IT admins can now upgrade to Windows Server 2025 via Windows Update. Windows Server 2025 is Microsoft"s latest version of the server SKU. Typically, when customers upgrade from an older version of Windows Server to a newer one like Windows Server 2025, they either perform a clean install or an in-place upgrade, usually via physical installation media. However, Microsoft has recently opened another in-place upgrade path. Earlier this month, Microsoft began offering IT admins the option to perform an in-place upgrade to Windows Server 2025 via Windows Update. This upgrade path facilitates users who want to quickly perform in-place upgrades without relying on physical media. The Redmond tech giant has assured customers that "most" applications and services will continue to work well after you upgrade, but it does strive for 100% compatibility. In order to properly plan your migration, Microsoft recommends defining maintenance windows, configuring Group Policy correctly, checking if you need a product key, validating activation with your organization"s KMS, and ensuring that you have enough free space. Once you have done all of this, you can follow the steps outlined here to modify your Windows Registry and trigger the update mechanism. Microsoft has discouraged performing this in-place upgrade on a Domain Controller (DC). These endpoints should instead be upgraded to Windows Server 2025 through a clean install. The Redmond tech giant has also encouraged IT admins to first configure a test environment to ensure that they follow the update process correctly. Once that is vetted, they should begin upgrading, starting with the least critical servers. On average, the snapshot and update process should take around two hours per server, but it is highly dependent on your deployment"s performance and the number of applications and users leveraging it. Once the in-place upgrade is complete, you should follow the post-installation steps listed below: After installation and reboot, check that the applications and services are running correctly. If there are any issues, restore the server from backup/snapshot. Activate the server using one of the following activation methods: KMS, Active Directory‑based Activation, or MAK using slgmr or VAMT tools. Check Telemetry settings and any Loopback Adapter settings. After the server is confirmed to be working, the Windows.old directory can be deleted to free up space on the system drive. Check Windows Update for additional updates. Evaluate if Secured-core settings and UEFI Secure Boot certificates should be updated.
boot setup. The USB will not load. I've used your Win_ISO_WIM_ESD_SWM_Handling_Tool_v3.0 with success in the past but no joy with this ISO. Code: ========================================================== Win_ISO_WIM_ESD_SWM_Handling_Tool_v3.0 ========================================================== =========================================================== Extracting ISO to ISO folder... =========================================================== 7-Zip 21.07 (x86) : Copyright (c) 1999-2021 Igor Pavlov : 2021-12-26 Scanning the drive for archives: 1 file, 5624791040 bytes (5365 MiB) Extracting archive: .\Windows_InsiderPreview_Server_vNext_en-us_29574.iso -- Path = .\Windows_InsiderPreview_Server_vNext_en-us_29574.iso Type = Udf Physical Size = 5624791040 Comment = SSS_X64FRE_EN-US_DV9 Cluster Size = 2048 Created = 2026-04-16 19:00:00 Everything is Ok Folders: 92 Files: 1064 Size: 5618637968 Compressed: 5624791040 =========================================================== Available indexes to be included in the new ISO... =========================================================== {0} All indexes {1} "Windows Server 2022 SERVERSTANDARDCORE" {2} "Windows Server 2022 SERVERSTANDARD" {3} "Windows Server 2025 SERVERDATACENTERCORE" {4} "Windows Server 2025 SERVERDATACENTER" =========================================================== select index(es) here .... =========================================================== >0 =========================================================== Select the compression type for the "Install" file =========================================================== [ 1 ] - ESD File - Smaller install file (longer creation). [ 2 ] - SWM File - Multiple split wim files. [ 3 ] - WIM File - Leave it WIM. =========================================================== * Type your option and press Enter: 2 =========================================================== checking if install.wim filesize >4GB ... =========================================================== =========================================================== Splitting install.wim into multiple 3000 install.swm files... =========================================================== Using LZX compression with 64 threads Archiving file data: 10 GiB of 10 GiB (100%) done Splitting WIM: 4725 MiB of 4725 MiB (100%) written, part 2 of 2 Finished splitting "ISO\sources\install.wim" =========================================================== Optimizing Boot.wim... =========================================================== "ISO\Sources\boot.wim" original size: 431876 KiB Using LZX compression with 64 threads Archiving file data: 1085 MiB of 1085 MiB (100%) done "ISO\Sources\boot.wim" optimized size: 429530 KiB Space saved: 2346 KiB =========================================================== Creating ISO... =========================================================== OSCDIMG 2.56 CD-ROM and DVD-ROM Premastering Utility Copyright (C) Microsoft, 1993-2012. All rights reserved. Licensed only for producing Microsoft authorized content. Scanning source tree (1000 files in 89 directories) Scanning source tree complete (1065 files in 93 directories) Computing directory information complete Image file is 5603098624 bytes (before optimization) Writing 1065 files in 93 directories to Windows_InsiderPreview_Server_vNext_en-us_29574_SWM_2026_04_30.ISO 100% complete Storage optimization saved 51 files, 19183616 bytes (1% of image) After optimization, image file is 5586364416 bytes Space saved because of embedding, sparseness or optimization = 19183616 Done. =========================================================== Now you have time to copy the content of the ISO folder to a FAT32 formatted USB key, when done copying, press any key to cleanup the ISO folder. =========================================================== Press any key to continue . . .
Code: ========================================================== Win_ISO_WIM_ESD_SWM_Handling_Tool_v3.0 ========================================================== =========================================================== Extracting ISO to ISO folder... =========================================================== 7-Zip 21.07 (x86) : Copyright (c) 1999-2021 Igor Pavlov : 2021-12-26 Scanning the drive for archives: 1 file, 5624791040 bytes (5365 MiB) Extracting archive: .\Windows_InsiderPreview_Server_vNext_en-us_29574.iso -- Path = .\Windows_InsiderPreview_Server_vNext_en-us_29574.iso Type = Udf Physical Size = 5624791040 Comment = SSS_X64FRE_EN-US_DV9 Cluster Size = 2048 Created = 2026-04-17 02:00:00 Everything is Ok Folders: 92 Files: 1064 Size: 5618637968 Compressed: 5624791040 =========================================================== Available indexes to be included in the new ISO... =========================================================== {0} All indexes {1} "Windows Server 2022 SERVERSTANDARDCORE" {2} "Windows Server 2022 SERVERSTANDARD" {3} "Windows Server 2025 SERVERDATACENTERCORE" {4} "Windows Server 2025 SERVERDATACENTER" =========================================================== select index(es) here .... =========================================================== >0 =========================================================== Select the compression type for the "Install" file =========================================================== [ 1 ] - ESD File - Smaller install file (longer creation). [ 2 ] - SWM File - Multiple split wim files. [ 3 ] - WIM File - Leave it WIM. =========================================================== * Type your option and press Enter: 2 =========================================================== checking if install.wim filesize >4GB ... =========================================================== =========================================================== Splitting install.wim into multiple 4000 install.swm files... =========================================================== Using LZX compression with 16 threads Archiving file data: 10 GiB of 10 GiB (100%) done Splitting WIM: 4725 MiB of 4725 MiB (100%) written, part 2 of 2 Finished splitting "ISO\sources\install.wim" =========================================================== Optimizing Boot.wim... =========================================================== "ISO\Sources\boot.wim" original size: 431876 KiB Using LZX compression with 16 threads Archiving file data: 1085 MiB of 1085 MiB (100%) done "ISO\Sources\boot.wim" optimized size: 429530 KiB Space saved: 2346 KiB =========================================================== Creating ISO... =========================================================== OSCDIMG 2.56 CD-ROM and DVD-ROM Premastering Utility Copyright (C) Microsoft, 1993-2012. All rights reserved. Licensed only for producing Microsoft authorized content. Scanning source tree (1000 files in 89 directories) Scanning source tree complete (1065 files in 93 directories) Computing directory information complete Image file is 5603098624 bytes (before optimization) Writing 1065 files in 93 directories to Windows_InsiderPreview_Server_vNext_en-us_29574_SWM_2026_04_30.ISO 100% complete Storage optimization saved 51 files, 19183616 bytes (1% of image) After optimization, image file is 5586364416 bytes Space saved because of embedding, sparseness or optimization = 19183616 Done. =========================================================== Now you have time to copy the content of the ISO folder to a FAT32 formatted USB key, when done copying, press any key to cleanup the ISO folder. =========================================================== Press any key to continue . . . Copied the content of the iSO folder to the 8GB FAT32 formatted USB. It booted fine on my i7 8700 but to be able to install refs i probably need to whipe the systemdisk? EDIT: Yep, now installing server 29574 refs
formatted fat32 usb with latest 24h2 Server. Initial setup went fine on my HPE ML350 gen11. But doing same thing with this version windows loads but setup screen doesn't show. Submitted to feedback hub
When i installed it last night, the first attempt was successful with sharing drives (not mapping yet) then the shared drives suddenly were no longer available on my other systems, i did a reinstall (after too many changes trying to fix it) and it worked only once, after i manually copied the link on the system with the share to my main pc and then it opened the shared drive, and after that also by the usual approach of shared drivers but after a reboot all was no longer working, again.
is it possible to upgrade to 29585 using Windows Update since 29574 has a little bit a lot of issues? I have a hard time to find the offline update files