when done.
Now you have Windows Server 2016 with Desktop Experience running on VMware.
[Any personal opinions expressed are mine, and not official statements on behalf of Hewlett Packard Enterprise]
