Install Windows Server 2016, 2019, 2022 or 2025

Windows Server from Lizensa arrives as a licence key. You install the server from Microsoft's evaluation media and then turn that installation into the full edition with your key. This guide walks you through the whole route, from the order email to a licensed server. If Windows Server is already installed and you only need to enter or check the key, go to Activate Windows Server.

What you received

Your order confirmation email contains a 25-character product key. It looks like XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX. The same key is in your Lizensa account under My Library. Keep the email together with your invoice for your records.

The order contains the key only. There is no installer from us for Windows Server at the moment. Microsoft offers official installation media for every version covered here on its Evaluation Center, and Microsoft documents how to turn an evaluation installation into the full edition with a product key. That is the route this guide follows.

Which edition you have decides a few steps:

• Standard and Datacenter (2016, 2019, 2022, 2025). Both editions are licensed per physical core. Microsoft requires a licence for every physical core, with at least 8 core licences per processor and at least 16 per server. A 16-core licence therefore covers a server with one processor and up to 16 physical cores, or two processors with up to 8 physical cores each. Every user or device that uses the server also needs a Windows Server CAL. Our guide on setting up CALs and RD Licensing explains that part.
• Essentials 2016 and 2019. These are separate editions for small businesses with up to 25 users and 50 devices. They do not require Windows Server CALs. Each has its own evaluation media.
• Essentials 2022. Microsoft no longer ships separate media for it. Microsoft states that the Essentials key activates the Standard edition of Windows Server 2022. You therefore install Windows Server 2022 Standard and enter your Essentials key during the conversion. The Essentials limits still apply: up to 25 users and 50 devices, one processor with up to 10 cores. Microsoft also notes that some Standard features, such as Remote Desktop Services, may not be available under an Essentials licence.

Product pages: Windows Server 2019 Standard, Windows Server 2019 Datacenter, Windows Server 2016 Standard, Windows Server 2022 Essentials, Windows Server 2019 Essentials, Windows Server 2022 with 5 CALs.

Check the hardware first

Microsoft names these minimums for Standard and Datacenter:

• A 1.4 GHz 64-bit processor with support for NX/DEP, CMPXCHG16b, LAHF/SAHF, PrefetchW and second-level address translation (EPT or NPT). Windows Server 2025 also needs SSE4.2 and POPCNT.
• Memory for 2016, 2019 and 2022: 1 GB for Server Core, 2 GB with Desktop Experience. For 2025: 2 GB, with 4 GB recommended for Desktop Experience.
• At least 32 GB of disk space for the system partition. Plan for more if the server has more than 16 GB of RAM.
• A gigabit Ethernet adapter.

These are minimum requirements. Setup in a virtual machine can temporarily need more memory, and your server roles usually need more.

Get the installation media

Download the media for your version from Microsoft's Evaluation Center. Microsoft asks for a short registration form first.

1. Open the Evaluation Center page for your version: Windows Server 2025, Windows Server 2022, Windows Server 2019 or Windows Server 2016.
2. Choose the 64-bit ISO, not the VHD or the Azure option.
3. Pick the language. The ISO comes in Chinese (Simplified), English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Russian and Spanish.
4. Fill in the form and start the download.

For Essentials 2016 or 2019, use the Essentials media instead. Microsoft offers Windows Server 2019 Essentials on the Evaluation Center. If you cannot find Essentials media for your version there, contact our support before you install anything. Essentials 2022 uses the normal Windows Server 2022 ISO, as explained above.

The evaluation expires after 180 days. For permanent use, you convert it to the matching full edition with your product key. Microsoft also asks that an evaluation is activated over the internet within the first 10 days, or it starts to shut down automatically. Convert it with your key and activate it soon after setup, as this guide shows, and neither limit affects you.

To install on a physical server, write the ISO to a bootable USB drive. For a virtual machine, attach the ISO to the VM's virtual DVD drive.

Install Windows Server

1. Start the server or VM from the installation media.
2. Choose the language, time format and keyboard, then select Next and Install now. On Windows Server 2025 the first screen looks different; choose the option to install Windows Server.
3. Setup lists the available images. Choose the edition that matches your licence:
   • Standard licence or Essentials 2022 licence: a Standard Evaluation image.
   • Datacenter licence: a Datacenter Evaluation image.
   • Essentials 2016 or 2019: the only image on the Essentials media.
4. For Standard and Datacenter, choose between Desktop Experience and Server Core; the Essentials 2016 and 2019 media do not offer this choice. Desktop Experience has the full graphical interface. Server Core has no local desktop and is managed remotely or from the command line. You cannot switch between the two after installation, so choose now. For a Standard or Essentials 2022 licence, choose Desktop Experience: Microsoft does not convert a Standard evaluation installed as Server Core into Standard.
5. Accept the licence terms. On Windows Server 2016 to 2022, select Custom: Install Windows only (advanced). On Windows Server 2025, continue to the disk selection.
6. Select the disk or partition for Windows and select Next. Setup copies the files and restarts several times.
7. Set a password for the built-in Administrator account, then sign in with Ctrl+Alt+Del.
8. Connect the server to the internet and install all updates from Windows Update before you add roles.

Microsoft's conversion rules decide which image is right. A Standard evaluation with Desktop Experience can become Standard or Datacenter with Desktop Experience. A Standard evaluation as Server Core can only become Datacenter as Server Core. A Datacenter evaluation can only become Datacenter. If you picked the wrong image, reinstall now, before you configure anything.

Convert the evaluation with your key

This step turns the evaluation into the full edition and activates it. Run the commands in a command window with administrator rights. Open Start and search for Command Prompt. Right-click the result and choose Run as administrator. On Server Core, a command window or the SConfig menu opens after sign-in. In SConfig, choose the option to exit to the command line. The DISM and slmgr commands below also work in PowerShell.

Standard, Datacenter and Essentials 2022

1. Check the current edition:

DISM /online /Get-CurrentEdition

The edition name contains Eval, for example ServerStandardEval. That confirms you are running the evaluation.

2. List the editions this installation can become:

DISM /online /Get-TargetEditions

Look for ServerStandard or ServerDatacenter in the output. Only an edition on this list can be your target.

Before you convert, you can save Microsoft's licence terms for Windows Server to a file and read them. Use ServerDatacenter instead of ServerStandard if that is your target:

DISM /online /Set-Edition:ServerStandard /GetEula:C:\license.rtf

3. Convert, with your own key in place of the placeholder. For Standard and for Essentials 2022, use ServerStandard:

DISM /online /Set-Edition:ServerStandard /ProductKey:XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX /AcceptEula

For Datacenter, use ServerDatacenter:

DISM /online /Set-Edition:ServerDatacenter /ProductKey:XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX /AcceptEula

With /AcceptEula you accept these licence terms.

4. The conversion takes several minutes. When DISM asks to restart the computer, confirm with Y. The server may restart more than once.

After the restart, Windows normally activates on its own as soon as it is online. To trigger activation straight away, run:

slmgr /ato

Essentials 2016 and 2019

The Essentials media installs Essentials directly. According to Microsoft, your key turns it into the full version. Install the key first:

slmgr /ipk XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX

Microsoft recommends restarting the server, or the Software Protection service, after installing a key. Then activate:

slmgr /ato

Each slmgr command opens a small Windows Script Host window with the result. Select OK to close it.

Without internet access

The conversion itself works offline. Activation then needs the telephone:

1. Show the installation ID:

slmgr /dti

2. Call Microsoft. The number for your country is on Microsoft's list of activation centres. Give the installation ID and write down the confirmation ID you receive.
3. Enter the confirmation ID without spaces or hyphens, in place of the placeholder:

slmgr /atp <confirmation-ID>

More detail, including the telephone activation window on Desktop Experience, is in the telephone activation section of the activation guide.

Check that it worked

1. Run the edition check again:

DISM /online /Get-CurrentEdition

The edition name no longer contains Eval, for example ServerStandard.

2. Show the licence details:

slmgr /dlv

The window shows the edition and the line License Status: Licensed. The evaluation countdown at the bottom right of the desktop disappears.

If the status reads Notification, activation has not completed yet. Continue in the activation guide. If the evaluation countdown is still visible, check the edition again with the first command. If it still contains Eval, the conversion did not finish; run it again and note any message DISM shows.

If something goes wrong

DISM reports that the key is not valid for the target edition. The key and the edition name do not match. A Standard key needs /Set-Edition:ServerStandard, a Datacenter key needs /Set-Edition:ServerDatacenter. An Essentials 2022 key also uses ServerStandard. Check for typos as well; copy the key from My Library instead of typing it.

The edition you need is missing from the target list. This happens when a Datacenter evaluation should become Standard, or a Standard evaluation installed as Server Core should become Standard. Microsoft does not support either conversion. For Standard, reinstall with the Standard evaluation image with Desktop Experience. If you need Standard as Server Core, contact our support before you reinstall, because the evaluation route cannot reach it.

The server is a domain controller. Microsoft does not allow converting an evaluation domain controller. Set up a second domain controller on a full installation, move the FSMO roles to it, and then remove Active Directory Domain Services from the evaluation server. After that you can convert it.

slmgr /ipk reports error 0xC004F069. Check the installed edition with the DISM command from the first conversion step. On a Standard or Datacenter evaluation, use the DISM conversion above instead of slmgr. slmgr /ipk is meant for Essentials 2016 and 2019 and for servers that already run the full edition. If the server runs the full edition, check that the key matches its version and edition.

DISM or slmgr reports "Access denied". The command window does not have administrator rights. Open it again with Run as administrator. See error 0x80070005.

Activation reports 0x8007232B "DNS name does not exist". The server still uses a generic key that expects a company activation server (KMS). You do not need one. Install your own key with the conversion or with slmgr /ipk. Background: error 0x8007232B.

The key is rejected as invalid. The key is for a different version or edition than the one installed, or a character was mistyped. A Windows Server 2019 key does not activate Windows Server 2022. See error 0xC004F050.

The server shuts itself down without warning. If it still runs an evaluation, the 180-day period may have expired, or the evaluation was not activated over the internet within its first 10 days. Convert it with your key as described above, then check the result with slmgr /dlv.

Still stuck? Contact our support with your order number, the Windows Server version and the full message you see.